The Ultimate war movie

Rating: 10/10 (16 October 2018)

I know that 'war movies' are a bit of a 'niche' genre. Not everyone is interested in seeing various real life conflicts depicted on the big screen. However, 'Platoon' is just about the 'perfect' war movie and - hopefully - should be able to be appreciated by almost everyone. Most people know that the 'Vietnam war' didn't go quite as well as the US were hoping. Here we don't see a glorified historical retelling of the conflict, showing how the US were 'right' to get involved, or how they really did 'win' the war (honest!). It's more of a character study of the 'average' troop on the ground who was forced to fight in the conflict.
Charlie Sheen (pre 'tiger blood' outcry!) is the young recruit who the story focuses on - a man from middle class America who enlists in the army because he didn't see why only the 'poor kids' should get killed in the line of fire. However, as you can imagine, he quickly discovers the true horrors of war and regrets his decision to enlist. There's plenty of other recognisable actors among the soldiers who you'll probably recognise (including a particularly young Johnny Depp), all of which play their parts well. But 'Platoon' is not just about the grisly effects of battle, as a big part of the film is about 'ideologies,' namely between the two sergeants who wrestle (sometimes quite literally!) for control of the squad and the recruits it's made up of. Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger play the two soldiers and both have a tendency to steal every scene.
Of course it wouldn't be an epic war film without plenty of action and the battle scenes certainly don't hold back in terms of practical effects and nasty death scenes. You'll need a strong stomach in some places as the film never holds back when it comes to limbs being blown in all directions (and expect plenty of strong language to match).
Platoon' may have been made back in 1986, long before the massive influx of computer special effects that allow film-makers to create huge worlds and epic battles which we could only just dream of back in the eighties. However, watching it today in 2018, I couldn't help but feel that it could have been made today and the effects couldn't be improved on. It really is timeless, so, if you're looking for a character study that never holds back from showing the horrors of war, different ideologies and has action to boot, then 'Platoon' is as good as it ever was.