Born on the Fourth of July is a 1989 American film adaptation of the best selling autobiography of the same name by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. Tom Cruise plays Kovic, in a performance that earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Oliver Stone co-wrote the screenplay with Kovic, and also produced and directed the film. Stone wanted to film the movie in Vietnam, but because relations between the United States and Vietnam had not yet been normalized, it was instead filmed in the Philippines. Born on the Fourth of July is considered part of Oliver Stone's "trilogy" of films about the... Vietnam War—along with Platoon and Heaven & Earth . The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Film Editing. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing more than $232,000,000 worldwide and winning two Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a Directors' Guild of America Award. The film begins with Ron Kovic's childhood during a summer in Massapequa, New York.
more