chriswright1969 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.

Steve Pulaski The Boys in Company C is an intense, ravishing war film that depicts as closely as possible to the dangers and hazards that lie in Vietnam. The character development is tight and the explosions are almost grueling to watch. This beats all other war films by a long shot. Just the boot camp scenes pay for this movie. By the end, where the film is showing the soccer game the intense level goes down a bit but quickly regains as the movie reaches the end. The beginning was so good so we can forgive the film for lacking the tiniest bit. But regardless, it's not worth shortening the rating of the film. Its brilliant in every way.The acting is what separates everything in this movie. In war, gambling, and action movies, voice tone is important. The right tone of voice is needed. Casino is my favorite Scorsese film for the language, Pesci, and the tone of voice in the entire film. It captures as close as possible to real casino life and actually depicts how true mob bosses were. Its an absolute masterpiece. Tone of voice is important here too. Its the key in this movie. There needs to be screaming and yelling in this movie for it to be good. The frustration among these characters is one of the main things about this movie thats so good. They don't want to be here so much they take anger out on each other.The film takes place in 1967 and 1968 in Vietnam during the war period of course. Drafted not to long ago, and after experiencing the awful treatment at Boot Camp, the men are now fighting for their country and their life with many things going wrong. Friends injured and even death, frustration stemming, and endangerment because of the ruthless commanding officer are some of the problems these men face. After learning that they can play Soccer against South Vietnam and lose the game, they can be out of Vietnam. All they have to do is lose the game and they're free. But after learning what they're fighting for and the closer they've come, its a question if they will give it up.The movie is so action packed and so dialogue driven (you know I love that) that it's extremely interesting. This movie could be shown in a High School Senoir class. Ignore the language, and go for the point. These men become close friends, but soon their friendships hang by a smaller and smaller thread that is starting to fade in which is the same as in the real world sometimes.I praise my dad for advising me to watch this. Hes not as in to movies as I am, but still he has a few ones that he calls his die hard favorite and this is one of them among others like Pulp Fiction, Robots, Slap Shot and other films. This is undoubtedly the best of the entire list from what I've seen of it.Stan Shaw should deserve an Oscar for his performance as Tyrone Washington. I like his tone of voice as well and his stress level is clearly seen. Which is what makes his acting good. He has a good voice and I hope to watch more things with him in it in the near future. The Boys in Company C may find itself sandwiched by Saving Private Ryan and Full Metal Jacket, but in retrospect and within my knowledge of war and it's filmography, is better than both and should be widely recognized more than it is currently.Starring: Stan Shaw, Andrew Stevens, Michael Lembeck, R. Lee Ermey, James Whitmore Jr, and Scott Hylands. Directed by: Sidney J. Furie.

elskootero-1 Second only to SIEGE OF FIREBASE GLORIA, this is the best Nam flick made so far. It celebrates the absurdity and stupidity of war, yet at the same time reminds you that if you don't want to fight for your freedom, better start learning Vietnamese, Russian, or Chinese! The characters are real, yet farcical (Colonel Ngo Long Dhong?), and their actions from time to time border on the insane, but then something happens to let you know just how human the characters are. I served with a frontline infantry company as a pointman, surviving two tours, so I can attest to most of the realism in the film. It just came out on DVD, so at the very least rent or borrow it, and I think you'll be buying it soon!

hardybuilt-1 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!!!!