Movie review: Born on the 4th of July

First things first, I think the real question is why do I keep subjecting myself to war movies that are almost inevitably weird? With that in mind, I went into watching this movie thinking that it would probably be at least a bit weird like Full Metal Jacket (as you can see, that movie has stuck with me nevertheless) and Apocalypse Now, which was even weirder than FMJ. And again, also didn't have the virtue of having Vincent D'Onofrio even though he was fat and unsightly in FMJ. 
In any case, this movie that I just watched has Tom Cruise in it. I have no particular strong opinions towards Tom Cruise but I think I like him a bit more than George Clooney and even Brad Pitt. The movie was based on events that happened to a real person, and apparently said person wrote a book so I think I may have to try and read that sometime. Incidentally, Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now were also based on books (The Short Timers and Heart of Darkness, respectively, both of which I have read). The plot is about a young man who joins the Marines (which were also featured in FMJ, however this movie did not have the boot camp scenes like FMJ did. I saw a jelly doughnut the other day and thought about FMJ) to go fight in the Vietnam War. Initially, he is enthusiastic about serving his country as he had always dreamed of doing such since he was a young boy. However, in Vietnam he ends up accidentally killing a number of helpless civilians as well as a fellow soldier (also accidentally). In short order he gets shot through the back (in the scene, you can see a huge bloody hole in his back) which leaves him paralyzed. He returns to the US and spends time in a veteran's hospital which is decidedly unpleasant. These events eventually cause him to become disillusioned about the war and become an anti-war activist. 
Similarities and differences:
This movie took a different approach than FMJ; in FMJ the main character(s) - Joker and Private Pyle who meets an unfortunate end at his own hands - are kind of just thrown into the whole war thing - they are more passive than Tom Cruise's character in Born on the 4th of July. FMJ also takes place entirely before and during the time that Joker goes to Vietnam; it ends with a scene of him still in Vietnam reflecting on the events that have happened since the beginning of the movie. It's sort of an interesting final scene, very stark; as I remember it, they are marching through somewhere with flames in the background, it's dark and they're chanting ironically a children's song. Joker says that he is "no longer afraid." Reflecting on FMJ, I begin to wonder what happened to Joker after the end of the movie. I don't remember if the book went on to describe events after what were shown in the movie. For some reason, I feel like what happens to him is that he eventually gets killed in Vietnam. 
The movie reminded me a bit of the scenes in Forrest Gump where Forrest fights in the Vietnam War as well as what happens after that, in that he (Forrest) has a lady friend (Jenny) who is a hippie and involved in anti-war protests. A similar thing is seen in Born on the 4th of July - Tom Cruise's character has a lady friend who is also a hippie and an anti-war protester. However, Forrest Gump has a much lighter tone than Born on the 4th of July. 
In FMJ, there is a scene where Joker is in a helicopter and watching another soldier shoot at civilians on the ground. Joker asks of him "How can you shoot women and children?" In Born on the 4th of July, there's kind of a similar scene in that civilians get killed but it's different than the one in FMJ. 
Incidentally I feel like I should mention that there was a lot of profanity in this movie. I wasn't particularly bothered, but there was a lot. So maybe don't watch this movie around other people if they would be bothered by the profanity. 
In any case, I was quite surprised that this war movie was NOT weird. Perhaps that was because it didn't take place entirely in the war zone, like the other ones I've seen. It also made me wonder if there are such things as pro war movies, seeing as this one and FMJ can be considered anti-war movies. Tom Cruise did a good job of acting in this movie, I think. I would be inclined to watch other movies that he's been in, perhaps.

Further reading: 
Here is an interesting article that offers some additional relevant commentary on Born on the 4th of July; mainly (tl;dr here) that it is prescient and still relevant to today's society; unlike other Vietnam War movies like FMJ and Apocalypse Now that are more bound to the times they were made in. 
Here is an article with some trivia about the movie.