Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

Directed by Adrian Lyne, Jacob’s Ladder is about a Vietnam veteran name Jacob Singer (played by Tim Robbins) and his experiences post-war.

Strange things happened during their last battle in Vietnam where he was almost killed by a wound. He was airlifted out of the place, together with the remaining survivors of the onslaught. Nobody remembers exactly what happened, though.

The great thing about the film was that it withheld the nature of the battle up till the end of the film. He goes back to New York, got a doctorate, but does not use it. Instead, after a failed marriage, he works at a U.S. Postal Service where he met his girlfriend, Jezebel (played by Elizabeth Pena). He experienced terrible things, still, in New York. Because of this, he started suspected that his platoon was experimented on by the Army.

The movie was, at least, 50% dreams, flashbacks, and hallucinations, which I am not really a fan of. But the movie gave justice to it. Diving into what happened to him in the past will excite anyone. I could only describe it as not watching it as an audience, but watching the movie through the characters. The movie transports you to their time.

Also, the movie was very Inception-like. After watching the movie, you would not be sure if all of what happened was just a dream, was it all flashbacks, how about it being flash forwards?

The movie is a total mindfreak and I would definitely recommend this.