Born on the Fourth of July
Universal Pictures | Release Date: December 20, 1989
7.7
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 88 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
71
Mixed:
14
Negative:
3
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand
Review this movie
VOTE NOW
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Check box if your review contains spoilers 0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
4
LordNasebySep 27, 2011
If you want to go see Tom Cruise complaining about how unfair life is to him then this is definitely the movie for you. I know it is supposed to be another powerful Oliver Stone Vietnam film and I have respect for Platoon. But really did thisIf you want to go see Tom Cruise complaining about how unfair life is to him then this is definitely the movie for you. I know it is supposed to be another powerful Oliver Stone Vietnam film and I have respect for Platoon. But really did this film need to be so friggin' long? This was one of Cruise's worst roles and that is saying something. If you want to see a good Cruise film, try Tropic Thunder. Otherwise ignore this bloated, over-long, poorly acted mess of a film that didn't deserve any Oscars that year much less best Director.… Expand
0 of 4 users found this helpful04
All this user's reviews
10
gracjanskiMar 9, 2021
What a performance by Tom Cruise and also what a story. Surely one of the best anti-war movie of all time, that doesnt even show much of the war itself.
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
All this user's reviews
10
alejandro970Mar 5, 2020
Based on life of Sargent Ron Kovik, who for his love to his country, fought against an invisible enemy in an unfair, unwanted and cruel war, and come back home embittered and crippled. Worth to see due a mature Tom Cruise in his best role in career.
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
All this user's reviews
10
BenMar 31, 2009
This may not be a movie you revisit very often, but it is an extremely inspiring tale of Ron Kovics life. It gives Vietnam Veterans a true face, and is a great movie to watch for anyone wondering about the political terror of the vietnam This may not be a movie you revisit very often, but it is an extremely inspiring tale of Ron Kovics life. It gives Vietnam Veterans a true face, and is a great movie to watch for anyone wondering about the political terror of the vietnam war. Also, Tom Cruise gives his finest performance as Kovics, and the film is not as in your face as some of Stones other work.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
8
SpangleJun 10, 2017
Most war films are focused upon the horror of war as it is experienced in the battlefield. The accidental killing of civilians, friendly fire, and the terror facing the enemy are all well-trodden territory and Oliver Stone's Born on theMost war films are focused upon the horror of war as it is experienced in the battlefield. The accidental killing of civilians, friendly fire, and the terror facing the enemy are all well-trodden territory and Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July portrays them through the eye of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise). However, what separates this film from other war pictures is that it quickly moves away from those horrors. As hinted in the film's nostalgic and sentimental 1950s America first act, this is not a film about the carnage of war as it relates to the carnage itself. Rather, it is a film about what that carnage does to a person's mind, their body, and their spirit. How one encounter with the enemy can damage them for the rest of their life and alienate them from the world that one embraced them so eagerly. Born on the Fourth of July is a film about the things that many wish to overlook as being facts of war and the fact of fighting on behalf of one's country. This is a film about the dirty details that are inconvenient regardless of the side you are on.

Ron Kovic, a real man who wrote the book upon which the film is based, is a paraplegic from the chest down. Unable to walk or have sex, he feels like he is not a man anymore. Worse, he killed one of his own men in Vietnam and was partially responsible for the death of babies while there. In the hospital, he is greatly mistreated with nurses fighting him, threatening him with amputation, and telling him his sacrifice was worthless. Doctors never see him, all because they are overloaded due to demand with no budget whatsoever. At home, he is alienated from his family as they struggle to adjust to his paralysis and as he struggles to acclimate back into life at home. Drowning his sorrows in alcohol and prostitutes while feeling ostracized from anti-war protesters who hate what he represents and pro-war folks who hate that he is a reminder of the human cost of war, Ron Kovic is a truly tragic figure throughout the entire film. His tale is a moving and powerful one that calls to attention the one element we always forget: our veterans.

As an anti-war person myself, it is easy to see why veterans in America have been forgotten. As Ron figures out, nobody wants him. Too often anti-war protests turn against those who fought instead of focusing on the true source of evil: the government that corrupted those boys and girls minds and convinced them that this was worth their life. On the other side, the pro-war folks ignore the veterans equally as much as they are a reminder of the fact that war kills, maims, and damages completely. Politically, this winds up being the democrats who do not support veterans out of fear of seeing too pro-war to their base and republicans who do not support veterans because, well, they should be able to pay their own way and not rely on handouts (in essence, passing the buck so they do not need to think about them). The only ones who get hurt by this are veterans. It is tragic to see this film come out in 1989 and, yet, we are still here in 2017 wondering why the VA is awful and why we let so many veterans become homeless and unemployed.

In portraying this character, Cruise approaches it with great sensitivity. Perhaps, his turn as Ron Kovic is the most nuanced performance he has given in his career. Deftly portraying him as an unquestioned patriot before the war to a man who slowly realizes he was fed lies all these years, Cruise's depiction is heart breaking and entirely moving. Alongside him, however, both Raymond J. Barry and Caroline Kava give terrific performances as his parents. Both lost and confused about how to handle their son after the war, the two try their best. Eli (Barry) acts like a father and builds Ron everything he needs. He tries to essentially rebuild his son, which he knows to be futile, but he tries anyways. Patricia (Kava) struggles more openly, especially when Ron's anger and PTSD gets into full swing and he lashes out at everybody around him. For her, her son died in Vietnam and the man that came back in his place is a cruel and mean impostor. It is a nearly impossible mental hurdle to overcome and Kava's raw performance embodies just how challenging it is to see somebody you love be so impacted by something you wish you could fix immediately for them.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
8
FranzHcriticJan 17, 2014
A true and pragmatic story of how our government took zealous young men and transformed them into cynical alcoholics by using them for their own greedy purposes. As far as we all should know, Vietnam was solely for profiting of oil. Stone'sA true and pragmatic story of how our government took zealous young men and transformed them into cynical alcoholics by using them for their own greedy purposes. As far as we all should know, Vietnam was solely for profiting of oil. Stone's direction and script is feisty and captivating, by affectively making each scene dramatic and not corny. Although, I can still see no aberration from Stone's previous work, as it's all on contentious and widely distributed ideas and topics. Cruise is a revelation as Ron Kovic, a man whose life is more auspicious and pessimistic than any normal person. Stone seems to be the only one who can make war and political dramas that don't become clichéd… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
7
MovieGuysSep 25, 2013
This is one of those movies that disguises itself as a riveting drama with a complex message and well-though out scenes. But in fact, this movie falls short of this idea. The movie doesn't have a lot of the elements you would think it would,This is one of those movies that disguises itself as a riveting drama with a complex message and well-though out scenes. But in fact, this movie falls short of this idea. The movie doesn't have a lot of the elements you would think it would, and the overall feel of the movie is depressing. It as if the rug got pulled from under it, but there was nothing there in the first place.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
9
KelvinSelimorJul 17, 2022
Born on the Fourth of July. There shouldn't be wars. Tom Cruise's superb acting deserves applause. The movie perfectly showed all the horrors that occur during the war and what they lead to.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
7
maugzzAug 30, 2017
It is a very powerful and difficult movie to watch, since it the dark and real side of the American Wars; the acting is very good from Cruise, along with the supporting cast. Has problems in the story, but has a good message and leaves youIt is a very powerful and difficult movie to watch, since it the dark and real side of the American Wars; the acting is very good from Cruise, along with the supporting cast. Has problems in the story, but has a good message and leaves you hoping that story does not repeats.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
7
amheretojudgeJun 28, 2018
resurrected for incarcerating..

Born On The Fourth Of July Starring : Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava and Willem Dafoe Screenwriter : Ron Kovic and Oliver Stone Director : Oliver Stone 3 and a half out of 5 Born On The Fourthresurrected for incarcerating..

Born On The Fourth Of July

Starring : Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava and Willem Dafoe Screenwriter : Ron Kovic and Oliver Stone Director : Oliver Stone

3 and a half out of 5

Born On The Fourth Of July is a character driven feature whose protagonist goes through a challenging emotional phase in his life after encountering some inedible and gut-wrenching truth back at the war. Such war based features often follow a rudimentary process that undermines the creativity or the originality of the material, but in here, it stands along on its format, as each single lose thread of the feature is reconnected or used up again wisely by the makers attaining the perfect balance of the drama of the characters and the brutality of the practicality projected in here. The camera work is plausible even though it could have been shot with more appetizing or at least attention seeking work, and it may be short on background score, sound effects and art design but is perfectly edited.

Oliver Stone; the screenwriter-director, keeps the audience engaged through its brilliant execution skill and his manipulative dramatic shots that easily breaks down into tears. Tom Cruise is in his A game (especially break down sequence where he confesses his sins) and doing some of his career's best work despite of not getting the essential support from the cast except for Willem Dafoe who helps him survive a mid-act sequence.

Born On The Fourth Of July is resurrected on incarcerating, both the good and bad deeds, whose unexpected influence led humankind to its doom.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
8
FilipeNetoJul 27, 2019
This film tells a true story: the biography and struggle of Ron Kovic, a young man who went to the Vietnam war inflated with patriotism and returned paralyzed, invalid and angry. Unlike many others, who have spent this anger and frustrationThis film tells a true story: the biography and struggle of Ron Kovic, a young man who went to the Vietnam war inflated with patriotism and returned paralyzed, invalid and angry. Unlike many others, who have spent this anger and frustration in addictive ways of living, Ron has decided to tell the truth about war, and what it can do in the lives of those who pass through it. Booed and insulted, he became one of the most critical voices of US participation in Vietnam War, and one of the great activists for world peace.

The script has little to criticize. Very faithful to the autobiographical book written by Kovic himself, it simply transposes to the canvas, in full colors, what he has always described. I liked the way the film portrays Kovic's family, with all its exacerbated conservatism, the dogmatism of those who already have a life path traced from birth to death.

I confess that I don't like Tom Cruise at all, but I must admit that he is a talented actor, when he lends himself to it. Perhaps tired of movies where he was just a cute boy and a heartthrob, Cruise embarked on one of the films that established him as a serious actor to the point of earning him his first Oscar nomination. Beside him is a good supporting cast, from which I highlight especially Raymond J. Barry and Caroline Kava, in the roles of Ron's parents. But it's, in fact, Cruise who leverages the film and, through a dense and pained interpretation, impresses the audience.

Still a word to highlight, positively, the careful and detailed direction of Oliver Stone. The director left nothing to chance and was even bold in choosing Cruise as the protagonist when he could have chosen any other flashy actor. The post production and editing work, as well as all the visual and sound effects in combat and action scenes, all contributed to making this movie truly great. Personally, I'm even impressed that this movie lost the Oscar for Best Picture this year.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
More From This Movie

75 Critic Reviews

7.7 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL