The Boys in Company C

The Boys in Company C is a very uneven movie, which makes for a mixed experience. R. Lee Ermey does his iconic drill instructor role 9 years before Full Metal Jacket which in itself makes this movie a must watch!

Stan Shaw is perfect for the Lead Role as Tyrone (and as a side note: My God can the man sing!) and the other main characters are good for their roles.

Sadly the script is underwhelming and a bit unbelievable at times with countless insubordinations and dangerous acts which would make for court martial 10 times over for each of the main characters. The acting is not good for the emotional scenes and although the setting and scenery is well done, other aspects like explosions and fighting falls very short. The story never really evolves and comparing to later Vietnam war movies it's not anywhere close.

Still, there are some shining moments: The beginning is good, boot camp is great and R. Lee Ermey is awesome, the initial scenes in Vietnam are good and Stan Shaw is almost too good for this movie, but again, the movie sadly never lifts.

Yes, the body count insanity is shown in a good way which I like, but this drowns on the otherwise inconsistent script.

I'm impressed with a movie like this coming out just 5 years after USA left Vietnam, and that they casted an African American as the Main Lead, and I'm sure it was a good movie at the time it came out.

Watch it if you're a fan of Vietnam War movies, but don't expect another Full Metal Jacket or Platoon.

Even though the low budget of this film shows through at times, it still manages to be a compelling and intense portrayal of the whole experience of being sent to Vietnam, right from boot camp up to fighting. It really feels like one is there is at times, and it is fascinating to watch the changes that characters undergo in the course of the film. The symbolic soccer themes and ideas do not always work, but they still retain some power. The camera-work and editing suits the project fine, and the film also has an excellent, haunting song, "Here I Am", to go with the material. It is quite similar in many ways to 'Full Metal Jacket', and even though the technical side and acting might be inferior here, this is still one hell of a fine movie depicting the experiences of being involved in war from a recruit's point of view.

As one of the actors in Boys in Company C , I can say the reality of war was not completely there. However, It did touch on some realistic moments.. Truly Full Metal Jacket was more the real thing, especially Boot camp..I went through Parris Island in 1966 and it was even more brutal I think..Example... When Pyle was eating the jelly donut and all the others were paying for it. In the boot camp I went through, every time anyone screwed up , we all paid for it. R Lee Ermey a long ago friend was the real thing.. Bye the way , Pyle would never have had that full metal jacket because all the brass was collected after the firing line to make sure no one would shoot the DI.. LOL Stan Johns ,Boys in Company C.....

An interesting war film that is mostly overlooked by Full Metal Jacket fans. Stan Shaw gives a good performance that when I which makes me wonder we he hasn't had a bigger career.

This movie shares the soccer connection with the Caine/Stallone movie "Victory" (1981/I). I actually think the soccer scenes were better done in Company C.

Nonetheless this movie is an interesting choice which any war movie buff should not miss...

I loved it, and guess having been a soldier, I got the humor of it. Everyone compares it to "Full Metal Jacket" but "Three Kings" reminded me more of it.

I have to have this one in my DVD collection. I was told that it was done and released as a very limited number.