The first hour of the film is almost exclusively about the three main characters, Steven, Nick, and Michael, at Steven and Angela's wedding which helps give an insight into their lives before the war. Doing this helps show the audience what they were like before the war. You usually don't get this portion of the story, but it is necessary for this movie because is a "coming home" story. You need to know what these characters were like before they left for the war to compare them to what they are like after.
The characters are affected by the war in very different ways. Steven breaks down and becomes mentally unstable after grazing his head in a Russian Roulette game and having both of his legs amputated. This causes not only a change in his life after the war, but also with Angela's life. This shows that the extend of the damage caused by the war was not limited only to those who physically went to Vietnam, but to even those who knew them. Nick is also changed immensely from who he was before the war. Nick stayed in Vietnam to play more games of Russian Roulette. He plays this game not for the money, because he sends a lot of the money to Steven, but to keep the rush they had during the war. He was changed so much that he became a completely different who only lives to play Russian Roulette. Mike finds him eventually and tries to convince him to stop playing and go home, but Nick refuses and ends up shooting himself during one of the games. Mike is changed the least negatively from the war. He has found a new respect for life and wants to make the most of it.
I think that this is an anti-war movie because it shows the negative affects that the war had on not only people who went there and fought, but also on people who knew those people. If a soldier did survive, he brought back emotional baggage that was so severe that it was hard to fully recover.
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