Memorable, crazy movie

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Some time ago, I read a review of Vietnam War movies by a journalist who had served as an infantryman in Vietnam. He had a simple criterion by which to judge the authenticity of the films, "If you weren't there, did it make you glad you weren't?"He found that many Vietnam War movies actually made the experience seem exciting. "Apocalypse Now", "The Deerhunter" and "Full Metal Jacket" failed his test; "Platoon" was the one he felt caught the feeling best.Sidney J. Furie's "The Boys in Company C" seems to fall somewhere else.The story follows a group of marines from boot camp to combat in Vietnam, although it is often compared to "Full Metal Jacket", it also reminds me of "M*A*S*H" and "Catch 22". Although "Boys" has a realistic enough look, the irony knob is turned up so high that it almost becomes satire.It was made at a time when just about any bizarre thing about the war in Vietnam would be believed. Mel Gibson's "We were Soldiers", a straightforward film about a real battle with few side-trips into the surreal, wasn't made until 2002.The interesting thing about comparing "The Boys in Company C", with "Full Metal Jacket" is in the cinematic technique; Furie against Kubrick. "Full Metal Jacket" had to be masterclass for Sidney. Kubrick's film has a beautifully choreographed rhythm and flow compared to "Boys", which seemed to cram in as much chaos as it could."The Boys in Company C", released in 1978, was not the inspiration for Kubrick's 1987 film. "Full Metal Jacket" was based on "The Short-Timers", Gustav Hasford's 1979 novel based on his experience in the marines - the film follows the book fairly closely.Even though Kubrick shot "Jacket" in England and didn't have a real paddy field to play in, his style makes Furie's film seem a more pedestrian effort. The difference in R. Lee Ermey's performances between the two films pretty much says it all.I find "The Boys in Company C" interesting but frustrating. However as a social document, it's a film that represents the disillusionment and mistrust of institutions that followed the end of a war that is still disturbing.

Overall, I thought that the movie was pretty good. The comedy in the beginning was original, witty and funny. After that things start to get serious, but not too much so after they land in Vietnam. The shooting scenes are great and realistic. The acting during these parts and throughout is actually pretty good. However, in the end, they lost me. It seems that the scene wasn't quite done right. There isn't any real tension in the first half, and the scene falls flat. During the second half, they announce another stipulation for no real reason, except it seems, to liven things up. Now we have a proper moral dilemma. Then, at the end of a game a battle starts; for no particular reason except they (Vietnam) lost. The sergeant is killed without reason and at random. A random private is killed without reason. There is a lot of random shooting. This scene does not mesh very well. It seems that the team is lacking discipline in this scene, as they cry about team members lost. This did not happen earlier in the movie. It seems as though they have turned into wimps in this scene. And to top it all off, the movie leaves us at a cliffhanger, with no real resolution.

The Boys in Company C is an intense, ravishing war film that depicts as closely as possible to the dangers and hazards that lie in Vietnam. The character development is tight and the explosions are almost grueling to watch. This beats all other war films by a long shot. Just the boot camp scenes pay for this movie. By the end, where the film is showing the soccer game the intense level goes down a bit but quickly regains as the movie reaches the end. The beginning was so good so we can forgive the film for lacking the tiniest bit. But regardless, it's not worth shortening the rating of the film. Its brilliant in every way.The acting is what separates everything in this movie. In war, gambling, and action movies, voice tone is important. The right tone of voice is needed. Casino is my favorite Scorsese film for the language, Pesci, and the tone of voice in the entire film. It captures as close as possible to real casino life and actually depicts how true mob bosses were. Its an absolute masterpiece. Tone of voice is important here too. Its the key in this movie. There needs to be screaming and yelling in this movie for it to be good. The frustration among these characters is one of the main things about this movie thats so good. They don't want to be here so much they take anger out on each other.The film takes place in 1967 and 1968 in Vietnam during the war period of course. Drafted not to long ago, and after experiencing the awful treatment at Boot Camp, the men are now fighting for their country and their life with many things going wrong. Friends injured and even death, frustration stemming, and endangerment because of the ruthless commanding officer are some of the problems these men face. After learning that they can play Soccer against South Vietnam and lose the game, they can be out of Vietnam. All they have to do is lose the game and they're free. But after learning what they're fighting for and the closer they've come, its a question if they will give it up.The movie is so action packed and so dialogue driven (you know I love that) that it's extremely interesting. This movie could be shown in a High School Senoir class. Ignore the language, and go for the point. These men become close friends, but soon their friendships hang by a smaller and smaller thread that is starting to fade in which is the same as in the real world sometimes.I praise my dad for advising me to watch this. Hes not as in to movies as I am, but still he has a few ones that he calls his die hard favorite and this is one of them among others like Pulp Fiction, Robots, Slap Shot and other films. This is undoubtedly the best of the entire list from what I've seen of it.Stan Shaw should deserve an Oscar for his performance as Tyrone Washington. I like his tone of voice as well and his stress level is clearly seen. Which is what makes his acting good. He has a good voice and I hope to watch more things with him in it in the near future. The Boys in Company C may find itself sandwiched by Saving Private Ryan and Full Metal Jacket, but in retrospect and within my knowledge of war and it's filmography, is better than both and should be widely recognized more than it is currently.Starring: Stan Shaw, Andrew Stevens, Michael Lembeck, R. Lee Ermey, James Whitmore Jr, and Scott Hylands. Directed by: Sidney J. Furie.

This is one of the most realistic Vietnam movies I've seen over the years having grown up after World War II and during the Korean war. i loved war movies and tried to watch them all on the big screen. I'm a four cruise Vietnam Navy Veteran myself now retired and I still love war movies and the old ones that aren't on DVD needs to be so my collection can grow even bigger with these greats Apocalypse Now, The Green Beret, Full Metal Jacket, Coming Home, Dead Presidents and Patoon to name a few. When those guys get to Boot Camp and the Marines jump out the building yelling at them when they get off the bus is classic. Movies like these should be great recruitment tools to get the men and women to join whatever brand they like to join just like I did when I joined the Navy before Nam!!!!