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Platoon (1986)

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106 out of 134 people found the following comment useful :-
Perfection... or as close to it as we're ever likely to see, 28. April 2004
Author: Mark Davies (blinkchester@aol.com) von Chester, England

Its hard to know where to start with such a breathtaking film. Oliver Stone's Platoon is quite simply the best Vietnam war film ever made in my opinion. Everything about it is as close to perfection as we are likely to see. Charlie Sheen plays the lead, and Willem Defoe and Tom Berenger play the two sergeants that form a key part of the plot.

Chris Taylor (Sheen) is torn between the sergeants. Barnes (Berenger) is the battle hardened, brutal murderer, who uses the war as an excuse to tender to his sadistic pleasures. Elias (Defoe) is the other side of the spectrum. We get the sense that he has wrestled with his inner demons, but he has successfully come through to the other side. He has compassion for his fellow man, and he uses drugs as a form of escapism from this brutal war. The two symbolise the struggle that Taylor must face if he is to survive out in Vietnam.

Oliver Stone perfectly captures war. The shooting is frantic and impossible to follow. It perfectly disorientates us, just as the soldiers were. We have no idea who is being shot at, and neither do they. We follow the war at ground level, and see the brutalities first hand. Having served in Vietnam, the film is loosely based on Stone's time out there, and Taylor loosely based on himself.

Full Metal Jacket showcases how inhumane the war was, Apocalypse Now turns it into a story about life in general, and hopelessness, but Platoon has everything. Trying hard to avoid the old cliché, but if you only watch one war film, make sure it is this one. Nothing else can come close.

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92 out of 112 people found the following comment useful :-
within Vietnam and beyond, 8. Mai 2004

Author: red_core von Silicon Valley, CA

Platoon is generally regarded as one of the strongest anti-war films of all time. While this is certainly true, what's often overlooked -- at least after only one run through the film -- is that it's chiefly a tale of God vs. Satan, and the war is there to set a perilous backdrop. No doubt, Platoon shows the Vietnam War was a big mistake, but being a fictional documentary on Vietnam is far from its purpose.

The story is told from the point of view of Chris Taylor (solidly played by Charlie Sheen), a middle class kid who goes to Vietnam to do what he thinks is his patriotic duty. In the first ten minutes, Chris is shown in the uncomfortable jungle, struggling just to survive in the natural environment, let alone do any actual damage to the enemy. Quickly we're introduced to the well-known facets of the Vietnam War: The lack of sense of purpose, the wraith-like enemies, the obvious prevalence of the uneducated and poor among the fighting grunts -- and, soon, we see how these factors combine to cause widespread low morale and some actions of more than questionable ethical value.

Chris sees his platoon fragmented into two halves, each aligned with one of two men -- Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) and Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger). These two really are the driving force behind the film. They both have nominally the same enemy (the Viet Cong), but, really, it doesn't take long to realize that Elias is Good, and Barnes is Evil (the "enemy" does not enter into the moral equation of this film, at all -- it's an outside threat, same as malaria-carrying mosquitoes or even friendly fire). I won't deny it is a very black-vesus-white relationship, but this polarity does not feel contrived. Elias feels the futility of the war and has respect for life; Barnes fights the war doggedly and has no compassion, period. Both are efficient soldiers fighting the same enemy, but really -- as is at one point aptly put by Chris Taylor himself -- they are fighting for the souls of the platoon members, as the outcome of the war is never really in doubt.

Elias/Barnes' hold on the platoon, and the viewer, is developed through several war sequences. A chilling scene takes place in a village, where our soldiers find no VC, but they do find a cache of VC weapons. The inhumanity of certain soldiers, including of Sgt. Barnes, is unflinchingly shown here. It leaves the viewer with an empty feeling that is hard to shake, reminding of the similarly empty look on a woman's face after she sees her son killed in front her.

Elias doesn't take kindly to this kind of behavior. Elias and Barnes come closer and closer to open conflict, as Taylor becomes a veteran, obviously siding with Elias. Meanwhile, the fate of the platoon comes closer and closer to them, culminating in an explosively shot action conclusion. The end is dark, but morally satisfying.

Don't watch this movie for the action. That's not to say it's not well shot, or unrealistic. On the contrary. It's quite convincing. But it doesn't show war as a fun sport, and it's never a question of good guys versus bad guys. There will be no cheering for the "good guys" or anyone else in this one. Stone succeeds brilliantly at putting the viewer into the middle of it all, and it's not a pretty sigh (and definitely not for the squeamish, either).

On the other hand, if you want great acting, it's here. Dafoe and Berenger do incredibly well, with the incredibly good (and seemingly authentically sounding) script. Barnes is horrific as he challenges three men to kill him, drinking hard liquor out of the bottle. They don't make a move, and neither will you, though you'll hate him just as much as them. Dafoe is a ray of light in the dark as Elias. The cast is rounded out with many characters, all well played, and adding another dimension to the film.

The technical aspects of the film are superb, though one never thinks about them much, as the movie is completely engrossing. The production values seem quite good, as well. The most stunning peripheral aspect of this film, however, is the music. It's emotional and draining, and used to great effect -- listen for the main theme as you watch the village burn.

Watch this one a few times, and you'll likely be quite moved each time. I'll be surprised if you give it less than what I gave it: 9/10

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93 out of 116 people found the following comment useful :-
One Of The Best Movies Of The 1980s, 3. September 2003

Author: Theo Robertson von Isle Of Bute , Scotland

The 1980s in general and the mid 1980s in particular aren't highly regarded where pop culture is concerned , this is most especially true in cinema where films seemed to be written around their soundtrack in much the same way as Hollywood movies nowadays seem to be written around their special effects . PLATOON is one of the very few films from that period that has an emotional impact , an impact that it still retains while watching it in 2003.

Everyone else seems to have mentioned what makes PLATOON a classic anti-war ( Note it's anti-war , not anti American or anti soldier ) movie along with being a classic movie , so I won't go over old ground except to say THAT death scene is up there with all the other tear jerking scenes from 20th century cinema , don't be ashamed to say you cried

If PLATOON has a flaw it's in its duality , there's the good Sarge/bad Sarge , good officer/bad officer , good white guy/bad white guy , good black guy/bad black boy etc which is maybe a bit clichéd and possibly leads me to believe Stone is making an excuse/reason that the Americans lost in Vietnam because that spent so much fighting each other rather than the VC ( Though I do concede I'm possibly misinterpreting that as an excuse or even a reason since no one will confuse the politics of Stone with the politics of John Wayne ) while Taylor's character comes across as being more of a literary device rather than a real human being , but these are minor flaws

It's a shame to see war films from the last few years devoid of scathing anti-war sentiments like the ones seen here . PLATOON screams at you " War is hell and whatever the rights and wrongs of conflict you need a bloody good reason to wage war . Vietnam wasn't a good enough reason to sacrifice human lives "

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86 out of 118 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the greatest war films ever produced, an emotionally shattering tribute, makes you sit up and take notice., 14. Januar 2003
Author: Phil Arthur (rankfilm@yahoo.co.uk) von Durham

One of the few visionaries in contemporary film, Oliver Stone is known for his powerful and often controversial films. Stone's films seem to take our world and throw it right back in our faces. He has worked with a number of great actors, names such as Tom Cruise, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Hopkins, Val Kilmer and Charlie Sheen and in every instance has brought out the best in their explosive talents. Stone a pupil of Hollywood gangster film legend Martian Scorsese studying film under him in 1968 at New York University first entered Hollywood as a scriptwriter and won his first Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay when, in 1976, he adapted the screenplay of the film Midnight Express. In 1981 Stone directed his first film, The Hand, which starred British film legend Michael Caine and continued in the early 80s as a scriptwriter, writing scripts for a number of films including The Year of the Dragon, 8 Million Ways to Die and Brian DePalma's masterpiece Scarface. However it was in 1986 that Stone found major recognition as a fresh new director when he wrote and directed Salvador, starring James Woods. His first film took a political stance and addressed the real life horrors of war in El Salvador. It was Platoon released the same year, which catapulted Stone into the select list of Hollywood's influential directors, alongside names such as Spielberg, Scorsese and Kubrick. Other credits to Stone's name include Natural Born Killers, The Doors and Wall Street. Platoon is a very personal film for Stone as he experienced the horror of the Vietnam War first hand when in 1967 he landed in Vietnam and served with the second platoon of Bravo Company for 15 months. During his time in Vietnam he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his service in the war. Platoon, which was originally written in 1976, was to tell the story of the Vietnam War like never before. With a talented and dark cast, which included Charlie Sheen, Willem Defoe and Tom Berenger Stone's Platoon was hailed as one of the greatest films made about the Vietnam War. It won Stone his first ever Academy Award for Best Director as well as Picture of the Year. Platoon was also a success at the box office grossing $250,000,000 world wide, making it the third highest grossing film of 1986. Writer/Director Oliver Stone creates an emotional tribute dedicated to the memory of the men who fought in the Vietnam War. The story centres around Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen, Wall Street and Hot Shots) a middleclass college drop out who ships out and enlists to Vietnam. He finds himself on the front line and the audience experiences the hell that is war through his eyes. Taylor soon finds that there is a war far closer to home than the one being fought against the Vietnamese. The platoon Taylor enlisted in finds itself divided; on one side is sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger, Gettysburg) a morally corrupt killing machine, hell bent on murder, offering the men a straightforward solution to the problems of war. On the other is sergeant Elias (Willem Defoe, Spiderman) as much a killing machine as Barnes but retains some semblance of humanity and attempts to impose a level of compassion and responsibility on his men. Taylor finds himself between these two men and their personal war and describes it as a `battle for the possession of my soul'. Platoon is one of the best war films ever made. Stone brings all aspects of war to this film and draws on his first hand experience of the Vietnam War to convey the sheer emotion and horror of war. Its greatness lies in the level of detail incorporated in the film. Platoon leaves you emotionally motivated and helps you realise the things those who were actually there went through. The film is an emotionally shattering tribute to the veterans of one of the most horrific wars in history. Refreshingly the film moves away from the patriotic feel of most war epics. The men in the platoon perform great feats of bravery but not for their country, they are motivated by their terror, a kill or be killed scenario. Sheen delivers an inspiring performance as a troubled and somewhat naive soldier fighting to stay alive in the nightmare that is war. Willem Defoe plays sergeant Elias delivering a memorable performance as a brave and compassionate leader, Tom Berenger gives an equally memorable performance as sergeant Barnes, Defoe's nemesis; a ruthless evil murderer who uses war as an excuse for cruelty. Once every twenty years comes a film that touches the heart, Platoon is a truly earth shattering film and a tribute that proudly echoes the memory of those who fought and died in the Vietnam War. Platoon makes you sit up and take notice.

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65 out of 82 people found the following comment useful :-
Uncomfortable but very worthy view of war's impact on the young, 3. Juli 2002
Author: bob the moo von Birmingham, UK

At the height of the Vietnam War, America's teens are drafted into the war effort to find themselves in the middle of hell. One such young man is Chris Taylor. He is placed in a squadron where two sergeants have different approaches to the war – Elias is more about surviving without being brutal or cruel, whereas Barnes is crueller, more ruthless and more violent. During the course of his term, Taylor's very soul is torn between the two men as he deals with what he must do.

The first film in Oliver Stone's unofficial trilogy is arguably the best of the three. The basic story not only shows us what the war was like for those serving but also how the different personalities come out of those involved in it. As we follow Taylor we see him change as he is influenced by those around him and by his situation. It makes for an uncomfortable film but one that's worth watching. It's certainly a better war movie than things like Wild Geese or The Dirty Dozen, simply because it's a little more real to what happens than those ones.

Charlie Sheen has never been better than when he's acting for Stone. Here he gives one of his best ever performances as the innocent who is changed. Willem Dafoe is a great actor and here is no different – he also gives us one of the film's most enduring images so I'm a little biased. Berenger is another one for whom it's hard to think of a higher point reached than when he did this film. He is brutal and ruthless but he makes us support him in a strange way. The support cast are all good and contains a few famous faces (John C McGinley, Whitaker, Depp) however this is really a three man show.

Overall this is brutal and violent with no happy ending. At the end of the day isn't that what a war film should be?

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40 out of 51 people found the following comment useful :-
Still my favorite film, 13. März 2003

Author: bzb2001 von Nixa, Missouri

Every once in a while I will watch this film again and see if maybe I have grown tired of it. Surely after "Saving Private Ryan," "Titanic," "Crimes and Misdemeanors," or "Schindler's List" I have seen a better film. Well, after every viewing there is something about Oliver Stone's masterpiece that keeps me saying that I have never seen anything better.

I am a sucker for Vietnam pictures. "Apocalypse Now" and "The Deer Hunter" also rank in my top ten of all time. Stories about Vietnam can run the entire gambit of human emotions. "Platoon" is not only a documentation of America's sordid involvement in a foreign civil war, it is also a dramatic story of human response. A life developing in the most horrible of places.

There have been films put together better. There have been films with more detailed and interesting plots. But none have ever told a more touching story of human development set in the backdrop of bloody violence and inhuman suffering.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

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48 out of 68 people found the following comment useful :-
Best Vietnam War movie you can see, 22. Januar 2005

Author: brown301 von Huntington, WV

Platoon is a must see for any fan of war movies. The film that put Stone on the map, Platoon is considered by Vietnam Vets as the most realistic (my father having been one of them). But in keeping the maxim of giving credit where credit is due, much of the success of Platoon belongs to military adviser Captain Dale Dye, who has been linked to pretty much every great war movie in the last twenty years. Much accolades to Tom Berenger as well, whose performance as Sgt. Barnes is the tour de force of his career (the scene in the village towards the end of the movie is brutal, befitting the character). With a great script, great performances, and awesome cinematography, Platoon is a surefire classic.

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31 out of 43 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent look at Vietnam, 15. Mai 2002

Author: Agent10 von Tucson, AZ

This certainly rates as one of the best Vietnam films of all time. What I especially enjoyed was the realistic atmosphere of the film, entrenching the viewer into a world which seems surreal yet believable. Oliver Stone's real-life experience in Vietnam brought a gifted outlook to this film, one drawn by experience, not common Hollywood conventions. While this proved be a lesser film to the equally amazing Full Metal Jacket, it was not by much. The performances by Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen and John C. McGinley were exceptional, capturing the plight of the tortured soldiers.

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38 out of 58 people found the following comment useful :-
One man goes to war and stares at its two contrasting faces, 2. September 2004
Author: SteveThomp von Victoria, Australia

Platoon is an idealised crayon-sketch of Oliver Stone's Vietnam experience, with its fair dose of guns, bombs, blood, rain, jungle, evil murderous Asian faces and similarly evil murderous Americans. It lacks the gritty realism of Full Metal Jacket and shuns the hysterical philosophical nonsense in Apocalypse Now, instead telling its story and its ideas with action, atmosphere, characters and soundbites. Is it the best Vietnam War movie made to date? That title will always depend upon perspective and criteria, but Platoon comes close: it is well made, well written, craftily shot and cannily acted.

Green and inexperienced, Private Chris Taylor (Sheen) arrives in Vietnam, a volunteer rather than a conscript. At first he commits all the sins of a rookie: overloading his pack, making misjudgements and acting with zeal, although there is an obvious sense of his 'education' as we follow him through the film. He encounters two veteran sergeants: the brutal, battle-scarred, kill-em-all Barnes, and Elias, a dreamy pot-smoker with much more smarts, idealism and political nous. These men are obviously metaphors for those in Vietnam, those who are coordinating it from abroad, if not the whole conflict itself. The futility of a purely military solution to political problems and the wasteless murder of search-and-destroy missions are both obvious.

In terms of action, the archetypal Vietnam elements are all there: the jungle ambush, the village raid, the attack with rolling air support, and the set-piece battle against NVA regulars. These scenes will satisfy fans of hardcore war-porn, but they are not so overplayed, choreographed or downright gory that they will alienate the mainstream movie watcher. The viewer gets a very real sense of Vietnam as a 3-D war, with threats coming from all around you, not just the enemy in front. We leave Vietnam with Taylor at the end of his tour, and the whole thing is as untidy and unfair as it was when we arrived: the snivelling O'Neill (McGinley) survives because of his cowardice in battle, for example. In that respect it is a fairly unfulfilling story, though as a movie it succeeds on most levels.

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26 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :-
An important work, 27. September 2004

Author: ereinion von Oslo

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Platoon" was my first introduction to wartime reality.I was just a kid when first viewing it and the film left a powerful impression in me.Before that,I had only seen a couple of Rambo films and thats what I expected to get here,pretty much.It turned out to be something quite different from that,although it would take me a few years to realize just how different.

"Platoon" is Oliver Stone's breakthrough picture and a landmark in Hollywood history of the 80's.It features almost every well known actor on the rise from that era,most notable ones being Forest Whitaker,Johnny Depp,Willem Dafoe,Francesco Quinn and Charlie Sheen.

Why is it a landmark film?It helped to bring more understanding into the hot issue of Vietnam war,although "Apocalypse Now!" had already worked out that subject in the most stunning way.Yet there was still something left to say for Stone.It was pretty much the same as Coppola said,but in another,more harrowing and less complex way.We got a closer glimpse of how it is to die,for one.Dafoe's heroic end is one of the most dramatic scenes in history of war films.

A strong issue here is the abuse of military codes and discipline.Tom Berenger's sadistic,disturbed sgt. Barnes is the perfect example of a warrior playing god,or angel of death, and fighting a war by his own rules.Berenger plays Barnes so well that it really gives you the chills watching him and you want him dead.Sgt. Elias is his counterpart in every way,as he really cares for his men and is in touch with the human in him always.

He is not popular among the lowlifes like the redneck psychopath Bunny (great early role by Kevin Dillon) and the spineless racist O'Neill in John McGinley's incarnation.

Another spineless character is the young lieutenant,who on one hand is a greater sinner than Barnes.He has no control over the men under his command whatsoever and refuses to take responsibility or even feel the guilt for not doing anything to prevent the massacre of the village committed by Barnes and his butchers.Here we see the effect that the horrors are having on private Chris,as he in a fit of frustration and anger over the situation he is in tortures a sick and frail creature of a man and ends up in tears.Its a powerful and riveting scene which highlights the film's message against war,showing its inhumanity and absurdity in the most shocking way.

The final battle is very brutal and well shot.It sums up the whole Vietnam war and the strategy of the American army.The napalm kills not just the Vietcongs but also Americans.Ironically,it saves Chris' life as he is about to be killed by Barnes during their confrontation.Bunny gets what he deserves and Junior,who is the most despicable of the black characters here,also dies.This may be seen as director's own judgment.The only other sympathetic character still alive by this time,the underground lord Rah, is left alive.Francesco Quinn shows here that he is capable of taking over his father's legacy.

In the end,this film is not flawless,but it is a perfect document of the madness that occurred in Vietnam 1964-73.And its consistent to its very end,which by the way is very touching and almost made me cry the second time I watched it.It is funny how one can feel both happy and sad about leaving a war torn place.Such are the feelings that a war conjures up in a man.It is almost like Chris was sad he was leaving,or maybe the emotions that were bubbling under surface just came out for real.

Any which way,this film will always be remembered as the one that gave a true and unpolished picture of mankind at war at a time when Hollywood producers made an attempt to glorify the US army and cast an eclipse on its disgraceful stain,transforming the killing into culture.Ironically they succeeded.8/10

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