Rain

I'd say a fairly good movie, on a fairly good script, with a small cast of fairly good, fairly unknown actors. Just didn't seem "great" in any way, but it does relate to a side of the Vietnam war that most people aren't aware of. The statistic given was that 4500 dogs served in the war. I certainly was not aware of this, or in what capacity they were used. I found the movie worthwhile for the telling of this story.

Didn't know about the "Animal Planet" production, but anyone expecting this to be a "nice doggie" movie for the whole family should note that it still feels like a war movie with a dog, rather than a dog movie with a war. Considerable suspense and some action, but no extremely violent scenes. But the "little girl with dog" scenes that start the movie aren't typical of the rest of it. (Which may be a good thing).

The "love story" does seem a bit contrived and artificial, but it did provide a break from the "military guys fighting / military guys talking with other military guys" which otherwise would make up the majority of the movie.

Incidentally, I did notice a "military content advisor" on the credits, and quite a few military agencies given thanks, so I'm not sure what was going on with the weapons inconsistencies that another reviewer mentioned, but I'm no expert on these so I would never have noticed.

Gave it a 6.

I expected a low-budget movie that was long on story and short on effects. The story, however, was full of hackneyed elements (the jaded Lt. who won't trust the new guy, the platoon full of chip-on-the-shoulder vets, the new guy who earns the platoon's respect through his grit...and on and on). It was also piled high with errors in detail that just irritated me. It seems as though there were no military advisors at all working on this film. Few or none of the rifles carried by the platoon dated to Vietnam. In one case, a sharpshooter picks off a VC sniper using a rifle developed in the mid-90's that shoots pistol ammo - hardly the high-accuracy piece they were trying to depict.

The romance that appears in the film is also laughable and totally unnecessary. That the lead character places his love in harm's way with little regard for her safety is obnoxious - and probably worth a court martial.

I am an animal lover, and when I heard Animal Planet was going to show the story of military dogs in Vietnam, I was excited. The story, though, is thin and the attention to detail was so poor as to be a distraction.

Being an ex Queensland (Australian) Prison dog handler the piece that stood out for me as a major flaw was that a dog would never be allowed to be "off lead" when in this environment - the chances of loss of control of the dog and in fact loosing him would be too great To take the Nurse into the situation he did was unforgivable and the fact that once the persons who were attempting to take the dog, over powered they did not grab the weapons from them In Vietman there was a bounty on the ears from the dogs and the handlers patches Overall it was entertaining If anybody knows where I can obtain a copy please let me know There was an excellent documentary on Pay Television called "War Dogs" where they interviewed ex handlers,and persons who donated the dogs They re-enacted some situations that handlers and their dogs had been in and highlighted the failure to recognise the job that these dogs did during the war Most of them were handed to the Veitnamese or put down after the war ended How could a handler just walk away from his dog and return home without it after the bond that would have been formed with the dog and the love and devotion that the dog would have given during its working life When I retired from the Dog Squad I took my dog with me and he passed away six years after we retired

"Krammer" passed away at aged 11 and I had him cremated I intend to have his ashes buried with me when it is my time - he will never be forgotten

I started watching this film late at night and despite the awful acting and sickeningly heart-rending story-line, I had to watch to the end to see what happened. Rain turns in the best performance out of all the actors, especially in the "overcoming his fear of water" scene, and has no doubt gone on to better things since this film. It was weird though that it was such compelling viewing.

Unfortunately the end was nauseatingly happy.

Compared to most dog films this was great. The dog itself carried the film. As for the girl, I think she would have risked it to help Rain without being asked. The industry is crying out for a movie featuring a dog to equal the horse in "War Horse". At the start of the film the dog seems very docile, a family dog, unsuitable for war but yes dogs can be trained. As 4,500 dogs were sent out to Nam one must assume that indeed great bravery was shown by the dogs. Just as wars have improved health care for human veterans (although many later become neglected) I wonder how much medical care dogs get in the military. I know of at least one veterinarian in the UK uses his own intelligence and new "war injury" technology to get animals with serious leg and spine problems, to walk again. The tragedy is that 5 million healthy young dogs are euthanized every year in the USA because dogs and puppies are abandoned.