Truly Dreadful Film

Perfect cast and a good story

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

In 1978 there were five American movies released dealing with the Vietnam War:The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino) - Coming Home (Hal Ashby) - Who'll Stop the Rain / Dog Soldiers (Karel Reisz) - Go Tell the Spartans (Ted Post) - The Boys of Company C (Sidney Furie)The first two were big box office hits and were awarded with a slew of Oscars. The next three are less known and in the case of The Boys in Company C difficult to find. These movies were released five years after president Nixon ordered the evacuation of American troops from Vietnam. It's interesting to see how Hollywood has rewritten the US involvement in Vietnam at least three times. The first Vietnam movie was The Green Berets (1968) in which John Wayne presented the Vietnam conflict as a noble cause betrayed by the media and the protesters back in the US. Then in the aftermath of the war there was the shameful outrage with Tracks (1976) and Dog Soldiers (1978). The third trend was the tragic mistake/loss of innocence thesis with The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalypse Now (1979). In the eighties it became full circle with the Rambo sequels and their imitations and returned to the doubtful The Green Berets judgment. The second half of the eighties became a combination of all these trends.So 1978 was the turning point between the first two trends. The Boys in Company C was released almost 10 years before Full Metal Jacket (1987). Not only do both films have the same structure, but The Boys in Company C also has the first acting role of the most memorable character of Full Metal Jacket: R. Lee Ermey as Sergeant Hartman. R. Lee Ermey was a real Marine Corps Drill Instructor before he became an actor/technical adviser. But the acting in both films are great from a then largely unknown cast.What sets The Boys in Company C apart from other Vietnam movies is that the climax is a not big battle scene but a soccer game. This soccer game could mean life or death for the American soldiers if they throw the game. The message at the end may be a bit naive, but that doesn't make it less true.

I saw this movie on HBO when I was about to enlist back in the late 70s. In those days not too many guys were willing to enlist due to the Vietnam conflict but I was raised to do your part for your country so enlisting was more than just an option.My older brother was already in the Marines at the time and he loved it. A bunch of my friends and older classmates went into the Marines too so I had an almost front row seat to what it took to being a Marine and what they did for recruits. No cakewalk and they turned guys into responsible citizens that was an amazing thing to see.My grandpa who was a Marine in WWII made sure that I saw "The Boys In Company C" and soon I realized why.It's not an anti-military movie but it's an anti-bureaucracy movie. It shows how a long term historical institution can be corrupted by politics and pencil pushers who have no clue as to what it takes to defend the innocent and save lives. It shows how we citizens when under the government's control can be easily turned into sacrificial lambs for the purposes of greed and ego. We see the brutality and injustice of war, the lawlessness and the corruption. We see young men from varying backgrounds thrust together and how seasoned military drill instructors stay on them day and night to give them the skills they'l need to survive in war and in life. We see how it's about teamwork and thinking on your feet and how selfishness can undermine the group.We see characters like Stan Shaw's Washington, who should have gotten an Oscar nod for his role, we see Michael Lembecks Fazio who also should have gotten an Oscar nod as well as Ermey, Wasson, Canning, and Andrew Stevens' best role yet. I will never forget Santos Morales screaming at Washington in boot camp for not being a team member.The story is great. It's tragic, comedic, socially vibrant to this day. It's one of the best movies and best military movies ever and I don't say this lightly.It's a movie that says that life and death are often our choices and that there are forces about us that we drop our guard to agree with that endangers that responsibility.This is a story about young people having to grow up fast in a hard way.Sometimes during the movie Noble Willingham was like a menace one moment and the best friend the next. Everyone did a stand up job in this movie and I would recommend it for every classroom in every school so that young people can see some the varying viewpoints and harsh realities of war. It's not a grisly movie but the horrors of war are sometimes far more horrifying than if you saw blood splattered gore all over the screen.So again, this is a great movie. It shows how our military isn't the villain but the minds that interfere with it and our irresponsibility as citizens to not get involved in supporting our troops can lead to disaster.If you want suspense, comedy, romance, tragedy, gut wrenching horror, and some awesome performances along with great screenplay and direction then fight to get this movie.It's not so much a comment on Vietnam but on war in general and is applicable to every military campaign throughout history that was engaged in over political and greedy incentives.I just found out the movie has been out on DVD since September 2008!!!Joy!Go get it and show it to your kids.

This is a movie that will make you think. You will not be able to watch this movie and ever think of war, or boot camp, as the same. It is moving and has meaning far beyond the average movie that you'll find nowadays. It starts with men that were drafted for the Marine Corps. It goes through the throngs of boot camp and all the traps that come with it. If you know and remember Full Metal Jacket, you'll immediately recognize the young D.I. in this movie. He was fresh out of the USMC and he WAS a D.I. before playing one for the movie. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, thinking back to basic training at MCRD San Diego. IF you can find this movie and you've never seen it, get it. It WILL be the best money you spend on a movie this year. It is a personal favorite of mine and one that everyone should watch at some point.

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!!!!