Possibly Tom Cruise at his finest, "Born on The 4th of July" is an extraordinary film about the vietnam war and one of the most powerful anti-war films ever showing both the horrors of combat and just as importantly...coming home.
One of the greatest things about Oliver Stone is that (love him or hate him) he has strong feelings about America and the heroes and villains who are in the chapters of history. His films have a strong perspective and have a visceral documentary quality he does not shy away from his positions.
One of the best discussions in the film has to do with masculinity and sex. The fear that Ron is no longer a man because he cannot have sex is a deeply painful and moving catharsis, Cruise nails it down in an honest way that seems to speak for many. There is a lot of important points made here about young men and their coming of age and the movie is strongest in these moments as not many films have specifically tackled the fantasy of a young man dreaming and fantasizing of going to WAR only to see absolute destruction and carnage. In the 1930 classic Best Picture "All Quiet on The Western Front" we see one of the greatest anti-war statements ever captured on film, the disillusion of the youth is a focus of that story too, we see Ron Kovic another victim of the fantasy of war.
