About.com Rating

I loved this movie.

But you've probably never heard of it.  It cost ten million to produce in the year 2000, but it made just $100,000 upon release, losing almost all of its budget.

The film, one of the first to star Colin Farrell before he was a movie star, follows a drafted infantry recruit Bozz, towards the end of the Vietnam War, as he goes through Basic Training and Tigerland, a one week field exercise that attempts to re-create the conditions of Vietnam at Fort Polk, Louisiana.


The film starts by following what to viewers will seem a familiar motif:  Rebel joins the Army, and comes into conflict with his drill instructors.  Normally this conflict is played for laughs.  But in this film, the conflict is anything but funny; this is a very serious film. 

The film benefits enormously from its settings:  It's the mid 1970s and America is in a bit of an economic downturn.  The Vietnam war is lost.  The draft is unpopular.  The war is unpopular.  The Army is broken and falling apart.  The soldiers have a very low morale.

Bozz starts the film exiting the brig, having been recycled to join another Basic Training class.  Bozz wants desperately to get out of the Army.  Bozz disobeys orders, and causes as much trouble as he can, but his command, knowing that he wants to be discharged, refuses to do so.  Underlying Bozz's rebellious attitude though is a fierce empathy, it intensely bothers him that the men he is with will be sent to Vietnam, many of them to die.

In many ways, the film is reminiscent of the Paul Newman prison film Cool Hand Luke.

 In constant conflict with this drill sergeants, and some of the other soldiers in his course, the film seems to be  counting down to some horrible conclusion.  The fears of the soldiers, knowing they are going to Vietnam, some of them to die, are palpable and will be recognized by any soldier who's been told for the first time that he's deploying to a war.  The film also accurately recalls infantry Basic Training, which for any infantry veterans out there, will probably force a smile as they recall the tensions they felt being screamed at by drill sergeants, and being woken up at two in the morning to the sound of banging metal trash cans.

The film ends with a "Lord of the Flies" type scene in Tigerland, where a bitter soldier loads his rifle with live ammunition.

This film isn't for everyone, but it will be lovingly appreciated by veterans that were never on board 100% with their own decision to enlist.