Blu-ray Review – Dog Tags

In the 1980s, filmmakers became more confident when exploring the darkness and psychological horrors of the Vietnam War, with Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning "Platoon" developing audience interest in the experiences of those who fought in the conflict. There were many releases during the decade, some providing a respectful understanding of war, while others elected to transform the event into exploitation entertainment. 1987's "Dog Tags" is somewhere in the middle. Writer/director Romano Scavolini looks to pour his own experiences as a war reporter into the screenplay, which details the agony of survival and battlefield confusion, blended with a little "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" flavoring to achieve some level of marketplace accessibility. "Dog Tags" isn't "Platoon," but Scavolini has a powerful understanding of sacrifice, and he's attentive to the many dangers of the landscape, trying to generate more of a nightmare scenario than something mournful. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com