Terrifying Stone invitation into the psychology of warfare

Rating: 8/10 (12 September 2019)

"Platoon" (1986) directed and written by Oliver Stone treats the malignancy of the Vietnam war with striking authenticity. With its Interesting narrative structure, and ability to build suspense in the subtleties, it excited and frightened me.
Excellent writing and direction by Stone, and the fact that he himself is a Vietnam veteran I think comes across in the excellent screenplay. Strong performances by Tom Berenger, Forest Whitaker. The same cannot be said of Charlie Sheen who at times was almost embarrasing. But most of all, I thought Willem Dafoe did a wonderful performance as Elias.
As a mid-eighties war film, I cannot help but compare it to its predecessor by one-year, "Idi i smotri" by Elem Klimov, which is nothing short of magnificent, with beautiful camera work exemplified through creative pans, stunning long takes and tracking shots. Cinematographer Aleksey Rodionov did an absolutely fantastic job, harnessing the potential of the 4:3 aspect ratio. Here, we see a 16:9 format - also brilliantly used by the amazing DP, Robert Richardson.
While "Idi i smotri" is virtually an unparralelled masterpiece as a war film, being spontaneous, organic, and authentic, yet controlled and deliberate, I found "Platoon" to be poetic and nuanced in its own right. In my opinion it is an anti-war film; an excellent film about the psychological terror and dehumanization of war.