'Platoon'
A retrospective movie review by Walter Frith
Oliver Stone's semi-autobiographical account of his own experiences in the Vietnam War is presented in 1986's 'Platoon'. When I first saw this film with a packed audience I was not only entertained, not only informed but I was astonished at how many people disliked this film all for the wrong reasons. Certainly people are entitled to their opinion but more important than that, 'Platoon' forced movie audiences, politicians, military brass and society in general to look at an ugly aspect of world history. A lot of people don't want to face the many aspects of combat tradgedies associated with war but Oliver Stone did his part by making a film to which a testament of thoughtful insight was made to try and prevent history from repeating itself.
To depict 'Platoon' as simple war film would be superficial. It's probably the best film in at least the last 30 years or more that correctly formulated the three aspects of quality story telling: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. himself. Filmed on an initial 6 million dollar budget and with the Philippines substituting for Vietnam in location shooting, Stone had a tight schedule to work with and the results were nothing short of brilliant.
Charlie Sheen is the film's protagonist, a young man who narrates his experiences in Vietnam in letters he sends home to his grandmother and we gain an insight into the men within his platoon. Tom Berenger plays a no nonsense, unorthodox and somewhat evil sergeant undoubtedly made a victim of it all by the insanity of war who tries to shape and mold the men in his company into fighting without rules, without morals and without comapssion for anyone, even women and children in a suspicious village they stumble upon where weapons for the enemy are being stored. Willem Dafoe plays another sergeant within the same platoon whose personality is just the opposite of Berenger's and he butts heads with Berenger's war crime activities and the two men become at odds with each other with tragic results.
'Platoon' is a smart film that is told with little or no plot but rather a style uniquely inventive of caring about the characters involved and paying tribute to the men who fought and died in the Vietnam War and Stone dedicates the film to them in the movie's closing credits. Filled with explosive scenes of combat including a vicious climax which may force some to cover their eyes and with a cast of ordinary characters of all different personalities and habits, Oliver Stone's 'Platoon' is a lacerating indictment of a confict fought and which makes people debate the real purpose of the Vietnam War. One of the greatest films in the history of cinema and a war film like no other.
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