Platoon
Tags: psychological, murder, anti war, cult, violence, dramatic, action, revenge, historical

Plot synopsis:
Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a young American who has abandoned a privileged life at a university to enlist in the infantry, volunteering for combat duty in Vietnam. The year is September 1967. Upon arrival in Da Nang, South Vietnam, he sees dead soldiers in body bags being loaded into his plane, but more distressing to him is the shellshocked state of a departing soldier with the "thousand-yard stare." Taylor and several other replacements have been assigned to Bravo Company, 25th Infantry division, "somewhere near the Cambodian border." Worn down by the exhausting work and living conditions, his enthusiasm for the war wanes quickly and he develops an admiration for the more experienced soldiers, despite their reluctance to extend their friendship.One day, another new arrival, platoon commander Lieutenant Wolfe (Mark Moses) discusses the plans for a patrol later that night with the platoon sergeants: the compassionate Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe), harsh but hard core Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), cowardly, sycophantic "lifer" Sergeant Red O'Neil (John C. McGinley), and drug addict Sergeant Warren (Tony Todd). Barnes and Elias argue over whether to send the new men out on a patrol that is likely to be ambushed. O'Neil insists that the new troops go out instead of several men under him who are nearly finished with their tours of duty. Barnes agrees, only on the condition that O'Neil goes out as well.That night, North Vietnamese soldiers set upon Taylor's sleeping unit. Gardner (Bob Orwig), a fellow new recruit, is killed, and another soldier, Tex (David Neidorf), is maimed. Despite having passed the watch duty to Junior (Reggie Johnson), a more experienced but consistently irresponsible soldier who fell asleep, Taylor is blamed for the casualties (O'Neil is also to blame, having thrown the grenade that maimed Tex). Immediately after the fighting, Taylor discovers a light wound to his neck, and he is sent to the field hospital for treatment.A few days later, Taylor returns to his unit from the hospital and, through a soldier named King (Keith David), gains acceptance from the "heads", a tight-knit group led by Elias that socializes, dances, and takes drugs in a private bunker. Next door, Barnes leads the more traditional members of the unit whom drink beer and play cards and don't smoke marijuana. Taylor becomes a more seasoned soldier as the patrols continue and soon no longer stands out amongst the others.During one patrol on New Years Day, January 1, 1968, the platoon finds what appears to be an abandoned bunker. Elias explores a series of tunnels connected to the bunker. Two members of the platoon, Sandy (J. Adam Glover) and Sal (Richard Edson) are killed when they stumble upon a booby trap attached to a box of documents. Shortly after, a soldier named Manny Washington (Corkey Ford) goes missing. His mutilated body is found tied to a post close by. The platoon is infuriated by the senseless death of their comrade and are ordered to report to a nearby village of South Vietnamese citizens.The platoon reaches the village, where a food and weapons cache is discovered. The other soldiers explore the village. In one house, Taylor discovers a mute and mentally disabled boy and his mother hiding in a hole beneath the floor. Taylor harasses and taunts the retarded boy by shooting his rifle at his feet, but stops himself short of killing the boy. However, Bunny (Kevin Dillon) takes over and beats the boy to death with his gun, even though Sgt. O'Neil orders them to leave the hut. While questioning the village chief, Barnes loses his patience and senselessly kills the man's wife despite his denials that they are aiding the Viet Cong. Barnes is about to murder the man's young daughter to force him to tell them to where the enemy is when Sergeant Elias arrives at the scene and starts a fistfight with Barnes. Lieutenant Wolfe, passive during the shooting of the wife, eventually ends the fight, and relays orders from his own superior officer to burn the village. As the men leave, a group of four soldiers, including Bunny and Junior, drag a young Vietnamese girl into the bushes with the intention of raping her. Taylor comes upon them and stops the group from raping the girl. His comrades ridicule him for stopping them.Upon returning to base, Elias reports Barnes' actions to Captain Harris (Dale Dye), who cannot afford to remove Barnes due to a lack of personnel. However, Harris threatens to court martial Barnes if there is evidence that he murdered an unarmed civilian. O'Neil and Bunny, nervous about the possibility of an investigation, speak to Barnes and Bunny suggests "fragging" Elias. A narrating Taylor speaks of this as "a civil war in the platoon. Half with Elias, half with Barnes." Taylor talks with Elias one night and Elias tells him that the United States is due for a loss in war because they'd been mostly successful in past wars. He also confesses that he's disillusioned with America's mission in Southeast Asia, that he used to believe it was winnable even a few years ago, but knows now that it's not.On their next patrol the platoon is ambushed and pinned down in a firefight by unseen enemy soldiers. Flash (Basile Achara) is killed and Sergeant Warren (Tony Todd) and Lerner (Johnny Depp) are badly injured in the resulting skirmish. Lieutenant Wolfe calls in wrong coordinates for artillery support, resulting in the deaths of Fu Sheng (Steve Barredo), Morehouse (Kevin Eshelman), and Tubbs (Andrew B. Clark) and the severe wounding of Ace (Terry McIlvain). Big Harold (Forest Whitaker) has his leg blown off by a trip-wired booby trap while trying to escape the artillery barrage. Elias, with Taylor, Rhah (Francesco Quinn), and Crawford (Chris Pedersen), go to intercept flanking enemy troops. Though Lt. Wolfe is commanding officer, Barnes takes command. He orders the rest of the platoon to retreat to be airlifted from the area, and goes back into the jungle to find Elias' group. After sending Taylor, Rhah, and Crawford (who has been shot in the lung) back, Barnes finds Elias. The two stare at each other for a few moments and then Barnes fires three rounds into Elias' chest and leaves him for dead. Barnes runs into Taylor and tells him that Elias is dead and that he'd seen his body nearby. Barnes orders Taylor back to the landing zone. After they take off, the men see a severely wounded Elias emerge from the jungle, running from a large group of NVA soldiers. He dies after being shot several more times by the NVA while the American helicopters futilely attempt to provide him cover overhead.At the base, Taylor tries to talk his dwindling group of six "heads" into killing Barnes in retaliation, claiming that when he'd met Barnes in the forest after shooting Elias, that the look on Barnes' face told him the truth. While King agrees, Doc Gomez (Paul Sanchez) believes they should wait for "military justice" to decide Barnes' fate. Rhah reminds Taylor how much he admired Barnes when he first arrived, and that Barnes isn't meant to die, noting that on several previous occasions Barnes has sustained wounds that ought to have proved mortal: "the only thing that can kill Barnes, is Barnes." Barnes then appears, very drunk with a bottle of bourbon, having overheard Taylor calling for his murder. He enters the room, daring them to kill him. No one takes up the offer but as Barnes leaves, Taylor attacks him. Barnes quickly gets the upper hand, pins Taylor down and holds a knife to his face. Rhah urges him not to do it, telling Barnes he'll be court-martialed and imprisoned, and he leaves, slashing Taylor under the eye.A few days later, the platoon is sent back to the ambush area in order to build and maintain heavy defensive positions against a potential attack. Rhah is promoted to Sergeant, commanding the remains of Elias' squad. The platoon is so severely weakened, though, that there are numerous gaps in their defense. When this fact is pointed out to him, Lt. Wolfe only replies that he doesn't "give a fuck" any more. The troops try to prepare for the incoming battle, during which they know the majority of them will die. Just hours before nightfall, King is allowed to go home as his tour of duty has come to an end. O'Neil tries to use Elias' R&R days for himself in order to escape the impending battle (in which he believes he will die). When he asks Barnes for permission, Barnes refuses, saying, "Everybody gotta die some time, Red." Junior tries to escape the battle by spraying mosquito repellent onto his feet and passing it off as trench foot, a ploy that Barnes recognizes right away. Bunny states that he feels no remorse for the murders he has committed, saying that he enjoys Vietnam, and goes on to proclaim himself to be "Audie Murphy", a famous and highly decorated World War II hero.Francis (Corey Glover), one of the last few remaining "heads", is assigned to the same foxhole as Taylor. That night a large attack occurs and the American defensive perimeter is broken and the camp overrun by hundreds of attacking North Vietnamese troops. Taylor and Francis take on and cut down several attacking enemy troops until they both pause when they hear signal whistles from the unseen NVA sergeants ordering their men to cease fire. Hearing a Vietnamese voice over a bullhorn and understanding that the NVA are ordering RPGs up to the line to blow up the foxhole they are in, Taylor grabs Francis and both of them crawl out of the foxhole seconds before it's hit by an RPG. Taylor and Francis then attack and kill several enemy soldiers that overrun their destroyed foxhole until Taylor loses it during the fight and charges off into the carnage, shooting one enemy soldier after another.Meanwhile, the NVA attack against the base continues relentlessly. The command bunker is destroyed by a NVA suicide bomber (Oliver Stone makes a cameo as the doomed battalion commander inside the bunker). During the massed North Vietnamese Army attack, many members of the platoon are killed, including Lt. Wolfe, Parker (Peter Hicks), Doc, Bunny, and Junior when their foxholes are overrun. O'Neil survives only by hiding himself under a dead body. The desperate company commander, Captain Harris, orders the Air Force pilots to "expend all remaining" inside his perimeter. During the chaos, Barnes and Taylor come face-to-face. As a crazed Barnes is about to beat Taylor with a shovel, the two are knocked unconscious by the last-ditch American napalm attack.A wounded Taylor regains consciousness the next morning with a serious wound to his lower abdomen. He soon finds Barnes, who is also wounded after being shot in both legs during the battle. Taylor takes an AK-47 rifle from a dead enemy soldier and aims it at Barnes, who lays helpless on the ground. Nonetheless, Barnes feels at first not threatened, and he dismissively orders Taylor to call a medic. When Taylor does not comply, but instead continues to aim his weapon, Barnes (deranged to the last) dares him to pull the trigger by saying: "Do it!" Taylor shoots Barnes three times in the chest, killing him. Taylor then drops his rifle, collapses, and awaits medical attention.Interestingly, although not in the script, Taylor is seen on the verge of pulling the pin of a grenade that he found, only to drop it as reinforcements come to Taylor. (Charlie Sheen thought that Taylor would be committing suicide after killing Barnes. Oliver Stone thought that the mistake was good so he decided to keep it in the film.)Francis emerges from his foxhole and stabs himself in the thigh with a bayonet in order to be evacuated as a casualty. O'Neil is found by other Americans, and Harris (much to O'Neil's distress) gives him command of the platoon. As he is loaded onto the helicopter, Taylor is reminded by Francis that because they have been wounded twice, they can go home. Back at the bombed-out command post, hundreds of NVA bodies are being dumped into mass graves. After bidding farewell to Rhah, Francis, Tony Hoyt (Ivan Kane) and Ebenhoch (Mark Ebenhoch) (his last surviving friends in the platoon; the other survivors are Rodriguez (Chris Castillejo), Huffmeister (Robert Galotti), and O'Neil), Taylor boards his helicopter. The helicopter flies away and Taylor weeps as he stares down at the destruction, while he (from a future perspective) narrates that he will forever be in Vietnam, with Barnes and Elias battling for what Rhah called "possession of his soul", and that he believes he and other veterans must rebuild themselves, and find goodness and purpose in their lives.

Review: In Platoon, Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a young, naive U.S. soldier who, upon his arrival to Vietnam, quickly discovers that he must do battle not only with the Viet Cong, but also with the gnawing fear, physical exhaustion and intense anger growing within him.
No doubt, Platoon shows the Vietnam War was a big mistake, but being a fictional documentary on Vietnam is far from its purpose.The story is told from the point of view of Chris Taylor (solidly played by Charlie Sheen), a middle class kid who goes to Vietnam to do what he thinks is his patriotic duty.
Quickly we're introduced to the well-known facets of the Vietnam War: The lack of sense of purpose, the wraith-like enemies, the obvious prevalence of the uneducated and poor among the fighting grunts -- and, soon, we see how these factors combine to cause widespread low morale and some actions of more than questionable ethical value.Chris sees his platoon fragmented into two halves, each aligned with one of two men -- Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) and Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger).
Oliver Stone's Platoon is quite simply the best Vietnam war film ever made in my opinion.
Having served in Vietnam, the film is loosely based on Stone's time out there, and Taylor loosely based on himself.Full Metal Jacket showcases how inhumane the war was, Apocalypse Now turns it into a story about life in general, and hopelessness, but Platoon has everything.
It's certainly a better war movie than things like Wild Geese or The Dirty Dozen, simply because it's a little more real to what happens than those ones.Charlie Sheen has never been better than when he's acting for Stone.
Everyone else seems to have mentioned what makes PLATOON a classic anti-war ( Note it's anti-war , not anti American or anti soldier ) movie along with being a classic movie , so I won't go over old ground except to say THAT death scene is up there with all the other tear jerking scenes from 20th century cinema , don't be ashamed to say you cried If PLATOON has a flaw it's in its duality , there's the good Sarge/bad Sarge , good officer/bad officer , good white guy/bad white guy , good black guy/bad black boy etc which is maybe a bit clichéd and possibly leads me to believe Stone is making an excuse/reason that the Americans lost in Vietnam because that spent so much fighting each other rather than the VC ( Though I do concede I'm possibly misinterpreting that as an excuse or even a reason since no one will confuse the politics of Stone with the politics of John Wayne ) while Taylor's character comes across as being more of a literary device rather than a real human being , but these are minor flawsIt's a shame to see war films from the last few years devoid of scathing anti-war sentiments like the ones seen here .
What's to be admired about this film, is that Stone doesn't sweet-talk the story, with the good old American boys fighting for their country and facing brutality, instead he brings up a strong morality and humanity issue.
Many great war films of the Vietnam conflict are centered around these themes of blurred morality and the uselessness of war, and Oliver Stone's Platoon is among the most well known.
More broadly, Platoon analyzes the "duality of man" concept that has been studied in numerous other works, from fellow Vietnam War films like Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Apocalypse Now (1979), all the way back to the latter's source material and inspiration in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Though I'm not a war movie fan, I thought Platoon was a solid film.Oliver Stone did a great job at directing, with perfect shots especially during the combat scenes.
Now on the other hand, I felt the movie could have used some extra dynamic script-wise, because even though it is a good storytelling, it is a bit linear.I rated Platoon 7/10, because I'm not fond of war films, but I have to admit it is a solid one that conveys emotion especially through Sheen's character..
It certainly appears at first glance that other than the deer appearing after the battle, and the talk of soul in Chris's/Charlie Sheen's final narration there is very little symbolism in the film basically every thing is what it is.However, I believe that even if Mr. Stone didn't intend it, the fact that Chris picks up an AK-47 to kill SSGT Barnes is important.
By killing Barnes, it seems Oliver Stone might shed a different light on the comments Chris Taylor/Charlie Sheen makes at after the rampage at the village and the divisiveness it brought the platoon: `I can't believe we're fighting each other when we should be fighting them!'  In this view the Them' could be the establishment that created a world in which a Vietnam could take place.
Oliver Stone harnessed these experiences to make Platoon; a film where he could illustrate to everyone what Vietnam was like from his perspective.In my opinion, this is the best war movie ever made.
Ever since Steven Spielberg wowed the cinematic world and changed the aesthetic of the war movie forever with the exceptional opening 25 minutes of 1998's Saving Private Ryan - the film went downhill from there - audiences have come to expect the same grainy camera-work and ultra-realism of Spielberg's breathtaking vision whenever a battle is depicted.
While Oliver Stone's Platoon, which was once considered difficult to watch due to its unflinching depiction of the insanity of war, may not seem quite as brutal as it used to, it possesses one thing that no war other movie can boast - the guiding hand of a veteran.Stone did a tour in Vietnam which ended in 1968, changing the future writer/director forever.
Visceral and violent war film by Oliver Stone based on his own soldier experiences in Vietnam.
A very strong and tough Vietnam war film made by Oliver Stone who has directed his film in the form of Patrol Drama , a formula much beloved by filmmakers of Hollywood , War and western movies , and revived successfully by this great director .
As a shy soldier , Charlie Sheen in the lead , arrives as a rookie in a veteran platoon led by two very different sergeants , the good boy : Willem Defoe , and the bad guy : Tom Berenger.
Platoon was the first Hollywood film to be written and directed by a veteran of the Vietnam War. Stone fought for years to get this movie made.
Depp (his helmet reading, "Sherilyn", a tribute to Sherilyn Fenn, whom Depp was dating at the time) is OK, but he fades into the background against the bigger performances, despite a key scene.Not only did Platoon win Best Picture and Best Director for Stone, it grossed $138 dollars at the domestic box office to end 1986 as the 3rd highest grossing movie of the year..
Platoon is one of the most realistic war films already made ​​, is the kind of film that have neither protagonist ( Charlie Sheen may be even considered a protagonist, more in my opinion there is no ), the direction of Oliver Stone is very good, cast is very good, Charlie Sheen , Willem Dafoe , Forest Whitaker , John C.
With no combat experience compared to the other men in his platoon including the hot-tempered Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes (played by Tom Berenger), the more kind- heart Sergeant Elias (played by William Defoe), the aggressive and ruthless Lieutenant Wolfe (played by Mark Moses), and fellow African-American Big Harold (played by Forest Whitaker); Chris faces the dehumanizing effects of the war and the moral dilemmas of men in active combat as the platoon fight their through the grueling environment and atmosphere of the Vietnamese battle front.War is ugly, and this movie certainly shows it.
And let's not forget William Defoe, an actor who isn't well known for placing good guy roles, yet manages to show pure charisma and humanity in his character; and Tom Berenger as Sergeant Barnes, a soldier with a cold heart against the both his comrades and the Vietnamese.Platoon is brutal, violent, and quite disturbing to sit through, but it is very effective and honest in portraying the horrors of the Vietnam War. Oliver Stone does a tremendous job on capturing the brutality of the hellish environment of active combat.
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.
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.
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.
Platoon definitely shows Tom Berenger, Willem Defoe and Charlie Sheen at their finest and Oliver Stone's best movie as a director.
Director Oliver Stone based the film on his own experiences in the jungle and the end result was one of the most bleak, violent, unforgiving and brutal war movies made by then.The film might also contain the best performance from Charlie Sheen we've ever seen.
Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger and Charlie sheen give on of their richest performances in my favorite Oliver stone film ever!
(Tom Berenger, looking even more badass with a deep gash in his face that runs from forehead to chin) Somewhat acting as Chris' mentor is Sgt. Elias Grodin (Willem Dafoe), and the two provide (in the most rudimentary sense) good and evil influences as Chris experiences the every day horrors in the jungles of Vietnam; from the irritating  bugs, inclement weather, to the terrifying  combat with the Vietcong, to the gut-wrenching  the ruin of a Vietnam village, mostly innocents.I thought that 'Platoon' was a good film  it is obviously a film made before Stone's highly stylistic period (which he still appears to be in), and is instead a fairly straightforward film about the horrors of war.
Film Review: "Platoon" (1986)When I recall my first of several each time differing experiences of watching "Platoon", when the first time had been somewhere in the mid-1990s on crappy television set, I had been hooked to this War-Action-Drama directed by Oliver Stone, whose film made such an immensely-intense impression on my emotional state of existence that the universal themes of Yin and Yang, Dark and Light impersonated by the ingeniously-written characters of Sgt. Elias and Sgt. Barnes, portrayed to career-defining proportions for supporting cast Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger respectively, who both had been honored with Academy-Award nominations for a motion picture history-making conflict of dealing with utmost stress situations in the middle of an inglorious "Vietnam War" ranging from 1965 to 1975, when chances were that the United States became front-running in a world-wide way of living for all people; which then just got shattered by infusions of enraged society of rich-kid students and returning crippled as emotionally-handicapped war veterans.Director Oliver Stone, who had made military service on his own in the war-time season 1967/1968 for the benchmarks-stretching U.S. American government under 36th President Lyndon B.
Johnson (1908-1973), had written the original screenplay on his experiences in "The Vietnam War" by implementing on main character Chris, performed by 21-year-old pitch-perfect-cast actor Charlie Sheen, who like no others had been able to portray the loss of innocence from the very first arrival at an SouthEast Asian airport in hazardous as blinding sand-corn-dust swirling in mid-air under a tear-draining piece of music by Samuel Barber visualized by the director's brother-in-arm cinematographer Robert Richardson, when they join forces to shot film-roll after film-roll on an remote jungle island within the splintered soils of the Philippines in spring/summer of 1986 to chaotic but highly creative scene coverage in favors for a beat-pushing director over producer's Arnold Kopelson's concerns on his six million dollar budget, which then in Fall 1986 becomes miraculously a knock-out of a picture to be present to critical as box office successes in this razor-sharp two-hour final-cut editorial by Claire Simpson to be recommended to anyone, who cares for the art-form of cinema and wants to learn more on the eternal human condition of fighting not each other but ourselves.© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend
From the opening scene of this movie we can tell that the main character played by Charlie Sheen is not even trying to hide his regret or fear he is in constant fear for his life and this was a very bold choice and a very good one, it's clear that Stone took from his own experiences in Vietnam to make this film seem more real and it payed of.
Charlie Sheen was excellent in this movie he does a really good job at portraying his character as a vulnerable and inexperienced soldier and it allowed the audience to relate to him more as a character and his one man war between his two sergeants is riveting to watch and gives us an impression as to how the war effected everybody in different ways, take Willem Dafoes character an upbeat sergeant trying to make the best out of this situation or Tom Berengers character a wounded, damaged soul having lost all hope of every regaining the humanity he lost.
Few times have a combination of Screenplay, acting and directing come together so perfectly, I love this movie it's one of the greatest and most realistic war films every made, platoon is one of my favourite movie and one of my favourite best picture winners.
This is what we see in Platoon.Charlie Sheen is a newly arrived private in Vietnam and through him Oliver Stone the director/writer of Platoon tells the story of his war.
Oliver Stone directed this powerfully told account of the Vietnam war that stars Charlie Sheen as recent recruit Chris Taylor, who arrives in Vietnam with enthusiasm, but quickly realizes that this war is not what he expected, as he is disrespected by the more seasoned soldiers for his inexperience, and shocked by the lack of purpose he finds in the conflict, which is personified by his two non-commissioned officers, Barnes(played by Tom Berenger) & Elias(played by Willem Dafoe) who hate each other, and are polar opposites in philosophy and approach.
It may not be as good as Apocalypse Now, but I think that this is defiantly one of the greatest war movies of all time.I first saw this and didn't notice that the main character was 21 year old Charlie Sheen, star of the TV show Two and a half Men, but I did recognize William Defoe from the movie Spiderman and I didn't recognize Tom berenger.
Platoon is certainly one of the best films about Vietnam War and Oliver Stone's best..
"Hill-1" also speaks from experience from being an infantry soldier Vietnam, and I cannot say that.I like a good war movie but I was tired of Oliver Stone's left-wing propaganda films so I waited until the '90s before finally seeing this on VHS.
Depressing and Raw. Platoon (1986) **** (out of 4) Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning Vietnam film has a new soldier (Charlie Sheen) arriving in the jungle not fully knowing what to expect and for the next year we follow his platoon as they lose one man after another.
How the twisted logic of war changes him and corrupts him and others in his platoon is the story of the film.To Oliver Stone's credit it can be said that this movie, first released in 1989, helped to shock a new generation of Americans into understanding just why our involvement in Vietnam was a tragic mistake and to warn us not to do anything like that again.
Oliver Stone, Platoon was name a "masterpiece" and one of the most realistic Vietnam war movies of all times.I did enjoy the village scene showing how crazy yanks are at yielding their way to scared the populations.Charlie Sheen memorable motto "They're just humans being..."man, showed what wars movie is all about.Charlie's great and all, but Platoon's thrill is in its supporting cast, namely Tom Berenger as a rather evil yet invincible Staff Sargeant, and Willem Dafoe as the unforgettably moral Sargeant Elias.
Charlie Sheen, while not a great actor, plays a wide-eyed soldier who wants to do good for his country and the world around him, who through his fellow soldiers sees the harsh realties of guerrilla warfare and the first-hand honors of the Vietnam War. In a monumental and iconic role, Willem DaFoe delivers his best work while Tom Berenger is stellar as the evil platoon leader.
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).
Great Vietnam War film from Oliver Stone.
Platoon is the first Vietnam War film to be made by a veteran and was based on Oliver Stone's experiences.
Platoon is about what it means to be a grunt in the Vietnam War. A masterpiece by Oliver Stone, and definitively the best Vietnam War movie ever made.The good.