Review: Platoon

Throughout the history of the United States, I don’t know if we can say that there has been a war more controversial than the one in Vietnam. It was viewed by many as brutal, difficult, and ultimately useless for the United States of America. Even President John F. Kennedy once said that the United States could not win for the simple fact that it was not our war. He saw many protesters ranging from ordinary citizens to public figures like Martin Luther King. Despite this, the war lasted almost 20 years and claimed countless lives. Oliver Stone was one of the men who experienced this war firsthand when he was sent to Vietnam. He directed the movie Platoon and based part of it on what he saw during his time in the service.

In 1967, Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) decided to drop out of college to join the army during the Vietnam War. After joining his platoon, he meets his two main sergeants who are polar opposites and many other soldiers who are in the same position, but most of them had no other choice. After starting his tenure, he begins to see how bad and devastating war could be and realizes how naive his own beliefs were. Platoon is a film that looks at the men who fought these battles and some of the events that changed their lives forever.

Obviously, one of the most important parts of any war movie will be the battles that are shown. In Platoon, these battles are frenzied and are everywhere. The American soldiers never knew when the Viet Cong would come or where they came from, but they were pretty sure there would be many and they would soon be outnumbered. Stone really went out of his way to show the audience how bad he got at times when all hell broke loose in Vietnam. I’m sure that was one of the important things he wanted to convey due to the fact that he served in that very war himself and saw a lot of these things first hand.

In addition to focusing on the war itself, Stone also takes a look at the battles that take place within this specific platoon. There is a tug of war between the two sergeants who lead this group of soldiers, drug use, problems between the new recruits and the boys already there and the tension between races sometimes overflows. He is careful to show the different aspects of military life that soldiers witnessed at that time. There were probably more things going on for those people back then due to the fact that most of them did not choose to enlist.

You have to remember the fact that draft still existed in America during the Vietnam War, so you basically had no choice but to join if you were elected. Because they didn’t really have a lot of options to go or not, you had several different reactions to everything that was happening. As shown in the movie, some of these men were very scared, some were about to collapse, and some just wanted to go out and kill something. You had to have a deep cast with actors in prominent roles to show this, as there were so many different types of people involved. From the ones who just wanted to go home to the warrior-minded soldiers, it’s all on display here.

We all know that wars will not only kill people, but they can also destroy lives and damage souls. Platoon takes time to show us why some of those things could happen with an approach that seeks to add realism to this particular battle. Nothing is glorified here, but the morality issues of some of its players and the war itself are. Platoon paints a picture of good vs. evil while in a world that is full of shades of gray. If you want to see a movie that has a lot of meaning to accompany great acting, writing, and directing, look no further than this award-winning epic.

Score: 4/5

Classification: R

Director: Oliver Stone

Cast:
Charlie sheen
Willem defoe
Tom berenger
Forest whitaker
Johnny depp
Kevin dillon
Keith david
Tony todd

Length of the film: 113 minutes

Release Date: December 24, 1986

Distributor: Metro Goldwyn Mayer

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