Films involving Limb & Spinal Conditions

Limb & Spinal Conditions: Major Films

Title	Born on the Fourth of July (1987)
Alternative/Original Title
Disability	Limb
Country	USA
Length	144
Genre	War Biography
Rating	5
Director	Oliver Stone
Cast	Tom Cruise Willem Dafoe Kyra Sedgwick Raymond J. Barry Jerry Levine
Notes	After the true story of Ron Kovic a veteran of Vietnam now in a wheelchair. Considered one of the defining films of the Vietnam war and its aftermath. About the climb back from despair at discovering your body is no longer what it was; about doing something to change attitudes towards people like yourself; about Tom Cruise, superstar, showing you can act without standing up. He's not such a great actor as some claim but it is important such a superstar plays this role. This film is about making big statements (contrast 'Coming Home') about American angst re the Vietnam war. It is a film about consequences, mistakes by Kovic, by the government; about catastrophic physical injury and the mental repercussions; about long term hospitalisation; about a nation trying to bury you so you wish you were dead; about hospitals which treat you on a cost basis; about turning self-hatred outwards; about sex when you're impotent; about eventually acting politically. Everything is handled well which makes this a very good, rousing, film. But this film should have been made 15 years earlier (apparently Stone tried) then it might have helped bring about a change of attitude towards disabled vets rather than be an instrument of catharsis for its audience.

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