a thinking person's war film

I'd never even heard of this film, however, I've just seen it for the first time on TV. I actually found it well-made and thought provoking. OK so it is derivative of Conrad, Kipling etc (and these are actually referred to towards the end during a conversation between Havers and Fox); however, I thought it sensitive, and as I said before, thought provoking. Fox and Havers were very good too, both had a world-weary and old-before-their-time look which many war film 'heroes' lack. If you want to see violent gung-ho action peppered with foul language, blood guts and gore and little meaningful dialogue I respectfully suggest you stick to the many other films made in the that style.