The Best Vietnam movie.

Rating: 8/10 (15 August 2005)

PLATOON (1986)---- I have now seen Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, The Deer Hunter and Platoon. Of these 5 Vietnam dramas, I must say, Platoon is the best. Previously, I'd say Deer Hunter was the best, but after seeing Platoon, I have changed my mind. The Deer Hunter is still a masterpiece (as are the others, except for maybe Hamburger Hill), but I think that since Platoon is leaner, it has a slight advantage. Everyone says that The Deer Hunter's 30 minute wedding sequence develops the characters (which it does, to a certain degree) but I find it overly long.
Now to the actual review: Platoon begins in late 1967. Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) has volunteered for the US army, and has been sent to Vietnam. Here, we are introduced to two sergeants: BARNES (Tom Berenger) and ELIAS (Willem Dafoe). They are fierce rivals, and have very differing opinions on the war. The lieutenant of this platoon sends Elias' squad (which happens to include Taylor) on an ambush mission. As the squad sleeps, Taylor watches. His shift ends, and he wakes up the next man. Chris awakens later, to find that Junior (the other man) has been sleeping the whole time. Expectedly, the Vietnamese attack, and the platoon loses a man. Taylor is left responsible, and it is here that he personally meets Barnes, a ruthless bastard who at first, Taylor admires. Throughout the movie, Taylor is in constant (emotional) pain. The movie is excellently acted. Charlie Sheen convinces you that Chris Taylor has many moral dilemmas. However, this is one of the only movies that has actually disturbed me. Maybe because it's so real. And that makes it even better. Barnes is simply sick, as is one of his followers, a man nicknamed Bunny. Chris begins to be disgusted with him, and as the platoon torches a Vietnamese village, he is shocked to find some of the US soldiers, his allies, raping a woman. The war is making him agitated and crazy, and as they are evacuating the village, he scares a Vietnamese man half to death with gunfire. However, Chris has a heart, he only wants the man out. Bunny (like I said) is the horrible human being, and he casually smashes the man's face in, while his wife is cowering on the floor. Not to be outdone, Barnes is trying to find out where this village got a huge stockade of grain. He threatens a man, and beats him around a little. A woman standing next to him (his wife) starts screaming and becomes hysterical. Barnes' solution? He shoots her in the head. Barnes badly wants the answer to his question. A young girl in the crowd is crying over her mother's murder. Barnes is so desperate (scratch that, disgusting) that he grabs her and puts a gun to her head. Elias (the good sergeant) starts to beat the hell out of the heartless bastard, and then he becomes blacklisted. The soldiers from the beginning are divided into two groups, those that follow Barnes, and those that follow Elias. Barnes' men are all cold and don't have much regard for human life. The worst part is when the soldiers are engaged in another battle. While the majority of soldiers fight at the fore-front, Elias believes that they may get flanked, and goes solo. He successfully kills all the opposing Vietnamese, only to be greeted by three of Barnes' bullets. Barnes leaves him for dead, and tells Taylor that Elias died. Taylor has become a close friend of Elias', and takes this hard. The surviving soldiers board a helicopter. However, in a masterfully directed sequence, we see Elias' bloody figure running away from dozens of Vietnamese. This scene struck an emotional chord with me. In this movie full of sick individuals, (many of which are only interested in killing and maiming) one of the only likable and respectable characters, is gunned down, backed by a chilling score.
This movie is amazing, real, and at times, disturbing. Watch it.