Intense

Rating: 8/10 (28 March 2011)

Oliver Stone directed a trilogy of Vietnam war films and the first was Platoon. It became his most critically acclaimed of the three war epics, and one of his most acclaimed films of all time. Platoon follows a platoon of men in Vietnam as they battle the Viet Cong, the jungle, and themselves. Stone makes sure to include every bit of gut wrenching drama he can, pumping this film full of brutally emotional scenes. This is a true film about war and the men involved in it.
Platoon is essentially your most down to earth war film in spite of everything. It is brutal and some of the atrocity and harrowing destruction witnessed in this film is unreal, but it truly captures the brutality of the Vietnam war, and I feel like that is this films main goal. This film chronicles the immediate effects of war on the men participating, as the entire film takes place in Vietnam there is almost always fighting going on. The film sets its focus on the war itself and the individuals fighting, as we get to know each of the characters in this film, some better than others. You can tell that this is a soldier's film and nothing else, as the film is even dedicated to the brave men who fought in Vietnam.
As a personal opinion on taste, Platoon doesn't quite hold up to some of my favorite war films. I myself am fascinated by the idea of war and the effects it has on the minds of men, and Platoon doesn't examine this as much as other war films. But like I said, this is solely a film about war, while films like The Deer Hunter, a masterpiece in my book, examines the relationships of people and how war effects the before and after. Then you have a movie like Apocalypse Now, the greatest war film ever made, which is really a movie about the horror and atrocity mankind can inflict, and it only uses the Vietnam war as a backdrop. Platoon doesn't go as deep as these films, and really only strives to be an eccentric visual experience that tells the story of war and the men involved.
Where Platoon shines the brightest is its incredible visuals. This movie captures the sights and sounds of the fighting in Vietnam with the utmost brutality. Stone masterfully shoots the jungle in both day and night, rain and shine. He completely deserved the Oscar he received for directing this film. He manages to keep all of his frames tight and clear, depicting a view of Vietnam that is very focused and difficult to look away from, no matter how much you want to at times. However intense you think this film is going to be, it is more than that.
Platoon is far from one of my favorite war films of all time, but I can't deny that it is a masterfully made film. As a movie about war and soldiers it is masterful, but it doesn't quite reach that deeper, more subjective, level that other Vietnam films do. But it still quite the cinematic war experience.