Every Oliver Stone Movie Ranked Worst To Best
6. Born On The Fourth Of July
Before Tom Cruise started pulling off all kinds of insane stunts in the Mission Impossible series, "Born on the Fourth of July gave him some early momentum. It was the second of three films Oliver Stone directed on the Vietnam War and for this one he focused more on the homefront.
Cruise plays the real-life figure Sargent Ron Kovic, a teenager inspired to join the conflict, only to grow bitter and disillusioned. After he is paralysed from the chest down in battle, Kovic returns to the United States and soon finds himself joining the anti-war movement. It's a two-sided approach that really sells the director's vision and tone.
Stone had been planning his 1986 classic Platoon when the real events were unfolding, but once Ron started making appearances in the media, a screenplay came together with Stone's input. Due to other projects, Born on The Fourth of July would arrive belatedly in 1989.
The psychological trauma Kovic goes through is incredibly well-presented on screen and because of Tom Cruise's high marketability as an actor, the film was very successful, sliding into the top ten highest grossing releases of that year. If nothing else, it proved that Stone still had a shrewd mind for recreating the Vietnam conflict on-screen.