After a handful of films that really didn't exploit his manic comic talents, Robin Williams exploded on to the screen and made this film a scatological one-man show.

He plays a crazy, over-the-top forces DJ who wakes up Vietnam in more ways than one with an irreverent radio show that earns him sacks of fan-mail and the anger of his officer colleagues.

Director Barry Levinson gave Williams his head, so much of the dialogue was either changed or ad-libbed by the comedian to suit his own style and persona.

The result is stream-of-consciousness lunacy and wicked one-liners delivered with machine-gun rapidity (before the plot's developments wipe the smile off his face and ours) and it earned the star an Oscar nomination.

Immensely enjoyable for much of the way even if, ultimately, it's much ado about nothing - and all too soon turns into the usual grim and depressing catalogue of rising casualties and American atrocities.