"Born On The Fourth Of July" is an extremely realistic
portrayal of one American's changing beliefs and faith in
his country. Tom Cruise plays Ron Kovic, an excited young
American ready to serve his country. After experiencing the
war firsthand, Ron's views and feelings regarding the war
change drastically. The movie opens up in the beginning of
Ron Kovic's life, as he experiences his childhood. He's a
boy who loves his country, and longs to fight for it, but as
the movie progresses, the love fades, or does it? In the
end we are left with a man who loves his country, just as
much as he did as a boy. What makes this movie the best
Vietnam war movie ever made, is Oliver Stone with his
technical genius, Ron Kovic's awe-inspiring story, and the
harsh reality that is brought to light.
Oliver Stone is himself a Vietnam veteran, so he knows
the reality of it. As I recently watched this movie, with a
technical eye, I noticed a lot of new things. For one,
Stone shot the movie using three different shades of colors.
Those colors represent America, in red, white and blue.
What is really amazing about "Born on the Fourth of July,"
is it's really the experience of the people, and the
soldiers who felt these decisions from the bottom up. Stone
brought the trauma of being a soldier into the hearts of
everyone who saw the film. The camera in each period of
Kovic's life, takes on a new form. In the beginning of the
film, the camera is more steady, but things move fast around
it, a lot like the way growing up is, it all happens so
fast. Then once in Vietnam, the camera begins to move more
rapidly, it's slightly distorted, and shaky, but the action
is sometimes very slow. This brings us into the instability
of the Vietnam war, and how some moments last forever. The
moments leading up to Kovic being shot, are very slowly
done. I suppose it's cause those moments last forever in
the minds of Vietnam veterans. I'm sure there's not