Born on the Fourth of July

This second Vietnam War film by director Oliver Stone, which is based on the biography of Vietnam war veteran an antiwar activist Ron Kovic (born 1946), explores how an all-American boy becomes disillusioned with his nation and how a war-hungry nation injures its citizens, subjects that transcend the Vietnam War era and remain relevant today. Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), eagerly volunteers to become a Marine, and his second tour of duty ends when be becomes paralyzed from the mid-chest down. After enduring apathy, disrespect, and detachment from his VA healthcare team and from neighbors and ordinary citizens, he becomes an active critic of the war through the Vietnam Veterans against the War. This is the second installment of Oliver Stone's Vietnam Trilogy, which includes Platoon (1986) and Heaven & Earth (1993).