The Boys in Company C
Five young marines seek a safer assignment through a soccer match while Vietnam turns their military service into an absurd and devastating test of loyalty.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Graphic
- darkly comic
- sardonic
- tense
- war film marathon
- historical cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as entertaining and ultimately moving, combining comic military situations with a forceful antiwar emotional impact.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The recruits are promised exhibition matches behind the lines if they defeat a rival soccer team, making sport a concrete escape mechanism within the Vietnam deployment.
The company commander repeatedly endangers the recruits, while corruption involving the South Vietnamese ally intensifies their distrust of official leadership.
Boot-camp humor and the bizarre soccer bargain coexist with futile combat, danger, and deeply moving wartime losses.
The story follows five young marines from basic training through their tour, emphasizing their vulnerability, solidarity, and disillusionment.
Films like The Boys in Company C, and why
Go Tell the Spartans
Vietnam War setting, antiwar perspective, young soldiers confronting military incompetence and moral disillusionment
Platoon
Vietnam combat drama combining battlefield danger with institutional corruption and tragic disillusionment
Catch-22
War satire balancing dark comedy, absurd military bureaucracy, and emotional human stakes
Escape to Victory
Association football used within a war narrative to expose exploitation, morale, and the possibility of escape
Movie Details
- Director
- Sidney J. Furie
- Release Date
- 1978-02-02
- Runtime
- 125 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (84)
Cast
- Stan Shaw
- Andrew Stevens
- James Canning
- Michael Lembeck
- Craig Wasson
- Scott Hylands
- James Whitmore Jr.
- Helen McNeely
- Noble Willingham
- R. Lee Ermey
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video
- Buy
- Amazon Video
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Boys in Company C about?
- Five young marines seek a safer assignment through a soccer match while Vietnam turns their military service into an absurd and devastating test of loyalty.
- What is The Boys in Company C like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Boys in Company C as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Boys in Company C violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Boys in Company C as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Boys in Company C?
- Critics broadly regard the film as entertaining and ultimately moving, combining comic military situations with a forceful antiwar emotional impact.
- Which films are like The Boys in Company C?
- Films with a similar feel include Go Tell the Spartans, Platoon, Catch-22, and Escape to Victory.
- How long is The Boys in Company C?
- The Boys in Company C runs 125 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Boys in Company C?
- In United States, The Boys in Company C is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video.
