Intense and enjoyable

Rating: 7/10 (23 July 2019)

I am a child of the 80's, so Platoon came out at a time I was watching less controversial, intense or graphic flicks. As I got older I naturally was not as interested in war movies as others. This nature was most definitely affected by my experience watching Saving Private Ryan with my grandfather in the late 90's-he was a tailgunner in a B-17 in WW II and, during the film, was visibly affected by the graphic opening scenes, which also negatively affected my viewing pleasure to the point I turned off the film to finish the day with something a little more happy and positive. It was an uncomfortable experience that I still remember very well to this day.
That is the context for this review.
In recent years, I have rebounded a bit and have found a place for war movies. I love movies so perhaps it was just a matter of time to come around on this genre.
I watched Platoon for the first time last night. It of course is thought of as an all-time great war movie, winning best picture and all the other accolades. Generally, I really enjoyed the first half or 2/3 of the movie, as scenes are less graphic, chaotic and internal team divisiveness has yet to take center stage. The lead up to all that was enjoyable. The dialogue, the handful of ambush fighting scenes, the acting. I could see why this was a highly regarded film. I thought Charlie Sheen was incredible in the lead role. Chopping through the jungle to seemingly never really get anywhere or make any real progress-that is the general summary of what I have learned about being a soldier on Vietnam and that was captured perfectly here.
I rate this 7/10 because of the ending. It's not because it was a terrible ending from an accuracy standpoint (I'll leave that to the people that know more about fighting in Vietnam). It's just a personal thing. When a film goes down the road of internal turmoil, with things like hate, distrust and revenge taking center stage, I just simply don't enjoy it very much. It may be real. It may be accurate. It may make it Oscar-worthy. But for me, personally, I just prefer a more "coming together" story where a team comes together. I don't want it too Disney, but I don't want it to be the opposite either. I felt like Platoon was just too opposite.
Overall, I'm glad I watched it and I look forward to knocking some more war movies off the list.