81. PLATOON (1986)

PLATOON

Language               -       English (United States)

Genre                     -       War

Director                 -       Oliver Stone

*ing                        -       Charlie Sheen (Chris Taylor), Tom Berenger (Bob Barnes), Willem Dafoe (Elias)

IMDB Score           -       8.1/10

PLOT

                                                     Chris Taylor dropped his university studies to serve his country in the ongoing Vietnam war. As the days progress, he finds that his presence is not essential for others but over the time witnessing combat, getting wounded and becoming closer to Sargent Elias and his Gangs, he starts to rediscover himself.

MY VIEW

                                                  “Platoon” is a very few movies which do not praise the heroic deeds of American soldiers, instead portrayed their helplessness, fear and desire to get back their home. May be due to this reason that US Defense forces did not cooperate with the movie and so the crew loaned military equipment’s from the Armed Forces of Philippines. The director Oliver Stone himself is a Vietnam War Veteran and it is his own personal experience as an Army combat infantryman. He wrote it quickly from his return from action.The actors were given military haircuts, were required to stay in character throughout the camp, ate only military rations, were not allowed to shower, slept in the jungle, and even had rotations for night watch.

Even though the movie goes through the narration of Charlie Sheen, the main pillars of the movie are Wiliam Dafoe and Tom Berenger. Dafoe’s character foreseen the war outcome, understands the reality and more sympathetic in nature while Berenger’s character is more radical, cruel and fights to get a last chance for changing the war result. Johnny Depp also plays a minor role in the movie. Oliver Stone considered casting Depp for the lead role of Private Chris Taylor, but Depp was too young for the part, and unknown at the time. Stone said that Depp would someday become a huge star and is thus one of the first filmmakers who introduced Johnny Depp to Hollywood.

It shows the difficulties faced by the American soldiers while fighting in a new terrain. Snakes, scorpions, continuous rains and the guerilla traps all sowed the seeds of fear into the rookie soldiers who were joined the Army due to patriotism. It can be due to the real experience of him while serving in Vietnam. It excels in almost every aspect such as cinematography, philosophy, location and moreover acting.

VERDICT

It was also a huge success in box-office as well as critically. The movie became the third most grossing film of 1986 behind Top Gun and Crocodile Dundee. It was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and winning 4 including the Best Picture and Best Director. In 2007 American Film institute included “Platoon” in the list of Greatest movies of all time. So there is no need to mention that this is one such film which could not be missed.

Trailer -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KztP7SKe0uk