Rain

I'd say a fairly good movie, on a fairly good script, with a small cast of fairly good, fairly unknown actors. Just didn't seem "great" in any way, but it does relate to a side of the Vietnam war that most people aren't aware of. The statistic given was that 4500 dogs served in the war. I certainly was not aware of this, or in what capacity they were used. I found the movie worthwhile for the telling of this story.

Didn't know about the "Animal Planet" production, but anyone expecting this to be a "nice doggie" movie for the whole family should note that it still feels like a war movie with a dog, rather than a dog movie with a war. Considerable suspense and some action, but no extremely violent scenes. But the "little girl with dog" scenes that start the movie aren't typical of the rest of it. (Which may be a good thing).

The "love story" does seem a bit contrived and artificial, but it did provide a break from the "military guys fighting / military guys talking with other military guys" which otherwise would make up the majority of the movie.

Incidentally, I did notice a "military content advisor" on the credits, and quite a few military agencies given thanks, so I'm not sure what was going on with the weapons inconsistencies that another reviewer mentioned, but I'm no expert on these so I would never have noticed.

Gave it a 6.

Compared to most dog films this was great. The dog itself carried the film. As for the girl, I think she would have risked it to help Rain without being asked. The industry is crying out for a movie featuring a dog to equal the horse in "War Horse". At the start of the film the dog seems very docile, a family dog, unsuitable for war but yes dogs can be trained. As 4,500 dogs were sent out to Nam one must assume that indeed great bravery was shown by the dogs. Just as wars have improved health care for human veterans (although many later become neglected) I wonder how much medical care dogs get in the military. I know of at least one veterinarian in the UK uses his own intelligence and new "war injury" technology to get animals with serious leg and spine problems, to walk again. The tragedy is that 5 million healthy young dogs are euthanized every year in the USA because dogs and puppies are abandoned.

I just saw this movie on television and was moved by it. At least men and women have a choice but the dogs have no choice to be in war and they don't give up and will do anything to save people. I am glad that I saw this movie and thought it was well done to show the part these dogs play in saving the lives of many. I recommend it to anyone to open their eyes to more of what really goes on in war. Many different movies about war focus on different aspects and all are important to show us and make us appreciate what people and animals like dogs and horses, have to go through. I don't know anything about the level of acting ability , it was enough to move me and that is good enough for me.

I started watching this film late at night and despite the awful acting and sickeningly heart-rending story-line, I had to watch to the end to see what happened. Rain turns in the best performance out of all the actors, especially in the "overcoming his fear of water" scene, and has no doubt gone on to better things since this film. It was weird though that it was such compelling viewing.

Unfortunately the end was nauseatingly happy.

I expected a low-budget movie that was long on story and short on effects. The story, however, was full of hackneyed elements (the jaded Lt. who won't trust the new guy, the platoon full of chip-on-the-shoulder vets, the new guy who earns the platoon's respect through his grit...and on and on). It was also piled high with errors in detail that just irritated me. It seems as though there were no military advisors at all working on this film. Few or none of the rifles carried by the platoon dated to Vietnam. In one case, a sharpshooter picks off a VC sniper using a rifle developed in the mid-90's that shoots pistol ammo - hardly the high-accuracy piece they were trying to depict.

The romance that appears in the film is also laughable and totally unnecessary. That the lead character places his love in harm's way with little regard for her safety is obnoxious - and probably worth a court martial.

I am an animal lover, and when I heard Animal Planet was going to show the story of military dogs in Vietnam, I was excited. The story, though, is thin and the attention to detail was so poor as to be a distraction.