Before writing this review, there were two others, one a rave, one a pan. The truth is, of course, in between. It is actually a decent movie, and the pan makes less less sense than the rave.
The title, and even the first few minutes of the movie, suggest an old Mickey Rooney type fun during a war movie. This was no doubt deliberate, and was a good ploy to fool us into a drama.
It is a war drama, mixed in with much action. Most of the action is not to be taken too seriously, as when one character takes out an entire outfit with a suicide pack of grenades, not even leaving a wounded man left.
This is probably the only over the to incident, and it pales in comparison to most of today's extremely goofy war scenes. Much of what is said and done is credible.
The best part of the movie is that it deals with real life war wounds, as opposed to other movies in which people just die and their troubles are all over. The main incident in this movie is about permanent damage inflicted during the conflict, damage that a character must live with. That is what makes this movie superior to most.
You can tell it had a small budget, and not many effects, which will turn off the special effect dorks, but the story is there, and the characters are multi dimensional. Even the crass, unlikable character show redeeming qualities. A few characters are one dimensional, such as the lead NCO. Yet a few scenes are added to show a lighter and more realistic side of him which makes him more believable.
The movie shows real life consequences, and doesn't get a bit preachy. Characters aren't killed because they are too good or don't fit the profile of a dork's favorite (but one dimensional) characters. They are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time (except the suicide guy, in the scene that takes this movie down a few notches.) This won't go over well with MASH disciples, because the Americans are the good guys. MASH was a good story, and has good lessons, but it is very one sided to the point of silly, and it is refreshing to see another side to the story, which has been silenced since this era. I don't know that either side is completely right, but to silence either side and only let one have a voice would be extreme bigotry. So I recommend a few movies like this for a counter balance. Add to that the story of the wounds one must live with, and you've got a movie that has value.