Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Phil Mc Carty Other reviewers have noted how this film got lost in the slipstream of Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, unfairly. I fully endorse this view. It is gritty, honest and superbly well acted. It circumvents war movie cliché; no metaphorical arrows pointing at heads saying "he's dead meat". No "star power" to guarantee survival in the final frame. No sugar coating relations between the black soldiers and the white guys. The combat is nasty, brutal and honest. And - hooray - officers, especially junior officers, are not portrayed as out-of-touch and incompetent. As a former soldier myself, the bookending of the film with radio calls is very telling. Especially at the end. Hisssss.... I'm British, but knew a veteran of the real battle, a librarian conscripted. He said he could not watch it without tears in his eyes in places.

sleded i must say... I didn't care for it.I thought the writing was weak and cliché, tried to hard to be a Vietnam film instead of allowing it to become one (if that makes sense) i thought the acting was poor and the special effects (even for 1987) were amateurish. not one character sold me. I don't miss too many war movies...and this one had a good reputation, but im not sure where it came from.to say it was the best Vietnam war movie ever, really takes away from some great films. maybe i went in expecting too much because of the reputation this film has, but i left disappointed

mpurvismattp I remember my Father making me watch "Platoon" when I was younger to show me and a friend of mine that war was not a good thing or a "cool" thing. I believe he got his point across quite effectively as it shows what war is like to a certain degree. Although I find "Platoon" a great movie I still much prefer "Hamburger Hill" for some reason, I have never been to war and hope I never do but to hear vets say that this movie gets it right where so many others haven't is a statement I would agree with whole heartedly. Like I said I've never been but the realism and the insanity of war oozes out in this film and it seems more genuine then the rest. The scenes of friendly fire and the men slipping down the muddy hill, so close to victory and yet so far from the end are especially powerful to me and although it's just a movie it seem very real and leaves you cringing and uncomfortable in some moments and laughing and smiling in others. It seems absolutely crazy to lose so many good men to gain one muddy hill out in the middle of Vietnam, but when they do it makes you feel like that was everything...to them and to the ones who never made it to the top.

stosh87 As the extra material points out, this was the 1st movie for many of the cast. Only Don Cheadle and Dylan McDermott have moved on, as I can tell. the rest have stayed rested.Courtney Vance played a racial character with over-the-top racism.While the movie is based on a true event, it was acted poorly and was a poor script. In retrospect you have to wonder why the commanders of this siege just didn't pull off all the troops and just napalm the whole hill for about 3 days.. I've seen most war movies and this has to rank around the very bottom in execution. "Inglorious basterds" was a better movie to watch.