One of the best....

Rating: 9/10 (13 September 2012)

One of the best Oliver Stone's 1986 Vietnam era war film Platoon is one of the most authentic and probing films about the Vietnam War ever made. Not only does it show the dedication and courage of the soldiers who fought in the conflict is also shows the underbelly of the conflict as well. The film, which is also written by Stone, stars Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, and Tom Berenger and in one of his first film roles Jonny Depp. The film tells the story of a newly arrived in country volunteer private named Chris played very professionally by Charlie Sheen. In the movie Chris goes from replacement "new guy" to veteran soldier in the course of his tour and learns from those around him how to cope with his new surroundings. Along the way he learns how to survive not only the enemy but also the environment and even those on his own side. He also learns to become a man from 2 polar opposites and as he puts it 2 separate fathers. They are Staff Sergeant Barns played by Tom Berenger and Staff Sergeant Elias played by Wilem Dafoe. Both of these characters play a big part in the development of Chris and how he views the war and life in general. Staff Sergeant Barns is more of the no-nonsense hard charging win at any cost influence while Staff Sergeant Elias is the more sage-like and introspective influence who takes a wider view of things. Throughout the film Chris evolves and scared and somewhat excited volunteer to savvy and jaded veteran. The films main theme is one of good vs. evil. This can be seen in many of the scenes and in the contrast between Dafoe and Berengers characters. The motif fits in well with the theme because Chris constantly has to choose between what he sees at right and wrong. This is especially true in the scenes concerning the Vietnamese village. Music and soundtrack are great in this movie. The songs, both original and not original fit in perfectly with the time period and move seamlessly throughout the film and set the mood perfectly. The battle scenes in this film were, for the time, some of the best ever shot until Saving Private Ryan came along and they set the standard for all that followed. This movie will go down as one of the classics of not only war films but of all films in general regardless of genre. This is truly an American classic.