larz928 I'm not going to go over the movie. Others have. I lived the time. The movie was believable. It drew me in and held me. It made me weep. I remember my friends. This film may not resonate for some. If you lived and experienced the time, watch this emotional, but not overwrought movie. It won't be shown often. It has the ring of authenticity, and you will feel what you felt then. You will be there.

g-bodyl Gardens of Stone is the second film Francis Ford Coppola has made about the Vietnam War, after 1979's Apocalypse Now. This movie is unfairly compared to Apocalypse Now, but the films are totally different. This film focuses more on the home front and the feelings Americans felt about the war. In that regard, the film hits a powerful chord. The film is also a romance film and I liked the main romance between the sergeant and the reporter, but the romance played between the two kids seem a tad underdeveloped.Coppola's film is about a battle-hardened sergeant who is an opponent of the Vietnam War and is desired to save the lives of soldiers sent abroad, but is continuously denied doing so. He decides to help the son of an old war friend while beginning a romance with a reporter who is in clear opposition from the war.The acting is admittedly great. James Caan is a solid actor who established a nice career and he was excellent here and gave some emotional speeches. He shared nice chemistry with Anjelica Huston, who played the reporter. James Earl Jones is as always excellent as Caan's best friend. D.B Sweeney was solid in his role, but I felt Mary Stuart Masteron's character could have been a little more developed.Overall, Gardens of Stone is a solid movie about the Vietnam War and the conflict it brought to the home front. Was the romance necessary for the film? Probably not, but it was a good addition to the story. In short, there was lots of opposition to the war as many soldiers paid with their lives for no apparent reason. This movie should not be compared with Apocalypse Now because they are two completely different movies. This is a good film with some powerful scenes, but it does not quite reach it's full potential. I rate this film 8/10.

otankgirl Right-wing, hackneyed, stereotyped. It's been 24 years since I first heard of this movie, so I have wanted to see it for a quarter century. Unfortunately it turned out to be an un-involving mess. And the absolute worst part is the jarring, atonal jazz-like musical score that yanks you out of every scene it infects. The next worst thing is the script, with "you've heard it before" dialogue like a film from the 1930's. Even the top-notch acting performances of Sweeney, Jones and Caan cannot overcome this stilted narrative. Fishburne gets one short scene, early, as the sadistic black Barracks Leader. "Gardens of Stone" is one of those train-wreck viewing experiences, that one wishes one had been warned about beforehand. The IMDb rating is currently 6.5, but a 2.5 would be more accurate.

dataconflossmoor War in general, and particularly the Vietnam War, is an issue which required socially conscious and intellectual rumination...This was a story about the home front, and how the overzealous, and wet behind the ears soldier wanted to get involved...Hovering around the travesty of the TET Offensive, oblivion to what was actually happening on the other side of the ocean, made acts such as combat, and grenades carried by four year old Vietnamese girls, just a little more glamorous!! Military bases in the United States were desperately seeking some form of amelioration, and they wanted to be vindicated, as well as be spoon fed justification for their actions...This film explores all the diverse elements of patriotism,and makes the actions of the military just and rational!! This film allows the moviegoer to look at things through the eyes of the entire military rank and file involved in the Vietnam War!! Point of order!!, only a soldier knows what being a soldier is all about!! Much more inherently so than someone with a profession, particularly a man who is a soldier by nature..There are those who join, or those who were conscripted, but after sifting through all of them, there are men who possess a rudimentary element to their constitution whereby they are nothing but soldiers!!!...If their country made a mistake, they did not make a mistake for following orders..What their initial agenda was intended for was to uphold and defend the principles and policies of the United States of America!! The bulk of this film focuses on the development of a soldier, the anxious fortitude he possessed to serve his nation...While protesters balked at what they believed our government was doing was wrong, the military men and women were doing what they thought was right...THUS THEY SHOULD BE COMMENDED FOR IT!! If a soldier loses his life in combat, he is cast away in Arlington National Cemetery to THE GARDENS OF STONE...Bear in mind that a soldier has a different perspective as to whether or not a soldier's life was lost for no reason whatsoever!! The catastrophic outcome of the Vietnam War allows provision for several different conundrums to prevail: Do we engage in war with a blind patriotic demeanor?...Do we engage in war for National Cause? Or, do we engage in war for political agreement?...Suddenly devastation has a depraved dinner bell awakening, and, more and more Americans became affected, emotionally, physically, and psychologically!!! What shatters the mental stability of Americans touched by war is that they are hit by facts that are not complicated, but, very simple..We got involved in a war, we lost...Americans disagree.. There's turmoil...A young men wants to serve his country...he gets killed!!!...Underneath it all, all of the characters in the movie are hit with the bittersweet reality that they are only human and they make mistakes..Their patriotism to the cause of War by way of contributing to the military was something they thought was in the best interest of their nation!! Right and wrong are not black and white issues, and platitudes such as these should not be taken with a jaundice eye!! There are many Americans who believe a nation is always justified in declaring and/or fighting in a war!! There are other Americans who even believe that we should get involved in a war merely for purposes of strengthening our national resolve..."Gardens of Stone" is a film which brilliantly delegates tragedy, and appropriates anger..When a young soldier is killed in Vietnam in the line of duty, the reactions of the characters in the movie are not derivative, nor is there just an obligatory deference, rather, there is a heart felt empathy and sorrow for the loss of a picture book example of a soldier as well as a man!! This individual had a moral imperative to expedite national allegiance...If a soldier and a soldier's mother and father can have a grass roots recognition of the purpose for losing a productive life, then so too should the mainstream American public recognize it as well!!! The issue that the Vietnam War was a miserable tragic error, and the issue that the Military must execute their duties to defend the honor and integrity of her nation, are dichotomous!!! By no means is this an anti-war speech!! Tremendous acting performances make "Gardens of Stone" a movie worth watching...Especially if you are in the mood to just be a human being!! This documentary style movie is poignant, compelling, and articulates the pride with which this nation should have for her military branches!!...A definite winner!! It appears as though everything Francis Ford Coppola touches turns to solid gold!!