Platoon

Rating:
Summary: Powerful but Preachy
Review: Platoon, while powerful, is far too preachy. [Director] Oliver Stone tries too hard to force us to follow his beliefs, sweeping aside any possible ambiguity. In one of the more powerful scenes, the massacre of a Vietnamese village and the transformation of the American soldiers to total beasts is indeed gripping but it falls prey to Stone's didactic style. What is more problematic is the voyeuristic treatment of war by Stone's otherwise sensitive camera. For example, the sequence which captures Elias, aims at conveying death as being heroic; this points to the manipulative nature of the film which one has to admit is skilfully concealed through Stone's attempt to provide simultaneously some sort of social criticism.

He uses signs of heavy-handed authorial intrusion through-out his work, pushing it towards propaganda (at one point, US soldiers can be seen waving a Swastika flag). You can hear this in the dialogue, see it in the directorial style. Also note the homage to the best Vietnam war film of all time, Apocalypse Now - Stone uses Martin Sheens son, Charlie, and has him narrate as well. All in all, it is a film worth seeing despite its flaws.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT MOVIE.......POOR DVD
Review: This movie more than stands on its own. Charlie Sheehan is a rich kid who actually volunteered to go to Vietnam. His performance is admirable and makes you wonder what happened to his career. Tom Berringer and William Dafoe are oustanding as two seargants with two very different opinions on how the war should be fought. The movie centers around the atrocities of war. Good imagery, good score, and good supporting cast members make this a five star movie that was very deserving of the 86 academy award for best picture.

So....why a four star rating? Well I rated the DVD and not just the film. To keep it simple, there are NO EXTRAS. No extra scenes, no interviews, no making of special, no commentary options. I love this film so I bought the DVD. You can't beat the price but I would have paid more for interesting extras.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great
Review: i'd actully give this movie 3 and a half stars (uh why dosnt amazon just use the 4 star system like everyone else does?). I've watched this movie many, many times as it always seems to play on cinimax when nothing else is on. I like it, but i just dont see why people say it is the best war movie ever. Apocolypse now, or The thin red line, saving private ryan, heck even full metal jacket were better in my opinion. The biggest reason why people like it so much is usualy "the startling reality of the movie". It didnt shock me at all that war was really like this, because i know how it is first hand and i dont see how people are suprised that this is what its like. What did you think it was like? Can you honestly tell me that you thought war was Rambo running through the jungle and wasting everyone he sees? Aside from that argument there are a few scenes that i thought just didnt work in the film. The scene where Willem Deffoe's character dies is almost laughable to me. First he is shot in the chest in the jungle, which would put any man down and out certainly, but then a few minutes later in the film they show him chasing after his evac copter that is leaving him behind. As he's chasing it the enemy is closing in on him, and then they do the slow motion closeup of him running while the enemy is plugging shells into him. Now for one thing, they never actually show any sort of bullet hit him (believe me, if an ak-47 shell hits somebody, you'll see the effects), they just kind of show him twitching around like he's being hit, like you do when your a kid when you playing cowboys and indians. All and all after about twenty rounds are pumped into him he finally collapses. So thats the great reality of war? A guy can take a chest shot and still run a few hundred (maybe even thousand, i dont know) feet to his dust off site and still have enough breath in him to take a a couple dozen more rounds before he goes down? The movie did show what the day to day routine of a grunt was fairly accuratly (even though i do know some lucky grunts who just sat on the beach and drank beer for their entire stay in nam, it wasnt all bad)and for the most part the battle scenes were done pretty well. But you have to watch that one scene and see what im talking about, it looks like something out of a cheap cop movie.

Rating:
Summary: Good movie, DVD?
Review: We all know PLATOON is a good movie, but for a dvd movie it just dosent cut it. The sound is terrible for a DVD movie. Nothing like Saving Private Ryan. If you already have the VHS version dont bother getting the DVD version. No speacil fetures included but the trailer.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing film, but wheres the extras on this DVD
Review: This is the best Vietnam War film ever made. The action is great, the acting is superb and the story tells a terrific tale. What disappoints me with this dvd re-release is that there are no addons which most dvd's tend to have, then again, the price tends to reflect this, its one of the lowest priced new dvd's I have purchased, almost as cheap as a cd.

Its obvious why this movie won the best picture Oscar in 1986. It would win again almost any other year since then as well. A timeless classic which everyone should see.

Rating:
Summary: This Edition Fails
Review: Platoon is an amazing film, however, considering that the previously released version contained all sorts of special edition goodies and this version contains none; it simply falls flat in terms of an overall release. MGMs DVD department had a breif attempt at trying to release DVDs with supplemental features (i.e. RONIN) but has since let Warner Brothers handle all their Titles (Poltergeist, Wizard of Oz). Then they drop the ball on releases of films such as The Usual Suspects, The Princess Bride (not anamorphic? Pu-lease!)

Any I can buy Platoon again. Great. Fine. Too bad I KNOW it coulf have been a heck of a lot better. Then again, maybe MGM doesnt have the rights to the extra features. Anyway MGM has botched it big time.

Rating:
Summary: Few features?
Review: This is one of the greatest films ever made. However, I'm disappointed that the DVD has no Director's Commentary. I was hoping for his "walk through the film." For those of you who have not seen this film, this is the best about war. Every detail is engrossing and riveting. Additionally, we know these actors because of this film. Platoon is an example of "film as art" made by a terrific American director. ENJOY!

Rating:
Summary: A good movie, but a false story.
Review: Platoon is a well filmed, well acted and well directed movie. I have seen it a half a dozen times. Stone captures the ambience of Nam well, especially the debilitating (to Americans) climate. He also depicts the boozers vs. potheads conflicts that often occurred in the rear 'safer' areas. This is a good movie, well worth owning.

However. The thing that rankles is that this is a claimed depiction of a supposed 'typical' US Army unit during the Vietnam War. Stone is hallucinating. While each of the various atrocities occurred at some point in the war it is disingenuous to attempt to create the belief in moviegoers that what occurred in this movie was a sort of soup du jour for the US Army. Stone claimed that his movie is based on his experiences in Nam. Stone is a liar.

Stone's movies in general are propaganda pieces that attempt to rewrite history. "Nixon" and "Born on the Fourth of July" are especially ridiculous misrepresentations of history. This is a common failing in Hollywood. False depictions of true events are commonplace in movies. This is usually for the promotion of personal political beliefs of Hollywood moviemakers. Stone is an anti-American socialist and this shows glaringly in his films. Stone has publicly admitted that his intention is to create "proper" understandings of history and so he is willing to bend the facts for his "higher purpose". So Stone's claims of historical accuracy should be taken with a grain of salt.

I didn't intend to turn this into a diatribe. "Platoon" effectively depicts many of the darker aspects of the Vietnam War. But do not take it too seriously. It is an allegory, not history. There were many good and heroic things that occurred also. Many GIs died protecting Vietnamese civilians. Stone besmirches their memories. Keep "The Green Berets" and "Hamburger Hill" in your library for some balance.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best war films ever made but DVD is lacking
Review: "Platoon" is certainly one of the greatest films about war ever made. It shares a similar trait with the best war films - it is more of a morality play than a straight-forward guns and violence film. If you like "Platoon," you will enjoy "Paths of Glory" or "Apocalypse Now" or "Full Metal Jacket." All are superb films.

Briefly, the plot, set in Vietnam 1967, revolves around a platoon in which internal conflicts parallel those of the external war. Charlie Sheen plays the lead role as a new recruit in what is his finest role. Other significant actors include Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe as opposing officers in the platoon. That's all I'll say about the film - true, there is a lot of action and guns blazing in this film, but the heart of the film revolves around the loss of innocence and ambiguous morality of war.

I have a few words about the DVD, which I just obtained. This is actually a re-release of the DVD. The first DVD version is pretty much the same, except that it had a commentary by Oliver Stone on it as a separate soundtrack. For some legal reasons, this had to be removed, and so the first DVD was quickly taken off the market. The "re-release" DVD doesn't have the commentary, which I understand was quite good. This is a pity - serious film buffs might consider trying to find the first version on internet auction sites. Otherwise, this 2nd version is adequate. The picture quality quite good for a budget DVD and shows no compression artifacts. Sound quality is good enough, though the bass is not as loud as one hears in latter-day, more modern films. There are subtitles, and a trailer, but that is it. The lack of extras on such an important film is disappointing; perhaps MGM will release a special edition at some far-off later point. Still, despite the bare-bones DVD, this is still a movie worth owning on DVD. A 5 star recommendation!

Rating:
Summary: Platoon is to Vietnam what Saving Private Ryan was to WWII
Review: An outstanding film with a realistic first-person perspective on war. The popularity of Platoon can be measured by the fact that when it was discontinued and made unavailable in the DVD format (this is the second release) ... it sold for between $80 and $120 used, and it was very difficult to find. I, for one, am very pleased that it has once again been made available in DVD format and can't wait to get my very own copy.

Platoon is THE Vietnam war movie and is head and shoulders above all the others. It's an amazingly realistic look at a very frightening moment in our recent past. Platoon is horrific, exciting, entertaining and unforgetable. At it's new price..., it's a must-have for any good DVD collection.

Platoon, Private Ryan, (and soon) The Patriot. Highly recommended. 10 stars.