Hauntingly excellent movie on the Vietnam War which will stay with you forever.

Rating: 9/10 (17 March 2015)

Platoon was a deserving winner of 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound and Best Editing. It was a shame it didn't net more Academy Awards. Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Defoe are brilliant in their respective roles. Platoon was also notable for being the first film about the Vietnam War to be written and directed by a Vietnam veteran.
Based on Oliver Stone's experiences in the Vietnam War when he served in the US Army, Platoon is told through the eyes of Chris Taylor played by Charlie Sheen. Chris Taylor is an idealistic and naive college dropout who enlisted in the US Army to serve in the Vietnam War. When he arrives in Vietnam, he is worn down by the exhausting and terrible conditions and his enthusiasm to serve in the Vietnam War wanes. Chris Taylor also narrates his thoughts and feelings via letters to his Grandmother. Taylor also meets Sergeant Barnes and Sergeant Elias, two Platoon Sergeants with contrasting personalities. Tom Berenger plays the battle scarred, world weary, callous and bad tempered Sergeant Barnes, and Willem Defoe plays the compassionate, caring and free spirited Sergeant Elias. The platoon is led by the fresh faced and inexperienced Platoon Commander Lieutenant Wolfe (Mark Moses) who struggles to assert his authority over the battle hardened platoon yet it is shown that the men look up to Sergeant Barnes as their leader. Taylor meets a variety of soldiers in his platoon including the cowardly and sycophantic Sergeant O'Neill (John C. McGinley), Bunny (Kevin Dillon), Junior (Reggie Johnson), King (Keith David), Rhah (Francesco Quinn), Big Harold (Forrest Whitaker), Lerner (Johnny Depp), Crawford (Chris Pedersen) and Francis (Corey Glover). The personalities vary from compassionate, good-natured and affable, to angry, ruthless and sadistic. Taylor finds himself conflicted when the horrors of the war take its toll and following a raid on the village which many villagers are beaten, killed, and raped, Taylor and the platoon find themselves taking sides with Sergeant Barnes and Sergeant Elias.
Charlie Sheen puts in an unforgettable performance in one of his early movies as Private Chris Taylor. You can't help but feel that he is channeling his father Martin Sheen who previously starred in another Vietnam War movie Apocalypse Now (1979). Charlie Sheen has been embroiled in numerous controversies recently including his (in)famous falling out with the producers of the TV series Two and a Half Men in 2011 and appearing in highly publicized interviews displaying his bizarre behaviour and stating his catch phrase "Winning!". Controversies aside, many people forget that Charlie Sheen was brilliant in Platoon.
Tom Berenger was previously known to play very likable characters but here he deserved an Academy Award nomination for his role as Sergeant Barnes, a man who refuses to be killed in the Vietnam War. Willem Defoe who made his mark frequently playing villains was also very memorable as the likable and compassionate Sergeant Elias.
It was also great to see Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean), Forrest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), John C. McGinley (TV's Scrubs) and Kevin Dillon (TV's Entourage) in early roles.
Oliver Stone who previously wrote Midnight Express (1978) and Scarface (1983), made his mark as a director with Platoon which saw his career skyrocket with hit movies such as Wall Street (1987), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), The Doors (1991) as well as controversial movies JFK (1991) and Natural Born Killers (1994). Oliver Stone hasn't had the same success in recent times with the mega flop Alexander (2004) and mixed success with World Trade Center (2006), W. (2008), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), and Savages (2012). Platoon is definitely his best movie to date as a director.
Platoon's theme song Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings has been permanently imprinted into my memory. Although Adagio for Strings has been heard frequently on film and television, it is a perfect theme for Platoon which sums up the bleak and depressing outlook of the Vietnam War.
Platoon is an excellent though bleak movie that shows the horrors of the Vietnam War and soldiers as flawed human beings which will stay with you forever. Platoon definitely shows Tom Berenger, Willem Defoe and Charlie Sheen at their finest and Oliver Stone's best movie as a director. Platoon earns its spot as one of the best war movies of all time right up there with Saving Private Ryan (1998), Black Hawk Down (2001), Full Metal Jacket (1987), and Apocalypse Now (1979).
9/10.