--- title: "Born on the Fourth of July: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/born-on-the-fourth-of-july/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/born-on-the-fourth-of-july" critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Born on the Fourth of July (1989): what the critics said Critics' score 79 from 12 reviews: 10 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics admire it, and the praise gathers first around Tom Cruise. Nearly every review calls his Ron Kovic a transformation, the star made convincing as a paralysed veteran stripped of dignity and turned into an activist. Stone’s ambition is the other point of agreement: reviewers see a wider canvas than Platoon, with Kovic’s journey from small-town patriot to protester standing for the country’s own loss of faith. The hospital sequences are singled out more than once. The reservations are about Stone rather than Cruise. Several reviews find the film too long, too loud and given to sermonising, with heavy episodes and swelling music doing work the writing should. The two mixed notices push further: the Los Angeles Times argues it stirs the emotions without engaging the mind on how Kovic’s politics change, and The New Yorker finds it a scream of rage built from portentous blackouts. Nobody dismisses it; the spread runs from raves to grudging respect. ## Radio Times — Adrian Turner Rating 5/5. Stone's biographical drama is a masterpiece occupying a broader canvas than Platoon, with Tom Cruise utterly convincing as the wounded veteran turned anti-war activist. The film reeks of authentic experience and regret from Kovic and Stone. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ub9njp/born-on-the-fourth-of-july/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 4/4. 20 December 1989. The film is one of the best of the year and a powerful statement about an American changing his mind about the Vietnam War. It excels through Tom Cruise's transformative performance as Ron Kovic and its focus on ideology and personal experience rather than just battle or recovery. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/born-on-the-fourth-of-july-1989) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1989. Stone's collaboration with Kovic results in a gripping, devastating film that shows America to itself in an unforgettable way. It creates a portrait of a pure-hearted boy whose beliefs are shattered by Vietnam, with stunning performances from Cruise and Dafoe amid visceral realism. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1988/film/reviews/born-on-the-fourth-of-july-1200428047/) ## The AV Club — Scott Tobias Rating B+. 18 July 2012. The critic finds the film an operatic, iconography-laden epic that equates Ron Kovic's story with America's own journey from 1950s idealism to Vietnam-era disillusionment. Stone's excesses are noted but ultimately redeemed by the film's patriotic sweep and Tom Cruise's transformative performance. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/born-on-the-fourth-of-july-1798173503) ## Empire — Barry McIlheney Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic praises the film's moving portrayal of one man's extraordinary life across turbulent decades and Tom Cruise's remarkable, transformative performance as the standout element. Some flaws are noted, including an overlong and overwrought structure with uneven handling of politicization, but these do not detract from its overall impact and emotional punch. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/born-fourth-july-review/) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 24 August 2006. In a profile of Oliver Stone, the film is praised for using American iconography to dramatize the shift from blind faith in military action to doubt and skepticism, presenting Kovic's arc as a potent symbol of generational change. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/oliver-stone-natural-born-filmmaker-part-1/) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 December 1989. Oliver Stone has made a bitter, seething postscript to Platoon, adapting Ron Kovic's memoir into a film about a patriotic young man's journey from eager soldier to radicalized anti-war activist after being paralyzed in Vietnam. The critic highlights the story's emotional and political depth as a portrait of lost faith and radicalization. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/20/movies/review-film-how-an-all-american-boy-went-to-war-and-lost-his-faith.html) ## Time Out — CM Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic calls it a more ambitious and accomplished film than Platoon, with its strength in the intense depiction of a man stripped of dignity and sexuality by war injuries. Cruise delivers a powerful performance, though Stone occasionally sermonises. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/born-on-the-fourth-of-july) ## The New Yorker Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 22 January 1990. Stone's film is a scream of rage at how Kovic was betrayed and neglected, while also showing his path to activism and an indictment of war. It is constructed as a series of heavy, meaningful blackout episodes with swelling music, committed to portraying the protagonist's total naiveté. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1990/01/22/1990-01-22-122-tny-cards-000139914) ## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 20 December 1989. Stone's film touches the emotions powerfully through bravura emotionalism and Tom Cruise's excellent performance but fails to engage the mind on key issues like Kovic's political transformation. It is a passionate but overly loud moral lesson on the macho American mentality that led to Vietnam. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-20-ca-482-story.html) ## The Playlist — Rodrigo Perez Rating B+. 23 September 2010. Stone delivers an outpouring of emotion centered on Ron Kovic's struggle, with Cruise giving a believable and relatable performance as the paralyzed veteran. The director's stylistic choices, including color temperature and slow motion, effectively highlight the story's themes and key incidents. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/films-of-oliver-stone-retrospective-20100923/) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 12 October 2003. The critic finds the film a memorable epitaph to courage, praising Tom Cruise's capture of the character's fighting spirit and sequences of blistering brilliance at the hospital and in Mexico. The film is noted as too long with occasional lapses into soft-core romanticism. [Read the review](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/born-on-the-fourth-of-july-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/born-on-the-fourth-of-july.md