3º – Born on the Fourth of July (Oliver Stone, 1989)
Rustic in every fragment of history, the film explains how damaging it is to have a culture of war entrusted to a youth thirsty for adventure. Directed by Oliver Stone (perhaps the filmmaker who can best portray the theme of war in the seventh art), ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ is impeccable, gaining in quality in each outdated scene. However, the film reaches its highest quality point in Tom Cruise’s masterful performance in front of the protagonist, delivering an angry and intense performance, as his character asks.
2º – Jacob’s Ladder (Adrian Lyne, 1990)
The film presents several random fragments of the life of Jacob, a troubled veteran of the Vietnam War, showing all the intensity of his life, along with events that may not be real. The plot will vary between hallucinations and real events, without ever informing the spectator about what each one is. The cold atmosphere, emanating a feeling of helplessness, whether in the character or in the spectator himself, manages to give all the necessary substance to the film.
1º – First Blood (Ted Kotcheff, 1982)
A Vietnam War veteran arrives in a small town to meet up with a friend from battletime. Once there, the man is informed that this friend has already died, as well as all his former companions. With no direction, the man is still harassed by a truculent sheriff, triggering a series of disastrous consequences for everyone involved. The ‘Rambo’ saga would have three more sequences, without, however, getting close to the quality of this first one. ‘First Blood’ mixes action and suspense, putting us to follow an urban battle without laws.
