Quite simply one of the greatest war films ever made.

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2001)

This 'staggering study of war', this accurate picture of the Vietnam war, this brilliantly acted and powerful film rightly won best picture of 1986. The film is based on Oliver Stone's own experiences in the Vietnam war, and this makes the film as real as an actual true story. The story is seen through the eyes of Chris Taylor, a young middle class volunteer who was at the begining of the film, unaware of the things he would go through. Chris Taylor joined the 'Grunts' in this gruelling war to follow the family tradition, his Grandfather in the First world war and his Father in the Second, but he quickly realised that there was no such thing as fighting and dying with honour, just fighting and dying with pain and fear. He had to watch war crimes that he could not stop nor ignor. While Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe provide stunning performances, the suporting cast show chilling cruelty not only to each other but primarily to the Vietnamese villagers. In a war of this kind the tagline is very true, 'The first casualty of war is innocence'. I also strongly respect people who realise that the Americans weren't always the heros. In this film, no-one was a hero, both sides comitted terrible atrocities and had their innocence lost. In my opinion, Oliver Stone's 'Platoon' is quite simply one of the greatest war films ever made.