Platoon (1986)

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writer:

Oliver Stone (written by)

Release Date:

24 December 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

The first casualty of war is innocence.

Plot:

A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.

Plot Keywords:

Shot To Death | Person On Fire | Marijuana | Classical Music | Burnt Body

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Tom Berenger	...	Sgt. Bob Barnes
Willem Dafoe	...	Sgt. Elias Grodin
Charlie Sheen	...	Pvt. Chris Taylor
Forest Whitaker	...	Big Harold
Francesco Quinn	...	Rhah
John C. McGinley	...	Sgt. Red O'Neill
Richard Edson	...	Sal
Kevin Dillon	...	Bunny
Reggie Johnson	...	Junior Martin
Keith David	...	King
Johnny Depp	...	Private Gator Lerner
David Neidorf	...	Tex
Mark Moses	...	Lt. Wolfe
Chris Pedersen	...	Crawford
Tony Todd	...	Sgt. Warren

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Vietnamese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:16 | Brazil:14 | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Australia:MA (re-rating) (2007) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Australia:R (original rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Israel:PG | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M (DVD rating) | New Zealand:R (original rating) | Norway:18 | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Vietnam:(Banned) | West Germany:16 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Philippines

Company:

Cinema 86

Trivia:

Keanu Reeves turned down the role of Pvt. Chris Taylor.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: Visible above King's head when he lights his cigarette.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Pvt. Gardner: [seeing body bags] Aw, man, is that what I think it is?
Sergeant: All right, you cheese-dicks, welcome to the 'nam! Follow me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

SITTIN ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY

One man goes to war and stares at its two contrasting faces

Platoon is an idealised crayon-sketch of Oliver Stone's Vietnam experience, with its fair dose of guns, bombs, blood, rain, jungle, evil murderous Asian faces and similarly evil murderous Americans. It lacks the gritty realism of Full Metal Jacket and shuns the hysterical philosophical nonsense in Apocalypse Now, instead telling its story and its ideas with action, atmosphere, characters and soundbites. Is it the best Vietnam War movie made to date? That title will always depend upon perspective and criteria, but Platoon comes close: it is well made, well written, craftily shot and cannily acted.

Green and inexperienced, Private Chris Taylor (Sheen) arrives in Vietnam, a volunteer rather than a conscript. At first he commits all the sins of a rookie: overloading his pack, making misjudgements and acting with zeal, although there is an obvious sense of his 'education' as we follow him through the film. He encounters two veteran sergeants: the brutal, battle-scarred, kill-em-all Barnes, and Elias, a dreamy pot-smoker with much more smarts, idealism and political nous. These men are obviously metaphors for those in Vietnam, those who are coordinating it from abroad, if not the whole conflict itself. The futility of a purely military solution to political problems and the wasteless murder of search-and-destroy missions are both obvious.

In terms of action, the archetypal Vietnam elements are all there: the jungle ambush, the village raid, the attack with rolling air support, and the set-piece battle against NVA regulars. These scenes will satisfy fans of hardcore war-porn, but they are not so overplayed, choreographed or downright gory that they will alienate the mainstream movie watcher. The viewer gets a very real sense of Vietnam as a 3-D war, with threats coming from all around you, not just the enemy in front. We leave Vietnam with Taylor at the end of his tour, and the whole thing is as untidy and unfair as it was when we arrived: the snivelling O'Neill (McGinley) survives because of his cowardice in battle, for example. In that respect it is a fairly unfulfilling story, though as a movie it succeeds on most levels.