In some ways we are all lucky that Stone did not get to make Platoon when he first wanted to since the resultant film is a remarkably mature and confident achievement that reflects his years of experience at the Hollywood game. Platoon , released in 1986, is the purest of the Vietnam war movies. This seminal film deals with Vietnam on the level of reality. This is the war. It's the greatest of the Vietnam movies and one of the great all time movies depicting war.
Platoon is the fourth point on the seminal compass of Vietnam films.
Now the movie that frames for all time the insanity of war, Platoon surely presents sharpest realization of the day to day soldiering in the boonies of Vietnam. When the 1986 Academy Awards were handed out, once again a seminal Vietnam movie won the award for Best Picture. It was also handed the statue for Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Sound. Platoon garnered a total of eight nominations. It appears that the success of Platoon combined with years of distance from the reality of the Vietnam war would have opened Hollywood to a more comfortable attitude toward the war that nobody wanted.