The First of Many Oliver Stone Onslaughts

Rating: 5/10 (6 May 2008)

So began the string of films with which Oliver Stone would assault our senses and earn him some of the most undeserved accolades in film history.
"Platoon" is probably one of his stronger films, but it doesn't hold up well. At the time, it was notable for its authenticity in depicting the life of a Vietnam grunt, and I certainly want to be sensitive to anyone who served in Vietnam and has an appreciation for this movie because of it. But the movie itself is hopelessly overwrought and reeks of Stone's sledgehammer style of film-making. He can't allow emotions to speak for themselves, so he asks slow motion shots and thundering music to do the work instead. And there was enough material for a movie about Vietnam already without his having to concoct the ridiculous rivalry plot he cooks up for Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe to play out, both of them seemingly transplanted straight from the jungles of "Apocalypse Now".
Every time I hear that classical composition that plays over and over and over in this film I want to jab a fork into my eye.
Grade: C+