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Jeremy Clarke reviews

Born on the Fourth of July

Distributed by
Pioneer LDCE

Oliver Stone's second Vietnam movie is based on Ron Kovic's eponymous and autobiographical book about both Kovic's experiences in that war and his subsequent shift in political viewpoint following his return. Kovic came back from Vietnam paralysed from the waist down - and effectively castrated. Stone's casting of that symbol of American machismo Tom Cruise is therefore a masterstroke, with the actor giving as good as he gets in one of his all-too-rare, superlative performances.

Kovic belongs to a "good" family, where Catholicism is used to justify social mores. His mother on the one hand vilifies him for reading Playboy and on the other explains that it's God's will for teenage Ron to join the Marines. Yet the War not only ruins the rest of his own life, but ultimately turns him against the State - and indeed the family unit that endorsed it - that sent him off to fight. Worthy themes, no doubt, but BO4J is an incredibly manipulative piece of film making, piling the emotion (and John Williams' haunting if overly repetitive musical motif) on thick as and when required, quite possibly in a bid for whatever Oscars were going begging. (Sure enough, Cruise won one for Best Actor.)

Somehow, it never quite gets to grips with the real injustices at hand. Kovic's final triumph as a successful anti-Vietnam War speaker gives the uneasy feeling that the film is taking the easy way out by endorsing the American Dream that if you try hard enough, you will eventually succeed, no matter what the obstacles. Perhaps a more downbeat ending would have been more effective (but won less Oscars).

Nor is Pioneer's PAL disc without its problems. Central to the film is the sequence under fire in Vietnam where Kovic is convinced he's just shot one of his own men. (Later, in coming to terms with inner demons, he visits the dead man's family in one of the finest scenes in the film, here presented on side three's CAV.) This incident takes place in a sort of orange haze which (whether for reasons of poor source print or sloppy transfer is unclear) just doesn't look that good here - and that tends to mar the remainder of the proceedings. A pity, because two side breaks and chaptering (thirty two over three sides) are both well chosen, while side three's CAV features night riot scenes and Kovic's closing rally speech.

If almost a decade later, BO4J remains a fascinating (if heavily flawed) film, anyone considering buying this disc should be warned it doesn't really do the film justice. A great shame.

Film: 4/5
Picture: 3/5
Sound: 5/5

Review copyright © Jeremy Clarke, 1997.

Send e-mail to Jeremy Clarke

Check out Pioneer's Web site.

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