Preview

This is an essay on the film "Born on the fourth of July".

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
894 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
This is an essay on the film "Born on the fourth of July".
BORN ON FOURTH OF JULY

"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

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Douglass, Frederick a man that taught himself to read and write, in his speech in 1852 “What to The American Slave is Your 4th of July” has given us a clear picture of the reality of inhuman cruelty that is slavery. That Douglass was triggered by it when the white man had the audacity to ask Douglas the opportunity to speak in stage about the united state’s independence, or how douglass see it, Their independence day. Douglass begins building his speech with personal facts and a clear horrific image of his people going through a inhuman life. His purpose that to confront the his audience that celebrating a day of everyone's independence and how it doesn't go by the black african americans and how yet slavery not been bring to a final point…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nathanael Greene was born in 1742 and grew up as a Quaker before taking on responsibilities for the family foundry in 1770. He gained an interest in politics and had a noticeable sympathy for the Patriot cause. Around 1774, Greene played a role in the formation of a militia known as the Kentish Guards. The unit was chartered and Greene was eager to enroll and was later accepted. This was the beginning of Greene’s military affairs, and he later served on a militia committee of the General Assembly.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Vietnam trilogy of films, Stone admits to having learnt something about the concepts of pain and suffering. Through the movies, he became in touch with his suffering on `The Platoon' as a soldier. Then, after the Vietnam experience, Stone could live through the experiences of Ron Kovic in a wheelchair and empathize with what his brother in arms went through. Finally, through Le Ly, he was able to empathize with the experience of a Vietnamese peasant girl among other innocent victims of the war. The trilogy of Vietnam films gives the director and the audience the wider picture and idea of the Vietnam War (Riordan, p. 324).…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The whole “fighting for freedom” ideology is well suited to the title. The transition of Martin walking out of the misery of the death of his second son Gabriel Martin (played by Heath Ledger) is well described. The process of fighting is quite exciting and has lots of actions, like the 19th century version of Fast and Furious. The estimated investment of the movie is $110,000,000. In 1999 when the movie was shot, the money was more than huge. Therefore, the background and the costumes have high qualities.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Most people in the United States celebrate the 4th of July, but do you know exactly why the holiday is so important to our country? Imagine how you would feel if someone older than you (maybe an older sister or brother) kept telling you what to do all of the time and kept taking more and more of your allowance. That is how the colonists felt in the years leading up to 1776. Great Britain kept trying to make the colonists follow more rules and pay higher taxes. People started getting mad and began making plans to be able to make their own rules. They no longer wanted Great Britain to be able to tell them what to do, so they decided to tell Great Britain that they were becoming an independent country. (To…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    US History Summer Essay

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Chesapeake Bay and New England colonies were both mainly settled by people of English decent during the early 1600s. Although each colony was founded by people of the same origin, by the 1700s, both regions had evolved into distinct societies based on hardships that they faced, the type of government they had, and the reason for settling the two regions. Each society was faced with numerous challenges when starting out in each colony including hunger, inability to work, and harsh environmental conditions. Although both regions were settled by the English, each colony had their own unique systems of government. Along with different challenges and governments, the motives for settling the two regions varied from becoming wealthy to having religious independence. The differences applied to each region was what shaped them into two unique societies.…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Without a struggle, there can be no progress.” Those were words from an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, but overcame that along with other obstacles to be the great man that we read and hear about today. What to the Slave is the 4th of July was a speech Douglass said in New York, explaining how the fourth of July was nothing to the slaves, as it was for the white Americans. In this speech there are examples of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. He starts off in a very humble manner saying how he is trusting their “patient and generous indulgence.” Which is a smart small move in pathos. Audience member will…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Battle Of The Alamo Essay

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages

    During the era of the Alamo and the fight for Texas’ independence, there were a handful of people that gave first-person accounts of certain events that occurred. These individuals were eyewitnesses throughout the Battle of the Alamo and their stories are quite captivating.…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each year, United States citizens celebrate Independence Day/The Fourth of July with cheerful barbeques, music and fireworks; but African Americans seem to also delight themselves in getting together for the Fourth of July as well. They celebrate by having cookouts, laughing, socializing, lighting fireworks, and generally enjoying themselves together. But, what significance does the Fourth of July really mean for those who were slaves? This question is worth exploring. Frederick Douglas seemed to share the sentiments that the holiday meant nothing to us as a race of people during his time. Douglas’s speech regarding the Fourth of July expressed heartache, pain, embarrassment, and humiliation. To those sitting before him, he let it be known that he was a former slave, and that they were the only ones who truly benefited from Independence Day. Why did they call upon Frederick Douglas to speak that day? This is the question he was asking, nonetheless, he expressed how he felt regarding this holiday. He conveyed that Independence Day did not show true equality among all people. He further stated that all men were not created equal and that The Constitution did not apply to his race of people. Throughout his speech, he articulated that, in his opinion the celebration was hypocritical and insulting to slaves.…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Have you ever wondered what led to the American Revolution? At the time there was much tension between Britain and the 13 colonies. For example, parliament had imposed many taxes and passed the Intolerable Acts. The tension also increased as a result of the formation of the Sons Of Liberty. These three events led to what we know as, the American Revolution.…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The actions and events that took place between 1765 and 1783 were truly one of the most influential moments in our history, this chapter in our history is known as the American Revolution. The American Revolution also related to the war of Independence began when conflict arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies, which represented the British crown. One of the moments that led us to the patriotic movement was the French and Indian war, which is also known as the Seven years’ war. The Seven years’ war is about the colonies of British America against those of New France. The British victory in the French and Indian War had a great impact on the British Empire. It meant…

    • 313 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Essay On Homeless Veterans

    • 3778 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Whether it is wartime or peacetime, the men and women who serve our country live an…

    • 3778 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Overall, the film Inglourious Basterds was somewhat of a masterpiece and had many unique elements that you become accustomed to when it comes to Quentin Tarantino. Minor opinionated complaints though many high points across the board when it comes to the fresh story, unique character personality and comedic humor captured…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The American Revolution was a time of great change in the world. The biggest empire in the world, Great Britain, was being heckled by its American colonies and had to go overseas with troops to take care of it. The American colonists split up into three sides when the war started, the Patriots, the Loyalists, and the Fence-Sitters. The American Revolution was as much a civil war as it was a war against a foreign nation (Tindall, Shi 236). The Patriots and Loyalists both lived in the American colonies but often found themselves in conflict with each other, and that is why it can be considered a civil war. The American Revolution was a time of change, and two sides stood up for what they believed in. Patriots and Loyalists…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The movement for independence in the American colonies was affected by both economic and political reasons. However, economic disadvantages served to fuel the desire for political independence. Since the British started to demanding the Colonies to pay unreasonable taxes that they had never been forced on before, they started to have resistance against the Royal British. Although the immense amount of money that the British demanded was a huge factor, it was the political liberty that the colonies wanted to obtain through independent.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays