Lost gem

This fim, along with The Deer Hunter and Coming Home, were the first post-Vietnam movies to hit the screens. Somehow, this one didn't get the attention it deserves. Never understood why.

The movie introduced Lee Ermey, in all his US Marine glory, to the world of cinema. Fact is, the whole first half of Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket is almost entirely torn from Boys In Company C...which essentially has Ermey reprising his role as drill instructor.

But very few people are aware of Kubrick's debt to this film. Shame. You can rest assured that Kubrick understood the importance of this film...one of the very first to address our experience in Vietnam.