PLATOON
A film review by David Landers
Copyright 1997 David Landers
RATING: **** out of **** - 9.0 out of 10.0 CAST: Charlie Sheen (Chris), Tom Berenger (Sgt. Barnes), Willem Dafoe (Sgt. Elias), Keith David (King), Kevin Dillon (Bunny), Francesco Quinn (Rhah), Forest Whitaker (Big Harold), Reggie Johnson (Junior), John C. McGinley (Sgt. O'Neill) DIRECTOR: Oliver Stone CERTIFICATION: R (USA) for violence, language, and disturbing war scenes YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 1986 ACADEMY AWARDS: Best Picture, Best Director (Stone), Best Film Editing (Claire Simpson) ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS: Best Supporting Actor (Berenger), Best Supporting Actor (Dafoe), Best Original Screenplay (Stone), Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson)
PLATOON, the first film in Oliver Stone's Vietnam War trilogy, is an extremely gripping and powerful first-hand account of the life of a young soldier in Vietnam. Continuing in the tradition of Award winning Vietnam War films, PLATOON stops at nothing in delivering very emotional, suspenseful, and horrifying images throughout the entire film.
The story is told from the eyes of Chris, an educated, wealthy college drop-out played by Charlie Sheen in a role similar to his father's role in APOCALYPSE NOW nearly a decade earlier. Chris feels that it is his duty to serve his country in the tradition of his father and grandfather, who served in previous wars. He also feels that it shouldn't be just the poor, unwanted young men who fight for their country, and that it should be young men like him out on the front lines. We are able to visualize and understand Chris' suffering even more through his narrated letters to his grandmother.
A very interesting piece of information is that PLATOON is based partly on Oliver Stone's experiences in Southeast Asia. Stone claims that this movie was made based on his first-hand account of what the war was really like, and that he chose to make this movie unlike the others of that past. PLATOON is not a surreal, obscure anti-war film that leaves you wondering what the war was really like. PLATOON is, shockingly, probably a very true-to-life account of the Vietnam War.
When the film begins, Chris isn't even a true "grunt", the title given to an infantryman who has earned his place among his fellow soldiers as a soldier who can take it. Chris is in his own personal Hell. He's lost in a world unlike no other he has ever seen before. The constant mental and physical abuse he sustains is constantly punishing him more than he can imagine. He lives in continual fear of what lies ahead. Since he is the "new guy", his life is basically worthless, because he hasn't really suffered like the others have. Therefore, he isn't told a thing by his peers, who at the time would just assume care less if he were to be killed the next day.
Eventually, Chris becomes more and more like the others. His status is lifted considerably when he is wounded in combat during an ambush that was blamed on him. When he returns to combat, he has obviously adjusted more to the life of a soldier. However, when a civil war breaks out between his two superior sergeants, Barnes (Berenger) and Elias (Dafoe), Chris is again struggling to realize what is right and what is wrong in this twisted world. Chris tends to maintain his sanity, for the most part, unlike many of his fellow infantrymen, as he strives to always do what seems morally right. In a way, Chris is fighting two battles: one against the visible enemy, and one against himself, in which he fights not to be entirely consumed by the war.
PLATOON is absolutely one of the greatest Vietnam War films, and possibly the greatest when it comes to the depiction of a soldier's everyday life. The film is, indeed, very graphic and disturbing, but that is the way it was intended to be made. The shocking images that the young soldier witnesses throughout the film will make you glad that you did not have to endure such awful situations. The awards given to this film were definitely well earned and should demonstrate the power of this film in a very suitable fashion.
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