10 War Films That Broke All The Rules

Casualties of War may be one of very few mainstream films to depict the US military as outright villains, but in terms of narrative The Shining director Stanley Kubrick's 1987 Vietnam drama Full Metal Jacket is almost as audacious.

A conventional war film would likely follow a lone loveable loser through the gruelling process of boot camp, see him emerge on the other side a tougher, better man, and then send him off on an adventure saving lives and killing baddies with his newfound friends.

Instead, the tour de force opening act of this flick follows Vincent D'Onofrio (in a dazzling performance he has yet to equal) as boot camp and R Lee Erney's relentless drill sergeant gradually destroy his confidence, personality, and humanity.

So he grabs his rifle, crack shot that he is now, and kills himself and the sergeant.

The second half of the film follows the misfortunes of a dead-eyed troop of soldiers in Vietnam, but by now the point is clear. The institutions break individuals, the individuals are sent to the slaughter, and any claims of bravery or heroism are a tragic joke in this bleak, blackly comic horror story.