Platoon

Starring: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Forest Whittaker, John C. McGinley, Johnny Depp, Keith David
Directed by: Oliver Stone
Rating: R
Genre: War, Action, Drama
1986

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young army recruit (Charlie Sheen) goes to war in Vietnam, and finds himself in the middle between two sergeants (Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe) whom have very different motivations and interests in the war.


Review:

Tim: On the surface, this is just another war movie. There is not much new or unique to its approach or its scenes of the actual war taking place.

However, despite all this, Platoon does enough right to support its selection as the Academy Award winner for Best Picture of 1986. What this film does right is take the major themes that ran through the Vietnam War and shows them in a vivid, realistic approach.

The cast is quite impressive. Charlie Sheen does a very, very good job. His transformation from a naive young kid into a war-hardened soldier is quite impressive. Through his eyes do we see the division of the platoon. It is his soul that two sergeants fight over.

Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe clash in the most powerful of manners. Dafoe is striking and memorable, giving a truly impressive performance. These two men stand on opposite sides of an impassible ideology.

In between and all around this moral struggle is the destructive power of war in Vietnam. This is all displayed in gritty fashion and we are transported to the jungles of Vietnam and watch the fear and unpredictability that made the war such a gruesome experience.

Platoon represents a realistic portrayal of war, but not just the fighting that takes place between each side, but the internal struggle that is fought inside men during such terrible times.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5


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