Platoon ShowMeTheMovies Review

Rating: 9/10 (25 February 2017)

With Oscars weekend underway, I thought it would be appropriate to review a movie which won best picture exactly thirty years ago at the 59th Academy Awards. Platoon totalled four Oscar wins, and eight nominations - the leading picture of the year, so it begs the question - has Platoon stood the test of time? Platoon follows Chris (Charlie Sheen) and his stint in the Vietnamese War, alongside fellow protagonist Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) and cruel manipulator Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger). The plot simply tells the story of the platoon both during and outside of battle, to give a 'big picture' take on the conflict to show multiple sides of the soldiers.
If you have ever heard this song before, (likely you have, many times), it's interesting to note that Platoon made Adagio for Strings as famous as it is today. Despite this, its' severe overuse happens to be my biggest criticism of the entire film. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure its' 1987 viewers will have watched in awe in deep melancholy, but presently its' use in essentially every death scene (of which there are more than a few, I kid you not!), comes across as horrifically cliché.
The film was clearly low budget, so there are times where action sequences with explosions do not look true-to-life, and the Platoon involved sometimes appear too small due to the cinematography and an absence of more actors/unavailability of CGI.
However, other than a few mere complaints, the movie is dramatic, compelling and by definition: Oscar-worthy. While issues can be drawn from the low-budget action, this, and I guess I'm contradicting myself here, completely misses the point of the film. Platoon shows the true horrors of war, the relationship comrades have with one another during their down-time between conflict, and the issues that allies can have with one another: even if they're meant to be brothers in arms.
In my review of Hacksaw Ridge, I explained that there are too many war films which make staring death in the face look incredibly fun; count Platoon among the films that do not do this. With magnificent acting from Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe, the film is a saddening story, as interesting as it is brutal; deliberately not providing a polished version of events.
Platoon received the praise it deserved, and it will be exciting to see which movie will join it among the list of best picture movies at the Oscars this year; it is well worth a watch and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie overall.