Thoroughly brutal, but effective portrayal of the Vietnam War

Rating: 9/10 (7 April 2016)

The Vietnam War is a conflict that garnered tremendous controversy as many condemned the war as a futile and lead to what people called needless lost of thousands of American lives. The purpose of the war was to the fight against communism, a long going threat occurring during the decades of the Cold War. Director Oliver Stone who was a Vietnamese War veteran himself makes a brutal, but utterly effective portrayal in this war drama based on his experiences in the Vietnamese battlefields. Charlie Sheen plays Chris Taylor, a young man in his late teens who drops out of college and voluntary for active duty in Vietnam. With no combat experience compared to the other men in his platoon including the hot-tempered Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes (played by Tom Berenger), the more kind- heart Sergeant Elias (played by William Defoe), the aggressive and ruthless Lieutenant Wolfe (played by Mark Moses), and fellow African-American Big Harold (played by Forest Whitaker); Chris faces the dehumanizing effects of the war and the moral dilemmas of men in active combat as the platoon fight their through the grueling environment and atmosphere of the Vietnamese battle front.
War is ugly, and this movie certainly shows it. Shooting the film in the Phillipines which serves as an authentic backdrop of wartime Vietnam, Oliver Stone uses his experiences in active combat and puts into grueling prospective, giving viewers on a haunting and gritty taste of the horrors and atrocities that ignited during the years of active duty in Vietnam. From the bloody and gruesome combat sequences, to the deteriorating psychological health of the fellow soldiers, to the loss of innocence in humanity in the characters; Oliver Stone pulls no punches when expressing the reality of what the deadly conflict overseas was like with convicted realism and powerful emotions. One scene in particular features a raid in the Vietnamese village where members of the platoon, Lieutenant Wolfe in particular torture innocent civilians and the way they treat these civilians is an eye-sore and quite unsettling to watch. Most importantly, it shows the psychological impact on Charlie Sheen's character and his fellow comrades and they become robbed of their moral compass. It is a real powerful issue that goes on in active combat today, soldiers overseas are pitted with not only their desperate feat to survive and protect their country but dealing with their ethical sense. The story focuses not exactly active combat itself but the effects it has the soldiers, and the story progresses through how the main character changes as person, a character who you come to care about. Charlie Sheen gives an incredible performance, easily one of the best if not the best roles in his career. And let's not forget William Defoe, an actor who isn't well known for placing good guy roles, yet manages to show pure charisma and humanity in his character; and Tom Berenger as Sergeant Barnes, a soldier with a cold heart against the both his comrades and the Vietnamese.
Platoon is brutal, violent, and quite disturbing to sit through, but it is very effective and honest in portraying the horrors of the Vietnam War. Oliver Stone does a tremendous job on capturing the brutality of the hellish environment of active combat. His directorial efforts pay off and the cast is outstanding. This movie would make a great pick for anyone in the mood of a powerful war flick.