"Rejoice O young man in thy youth" ~ Ecclesiastes 11:9

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2011)

That's the title card to Oliver Stone's 1986 Vietnam War masterpiece "Platoon", but you're not going to see much rejoicing in this film 'cause it identifies the Vietnam infantry experience as no less than hell on earth.
THE PLOT: Chris Taylor naively volunteers for combat in Vietnam (late '67 through '68) and slowly adapts to the jungle warfare and becomes an adequate grunt. A rift eventually develops between the senior sergeant, Barnes (Tom Berenger), and the junior sergeant, Elias (Willem Dafoe); the former a veritable indestructible killing machine and the latter an expert soldier who refuses to allow the horrors of war to rob him of his humanity.
"Platoon" is masterful movie-making in practically every way and towers over most other Vietnam war flicks, with the sole exception of "Apocalypse Now" (the original version). What works best is the ensemble cast and the numerous memorable characters who all smack of real life -- Taylor, Barnes, Elias, Lt. Wolfe, O'Neill, Bunny, Junior, King, Rhah, Crawford, Tex and Big Harold (amongst others). The idea that any filmmaker can effectively bring to life a dozen or more characters like this in a 2-hour film is uncanny to say the least.
Memorable moments abound, including:

After stumbling upon a just-abandoned Vietcong nest where a soldier comes up missing, the platoon finds his corpse staked-up down the river and the camera slowly pans across the visage of practically every platoon member culminating with Barnes, who mutters with seething vengeance. This is a potent scene spotlighting a band of American warriors, from very diverse racial/ethnic/socio-economic backgrounds, forced together halfway around the world in some God-forsaken jungle to face an enemy of jungle wraiths.

After the Barnes/Elias fight at the village Barnes is informed by Captain Harris that there will be a full investigation. Barnes leaves the meeting and walks by his two disciples O'Niell and Bunny. O'Neill asks Barnes if there's going to be an investigation. The laconic Barnes stops but doesn't answer; he just looks away, as if in thought, smoking his cigarette. The camera stays on Barnes while Bunny responds: "O'Neill, man, you worry to much; the sergeant will take care of him." Looking at Barnes' countenance you just KNOW he's contemplating murder. The scene is filmmaking of the highest order.

In a dugout six of the soldiers who sided with Elias discuss what to do after it appears Elias had been shot by Barnes in combat. They all want to kill the scarred-face Barnes, but Rhah reveals Barnes' stature with the men is nigh mythological at this point; he's been hit seven times and still isn't dead. "Barnes ain't meant to die! The only thing that can kill Barnes is Barnes". A shirtless Barnes suddenly appears, drinking a bottle of whiskey; apparently he heard the whole conversation. He boldly confronts all six with a fascinating rant ("I am reality") and challenges them to kill him. None of them take the bait because they deem him a human tiger, except Taylor, who's no match for Barnes in man-to-man combat. Although Barnes is the villain in the film you can't help but admire his sheer boldness and killer skills; it's clear why the men respect and fear him.

By contrast, Elias is the compassionate, loving and righteous Christ-figure. If there's any doubt to this it's bludgeoned into the viewer via the melodramatic and unrealistic death scene, which can be (slightly) excused on the grounds of its iconic imagery (the cover of the DVD) and obvious symbolism. This scene is the only reason I rate the film 9/10 rather than 10/10.
Bunny (Kevin Dillon) is an interesting character. He's young, simple and likable but the war morphs him into a nigh-psychotic killer, so much so that he seriously creeps the other men out. But, again, he somehow maintains an amiable charm, unlike Tex who comes across wholly venomous.
Some have criticized that it's impossible to make a war film that's anti-war on the grounds that war films by their nature make war seem fun in an adventurous way. Not so with "Platoon". How did Stone accomplish this? Well, aside from skillfully showing the hard day-to-day life of infantry men in the jungle, the combat scenes are viewed from the grunt's disoriented perspective where, often, there are no clear battle lines of good guys/bad guys (even within the platoon itself!); the enemy -- ghostly figures who are never clearly seen -- can come from any angle. Anything can and does happen, at anytime. Stone denies the viewer the feeling that this type of jungle combat makes sense. Needless to ask, how can anyone go through such without being inwardly scarred for life? Some criticize the flagrant cussing but Stone was shooting for realism; I know from experience that this is generally how grunts talk. I don't know about you but, if I'm going to see a war film, I want to see the awful truth, not some cleaned-up fantasy BS.
The ending shows that Barnes & Elias are figurative of flesh & spirit, the conflicting forces within us all. (SPOILER) Taylor reflects, "The war is over for me now, but it will always be there the rest of my days, as I'm sure Elias will be, fighting with Barnes for what Rhah called 'possession of my soul'. There are times since I've felt like a child, born of those two fathers. But, be that as it may, those of us who did make it have an obligation to build again, to teach to others what we know, and to try with what's left of our lives to find a goodness and a meaning to this life." Amen.
GRADE: A