I am sure the principal actors did their best, but ultimately they both really lack something...something hard to define.Ladd at least makes me believe she could have been a nurse in Viet Nam. On the other hand, I have trouble believing Ken Wahl made it out of high school, much less made it through medical school, life as an intern, and then independent doctor.Still...their romantic moments are sketchy. They both don't convince me of the "irresistible" attraction. Ladd seems a little too un-emotive and bland...again, probably an accurate portrayal of a war time nurse, forced to distance herself from what she is seeing everyday...thus kind of turning us away from sympathizing with her. By the time she is shaking from her brush with death with the black marketeers her acting seems believable, but just still manages to be cold. Accurate but not endearing. As a side note she looks excellent in a white bra.Ken Wahl. The less said the better. I am sure he is a likable. I can believe that someone saw him and thought "he's going to be a big star!". They were wrong. This movie proved it. This was his vehicle and, maybe it was that huge unibrow, but every time there was a close up of him...the audience probably focused more on that than on his attempts at "emotions". Cheryl Ladd also got her big chance with this...and I suspect she can thank her relationship to the man the production company is named after, Alan Ladd Jr. president/founder of the Ladd Co....her relative by marriage. But in the end there was a reason she was relegated to TV beyond this and it shows up here.The movie was an interesting, but rambling romp. It might have been a sleeper hit or even a regular one...but Wahl and Ladd were not the two actors to put it over the top.

One of the best and least known post Vietnam War movies. Wahl and Ladd are great, and it has a great supporting cast. I love Cyril O'Reilly in this movie, as the Special Operations, semi-psycho Zuma, and he has some of the best lines. He makes a great juxtaposition to Wahl's character.It's amazing how good the filming of the battle scenes are. Much better than a lot of really high budget war films. And, again the supporting cast is absolutely golden (I mean, it's got R. Lee Ermey in it, before he was in Full Metal Jacket, and just as good). Stephen Lee is great, too, and I became a fan of his and Cyril O'Reilly's just from watching this movie.And, the writing, and the story is almost perfect. A war movie that you can watch with your girl and you will both enjoy it.

A surprisingly good warmovie.It has realistic battle scenes, competent acting plus it shows the Vietnam war from the medics' and doctors' point of view. The romance was believable and Cheryl Ladd was always a decent actress (and good-looking).Battle scene highlights: the NVA assault on a USMC firebase. Those Marines' bloodlust was on a par with the NVA's!I don't like chicks' movies, or *romantic* movies. I do agree however, that nearly all warmovies need a healthy dose of realistic romance. 'Purple Hearts' provides us with just that.

This movie was so beautiful. After seeing it, I read some of the reviews and I thought they were not anywhere near to what I saw. I always like to see movies where people find love where they least expected it. I just knew that in the end, he would find her at the hospital. This movie was perfect. I would definitely see it again.