Platoon

Rating:
Summary: A Movie Everyone Should See
Review: I never saw this movie until I got the DVD. Alot of my friends saw this movie and alot of my relatives who were in the war kept telling me to see it. I am a history fanatic especially wars. I find a reat appeal to them. Not because of the deaths but because of the changes the envoke. Platoon a movie written by a man who lived through vietnam. A man who sat every night in mud and dirt wondering if he was gonna live till tomorrow. It has a prefect balance of blood and story. It shows how the mentality of men was changed by the time spent in the jungle. From the moment the movie starts and you see Charlie Sheen come off the plane to the dead bodies being loaded on. To the moment you see William Dafoe being gun down to the moment Charlie leaves the modd is set and you are taken to the time of waar as seen through the eyes of a soldier. This movie is a must for everyone so we may learn from the experience and it not happen again. A Movie well worth the Academy Awards it got and all the praise from movie goers and Veterans alike

Rating:
Summary: "What We Got Here Is A Crusader"
Review: At the time it was released, PLATOON was said to be so realistic that many Vietnam vets who viewed it had psychotic flashbacks. My best friend, Randy, served two tours of duty in Vietnam in the late 1960s, and because of these reports he was hesitant to see the film. Ultimately he attended a screening in the company of some two dozen other vets who sat together to provide each other with support. When the film was over they looked at each other. "Great film," they said. "But it wasn't like that. Not really." Then they all went out for coffee and argued over some of the movie's technical details. Randy says he has never met any vet who had a flashback episode from viewing PLATOON, and he regards the story as so much Hollywood hype. Whether the stories of flashbacks are true or not, one thing is clear: PLATOON does not capture the Vietnam experience for all vets, and it seems unlikely that any one film ever could.

Once we get past the film's reputation and actually look at it, what we have is an extremely well-done film that posits itself as "typical Vietnam experience" and then offers us an not-very-subtle morality tale. Although the film focuses on newly arrived soldier Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), the storyline focuses on the battle of wills between an ultra-hawk faction led by Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger) who don't care who they kill and an ultra-dove faction led by Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) who want to maintain some sort of sense of humanity and self-respect. The factions soon errupt into an internal war, with Berenger increasingly portrayed as a demon from the pit and Dafoe seen as a Christ-like figure, both symbolically fighting for the soul of young and impressionable Sheen.

In terms of combat scenes and violence, PLATOON is less horrific than you might expect. There are shockers, of course, but the film achieves its effect less from graphic violence than from suspense, and here it is extremely successful. Interestingly, the film also contains a covertly homo-erotic edge quite unlike that of any war film I've ever seen. When the characters talk about women, they refer to them as objects and the few women who appear in the film are targets of rape and murder, so the film equates heterosexuality with violence; on the other hand, it is impossible to escape the connotation of the scene in which Sheen is introduced to (i.e. seduced by) drugs in Dafoe's lair, which comes complete with party music, twinkle lights, and such lines as "put your mouth on this."

Although the black-and-white nature of the story is simplistic almost to the point of annoyance, a truly fine cast carries the film off extremely well. Sheen is actually the weak link here: although appropriately All-American-Good-Boy he is not greatly memorable. Dafoe, however, is astonishingly good, and although very one note Berenger is a powerful metaphor for evil. The supporting cast includes exceptional performances from the likes of Forest Whitaker, Kevin Dillon (particularly effective as the loathesome "Bunny"), and even a very young Johnny Depp. But Oliver Stone's direction and script has a "crusader" mentality that undercuts any complexity the film would have, and PLATOON ultimately emerges as determinedly anti-war to the point of propaganda; consequently it never digs as deep as you feel it should. But what the film does do, it does extremely well. Recommended, but keep your critical faculties fully engaged throughout.

Rating:
Summary: An unpleasantly violent movie
Review: I bought this movie for my partner, it is his favorite movie and the original was gnarled by the VCR. I watched a fraction of the movie and found what I saw extremely distasteful. If you find violence towards children and the mentally challenged offensive I recommend that you avoid this movie.

Rating:
Summary: The war epic defined
Review: No, "Platoon" does not have a bunch of soldiers storming a beach and being graphically cut down for twenty minutes, a la "Saving Private Ryan." However, what it lacks in gore and pyrotechnics it more than makes up for in little aspects of filmmaking like psychological depth, believable characters, and realistic portrayals of the impact of war on its participants. "Platoon" follows the unit of young enlisted man Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen, in a so-so performance). The platoon's lieutenant is inexperienced and in way over his head, leaving the unit in the hands of its sergeants, the friendly and easy-going Elias (Willem Dafoe) and the stern, battle-scarred (both literally and figuratively) Barnes (Tom Berenger).
The men in the platoon are divided for the most part between Elias and Barnes, with the more relaxed pot-smoking types (including many of the black soldiers) associating with Elias and the more stern and grizzled men gravitating toward Barnes. Taylor begins finding himself falling in with Elias and his friendly and easygoing crowd, but seems to also betray some of Barnes's influence in his anger towards the Vietnamese, as is evident during a particularly harrowing scene when the soldiers shake down a village's inhabitants. Much of the film centers on Taylors efforts to reconcile the disparate influences of the humanistic Elias and the Machiavellian Barnes. Barnes, as Elias tells Taylor, "believes in what he's doing," namely going to any lengths to win the war. Many soldiers are willing to go along with Barnes's philosophy, and let the effects of the war spill over into gratuitous violence against civilians. The conflict between keeping and losing one's humanity in a war situation therefore becomes a central theme of the movie.
The characters in the movie are all strikingly real, with an impressive avoidance of stereotypes and stick figures; even the brutality of Barnes is put into context as part of his efforts to help win the war. Taylor's conflict between the opposing sides of his nature are reflected in his letters to his grandmother, which, while somewhat overwritten, do provide a great deal of insight into the soldier's mental struggles. The supporting soldiers, as well, are presented in a very realistic light; none are shown as being pure good or evil. The acting is solid for the most part, with Berenger's frightfully believable performance as Barnes a definite plus. All in all, perhaps the best window into the effects of war I've seen.

Rating:
Summary: a mystery
Review: Maybe it's because I'm too young. Maybe it's because I saw Apocolypse Now and Full Metal Jacket all before Platoon. Maybe I just have no taste in movies. Whatever the reason, I don't understand why anyone would consider this the best Vietnam War movie ever made. For that matter, I'm curious as to what the other 1986 nominations were because if this was Best Picture that year must have been a slump.

It's my opinion that a film should never consciously try to emotionally influence an audience; if the material's good, it will happen naturally. Now, I love Oliver Stone just as much as the next guy, but right from the opening titles I couldn't help but feel that this was Stone's attempt at tugging every string in the audience's collective heart. The music is beautiful but the way it's used gives the film's emotion no room to grow. Never at any point during this film was I shocked or moved. I wanted to be and I knew that Stone wanted me to be, but it was that aforementioned excercise of manipulation that distanced me from the film. Not to mention Sheen's inconsistant performance. One minute he's doing fine. The next he's crossed the line from drama into melodrama and camp. It was hard taking him seriously. Even Tom Berenger's portrayal of Barnes seemed over the top at times.

The story's a bit contrived, too. I can appreciate the discension in the ranks, but it just feels like the drama was pushed way over the top. I recall a few death scenes and sequences that could have been good but just fell short. And on top of all this, the sound design (which it also won an oscar for) is horrible. This may just be the DVD transfer but you can hear static and hiss mixed with parts of dialogue and several of the combat scenes leave much to be desired. At some parts things get very very quiet in the midst of a crossfire or almost all sound just suddenly stops...and it's very odd. Plus, the 5.1 surround is barely noticable at all.

This is not to say the film doesn't have it's redeemable qualities. As I said, the music is first rate. The cinematography is phenomenal. And Willem Defoe is perfectly on target (sorry for the pun).

All in all, I wanted to enjoy this film. I tried so hard. But it just didn't strike me as anything spectacular.

Rating:
Summary: Platoon like Lord of the Flies?
Review: From the start, it seems that this movie will be following the experiences of a 'green' private who has just arrived 'in country.' Though the movie seems to be doing this, it is actually following the loss of innocence of any person going through the horrors of war.
The story is the same for the loss of innocence with any soldier in any war, just a different setting. The downward spiral in this instance begins the moment PFC Taylor steps off the plane, and continues as his first sight of war is seeing bodies being carried away in bags.
Throughout the film, Taylor sees atrocities and horrors, and they take their toll on him. The ultimate end to Taylor's loss of innocence comes when he succumbs to the enemy within. Taylor kills Barnes, showing that he has completely lost his innocence: the war has changed him completely. It can be said that the first casualty of war is innocence. I believe that the only guaranteed casualty of war is innocence.
The film asks many questions, but gives no answers. Why were we in Vietnam? This question is asked from the perspective of the soldiers fighting the war who have been forgotten by the people back home. The physical enemies of the GI are the Vietcong and the NVA. In the film, the enemy is seen as a distant, unknown figure. The GI's never would understand their enemy or the reason why they fought.
The film is almost like Lord of the Flies in that a bunch of innocent boys end up in a distant land without rules and end up destroying themselves in a terrible world, only to be brought back to civilization later. In the book, the boys broke down a cried when they saw their first adult in weeks. The crying came from realizing what they had done while they were caught up in the life they were leading. I expect that the same thing happened to Taylor after the film stopped rolling. He would have looked out across the land and thought about what had happened to him. He would have cried, knowing what he had done was only acceptable in times of war. He would have cried knowing that his life would never again be the same.
This was a good film. I came into the film with no expectations, which is probably why I was not disappointed. This film is not for someone looking for ma documentary on the war or a good plot and a nice neat box of wrapped story at the end. This film delves into the mind of the grunt, and it is a trip.

Rating:
Summary: Good movie but it was not this bad really!
Review: I served in vietnam in 1969-1970 and no I really do not recall having these so called dramatic problems as Platoon recalls. Platoon really shows the worst of what happened. The average Joe when he views this film will get a feeling of this is what it was like for every guy that was in vietnam. And sadly you are very wrong. Vietnam was a tough place I almost got killed a couple of times but I kept a calm head and did not go crazy and to really tell you I did not see any guys at all while I was there act as strange and wierd as these guys did in this movie. These Hollywood actors think they have it down but not even near! While you watch you begin to think that every soldier went to villages and killed all the Vietmanese, acted like Charlie Sheen and was real cool with a gun, EVERY single soldier smoked pot, and every battle was a living nightmare. It looks impossible to survive but lots of us came back didn't we? Most soldiers wanted to ditch Vietnam and go home and do there tour and leave as soon as possible. We did not get real into the war like these guys did.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated but still great film about the war
Review: Charlie Sheen is Chris, a rich college boy who dropped out of college in the late 1960's to volunteer for combat duty in Vietnam. Partly out of guilt for those who had to go because they couldn't weasel out of the draft, and also clueless as to the desperation of the situation, Chris heads off to infantry, and his eyes are opened. He finds his combat unit ruled by three archetypes representing the American experience in the pre-Tet days of the war: the benign Sgt. Elias (Willem Defoe), the amoral Sgt O'neill (one of the first of a long-line of selfish louts played by John McGinley) and the utterly evil Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger). His first days are predictably disastrous - earning the scorn of his platoon's more seasoned soldiers after he falls asleep during an ambush - and his noble thoughts are dashed. The Platoon's sojourn in-country becomes a battle of wills between Elias and Barnes, largely centering on the summary execution of villagers living near a nest of Viet Cong tunnels. The soldiers of the platoon take opposite sides meant to symbolize the fragmentation of America, though the constant threat of attack keeps them from coming to blows. In the heat of battle, Barnes kills Elias, cementing his fate in Chris's eyes. The film climaxes in a horrific night battle between an American unit stretched too thin and a massive brigade of North Vietnamese soldiers.

This film kicked off a rush of Vietnam-war movies in the mid-1980's, like "Full Metal Jacket" and a prime time show called "Tour of Duty", and to hear people talking, it was as if nobody had ever made a remotely realistic or powerful film about the war - earlier films being condemned as Rambo-movies, excepting truly powerful films which weren't really out to tell the story of the war (Like "Coming Home" and "The Deer Hunter"). Some of the film's realism seems questionable (Chris shoots at the feet of a man who was hiding from the soldiers when the Platoon enters the village, yet the Soldiers, on edge from finding their buddies crucified outside the village, don't react to the gunfire at all; the final battle climaxes in an airstrike guided in from the ground - where's the FAC?) and the moral battle between Barnes and Elias is hokey, but overall, the film works well and deserves its rep. Don't miss cameos by Oliver Stone himself, and also by Dale Dye, a vet who procures surplus military hardware for the movies and takes part of his fee in a walk-on role.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best ever made!!
Review: Platoon is one of my favorite movies dealing with war. I am a war buff and an actual portrayl of war is something that i like to see in a good war movie. Platoon has awesome perfomnaces by william defoe, tom berenger, and a breakout performance by Charlie Sheen. There is no movie about Vietnam that is more realistic than Platoon. This movie is very much "not for the weak of heart". I liked it alot, and if your a realy war historian, or just an action fan, you will enjoy this movie right along side Saving Private Ryan.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Vietnam war movies ever made
Review: What can I say? This movie is awesome. In my opinion, it's Oliver Stone's best picture. The acting, the storyline, the music, the realism, its all there. This movie is based on Mr Stone's first hand Vietnam war experience and is shot from a soldier's point of view. Platoon shows you what war is really like even though this is not your usual summer flick bursting with action.

This movie is up there with Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter