Platoon [M]

Nineteen year-old Chris Taylor is a wealthy, idealistic, middle-class lad who dropped out of college and volunteered to join the army and fight in Vietnam. But once arriving amidst the bloodshed and horror that is war, the reality of Chris’ mistake slowly starts to sink in. Fear, anger, and anxiety increase in Chris as the two sergeants who divide the platoon wage a war of their own against each other, gradually numbing Chris’s drive for survival. 

It’s the Vietnam War movie that gave us that iconic image of Willem Dafoe being shot multiple times in slow motion and raising his hands to the heavens before biting the dust (a most entertaining rendition of this can be seen from Ben Stiller in Tropic Thunder). Platoon is the only war movie that I’ve seen that has really captured, depicted, and made audiences feel the horrors and hopelessness of war and being a soldier in the middle of it. A moving and gritty but at the same time beautiful depiction of history, Platoon sits in cinematic history as a great and it’s not hard to understand why. 

Nineteen year-old Chris Taylor is a wealthy, idealistic, middle-class lad who dropped out of college and volunteered to join the army and fight in Vietnam. But once arriving amidst the bloodshed and horror that is war, the reality of Chris’ mistake slowly starts to sink in. Fear, anger, and anxiety increase in Chris as the two sergeants who divide the platoon wage a war of their own against each other, gradually numbing Chris’s drive for survival. 

Writer/director Oliver Stone shot this movie in a most creative and emotively engaging way to represent and create the atmosphere of his own personal experiences of fighting as a soldier in Vietnam. It really is the first war movie that I’ve seen where you feel just like the characters: there’s this heavy sense of hopelessness and impending, inevitable destruction that hangs over you in a cloud as you sit glued to the screen, achieved through Stone’s impeccable camera direction, incredible use of lighting, and the film’s dramatic soundtrack. Scenes are shot from every possible angle to simulate that feeling of uncertainty as the characters await an ambush. The whole thing is really reflective and it makes the audience feel like they are there in the shit! Slow-motion shots of dramatic and emotional violence bring a level of class and beauty to the film as well as the clever use of switching to black and white after the climactic final battle concludes with a flash of blinding white light. 

Whilst a greater portion of the movie is made up of awaiting ambushes, violence, and other such horrors, the film’s macabre and defeated flow is broken up by humorous and light-hearted scenes of friendship and good times: the most fun looking one being Chris and a number of other soldiers getting high and listening to motown. Little scenes like this bring balance and make the characters easier to connect with and becoming emotionally attached to. 

Starring Charlie Sheen (who’s voice-over narrations were not dissimilar from his father’s in Apocalypse Now), Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, Forest Whitaker, Francesco Quinn, John C. McGinley, Richard Edson, Kevin Dillon, Reggie Johnson, Keith David, David Neidorf, Mark Moses, Chris Pedersen, Tony Todd, and Johnny Depp, Platoon is a powerful and mesmerising representation of war filled with horror, bloodshed, drama, innocence, and transformations. You don’t just watch this film, you’re in this film and it’s a true mark of talent when a movie can do that to an audience!