A group of working-class friends decide to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in love with the same woman. But all three are different men upon their return.
It is a heartbreakingly effective fictional machine that evokes the agony of the Vietnam time.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
rotten:
A disgusting account of what the evil Vietnamese did to poor, innocent Americans stands at the center of this Oscar-laden weepie about macho buddies from a small industrial town.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
13 Dec 2006
fresh:
The film is ambitious and it succeeds on a number of levels and it proves that Cimino is an important director who deserves to be watched carefully.
– Charles Schreger,
Variety,
20 Feb 2008
fresh:
Is it as good as its advance word and nine Academy Award nominations suggest? Yes.
– Gene Siskel,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Feb 2013
fresh:
In trying to measure the devastating impact of Vietnam on the lives of three American soldiers, Cimino brings home the true horror of that senseless conflict in a way that the 6 O'Clock News never could.