7.5 stars, are you KIDDING?

I just don't know where to begin... I'm 39, educated, and I've watched more than my fair share of movies, and quite simply this was one of the worst movies which included an A-list actor that I've ever seen. Literally EVERYTHING about this movie stunk. The script was atrocious, the acting was nauseating, the directing... non-existent, and the flight scenes/special effects were on par with movies made 30-40 years ago. Did I mention that the script and the acting were really, really bad? The saddest thing is that this is based on a true story and a documentary, and to say that it doesn't do it justice would be the understatement of the year.

Very few movies rate at or above 7.5 stars (the current rating for this movie on IMDB), and it's beyond my comprehension how this movie could POSSIBLY be included in that small percentage. Furthermore, it rates 3 out of 4 stars on my Time Warner cable guide, which once again is generally reserved only for movies of a very high caliber. I don't know who the heck was paid off to give this movie good ratings, but something's definitely rotten in Denmark. Two of the best modern era Vietnam war movies ever, Apocalypse Now and Platoon, ranked only slightly higher than this joke, at 8.6 and 8.2 respectively as of the time this review was written. Who can tell me with a straight face that this movie was 90-95% as good as either of those two movies?!


Bale must have been under the impression that this was a comedy or something, or maybe he just couldn't take the script seriously, because he sure as heck came across more as comedic than dramatic in this role, as did most of the other characters. It's sad to think this was the culmination of roughly 20 years worth of acting experience since he made Empire of the Sun.

I could rant and rave and pick apart countless scenes in this flick, but suffice to say that anybody who's reading this review and hasn't yet seen the movie, would be better served by skipping it and watching something else. This movie is a complete and utter waste of time, watch the documentary instead.