Good War Story

Like anything else, this movie has both good and bad qualities. If you are looking for a good war movie, then this is a good choice. It does have plenty of bloody and gruesome scenes. These scenes are aided by the fact that there are some humorous scenes that will allow the viewer to loosen up a bit before turning them back into the war plot.

I watched this movie as part of a Latin American Culture class and was able to see how it reflects the political realities of El Salvador at the time, yet does nothing to reflect the culture of the place. The movie shows American involvement in the internal affairs of the country and in the training of El Salvador's military. It also allows the viewer to grasp the horrors of living in the country during that period. We get to see the behavior of both the guerillas and the military through the eyes of two Americans, a reporter looking for a story and his friend.

As for the way the culture of El Salvador is portrayed, Oliver Stone made a couple of mistakes. The most disgusting of these involves a scene in which the American reporter is lying on a hammock with a Salvadorean woman after making love. The scene shows her son, probably around nine years old, watching tv in the same room. It disgusted me to see that anyone would think it possible that Latin American culture would permit this sort of behavior.

In summary, the movie is good if you are looking for a war movie, but not if you want to learn about Latin American culture.