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Born on the Fourth of July

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Born on the Fourth of July

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• Documentary
• Drama

• 1989
• Oliver Stone
• 138 mins
• 18

Summary

Biographical drama starring Tom Cruise. Fired with enthusiasm, young Ron Kovic volunteers for the Vietnam War only to be wounded in battle. Paralysed from the chest down, he returns to an America vastly different from the one he left and attempts to heal the mental and physical wounds he has sustained.

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Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Adrian Turner

Director Oliver Stone continued his Vietnam trilogy with this biographical drama, a masterpiece of film-making that occupies a much broader canvas than its predecessor, Platoon. It stars Tom Cruise as Ron Kovic, the all-American boy who enlists in the marines because he loves his country. The Stars and Stripes flies proudly in his home town. Then he is hideously wounded, endures the rat-infested hell of a veterans' hospital and comes home to find the Stars and Stripes being burned in the streets. He drops out and goes to Mexico, then returns to America to conduct an anti-war campaign from his wheelchair. The story is based on the autobiography of Kovic and Stone himself did two tours of duty in Vietnam, and the movie fairly reeks of their experience and regret. Stone had won the best director Oscar for Platoon and he received the statuette again for his powerful work here. Sadly, Cruise had to settle for a nomination, but his transformation from golden boy to ravaged and embittered paraplegic is utterly convincing.

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7.2/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameRon KovicTom CruiseDonnaKyra SedgwickMr KovicRaymond J BarryMrs KovicCaroline KavaCharlieWillem DafoeTommy KovicJosh EvansJimmy KovicJamie TalismanRecruiting sergeantTom BerengerMarine majorJohn GetzBilly VorsovichStephen BaldwinNews reporterOliver StoneFolk singerEdie Brickell

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Crew

rolenameDirectorOliver Stone

Details

Theatrical distributor

U.I.P. (UK)

Released on

1990-03-02

Languages

English | Spanish

Guidance

Contains violence, swearing, drug abuse, sex scenes and nudity.

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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