Platoon Movie Reviews Examples

The year 2014 marks the 28th anniversary since the movie Platoon was first released. It is one of the most honored and best movies of all time. It was released on 24th December 1986. It was directed and written by Oliver Stone, while Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger and Charlie Sheen were the people starring. Upon its release, it took moviegoers, critics, and audiences by surprise as it took home four academy awards including best director and best picture, Oscar awards in 1987. In 1997 and 2007, it appeared in top 100 films of all time in American Film Institute list. Mr. Stone portrays the real events as he was part of the history and it is closely related to war period. The movie is based on a true story and thus the pictures displayed are close to the actual events.
The film is based on Vietnam War, according to the Oliver’s personal experience as a combat in Vietnam between 1967 and 1968. The movie is all about a young man going through tough and hard choices while in the war. The main character, Chris Taylor, a character played by Charlie Sheen, appears to be an idealistic and impressionable man. Chris Taylor is an army volunteer, unlike the other soldiers. His enthusiasm and idealism are put to test severely by his surroundings, as well as his fellow soldiers.
As the movie Platoon opens, Chris Taylor faces men who died in a combat situation, and that seems to be a surprise to him. After alighting from the plane that brought them to Vietnam, Taylor is forced to watch dead soldiers still with body bags being loaded into the plane that brought him – the bodies are to be flown back to United States. Taylor is then assigned to a platoon comprising of seasoned veterans who are poor, uneducated draftees.
Since Taylor is incompetent and weak, he gets some assistance from two other tested noncom combats that end up loathing each other. These men are Tom Berenger (acting as Staff Sergeant Barnes) and affable Willem Dafoe (acting as Sergeant Elias). The platoons are then made to select one side to support between the two strong rivals. Taylor is made to make difficult decisions. After arrival, they are sent to make patrols on a thick jungle between Cambodia and South Vietnam; this area seems to be infested with Vietcong and Vietnamese soldiers. The war takes place in the forest although, in some instances, the Vietnamese get attacked while in their villages.
Another important part to note from the movie is the fact that Oliver Stone presents a creative narrative order in the movie. In the beginning, it can seem to be aimless with the interest of the combats and the platoon being to stay alive, but at the heart of the movie, Mr. Stone dramatizes moral and physical chaos. The tension continues with the middle of the movie, having harrowing and astonishing impact; however, anyone can tell that the events are inevitable. Again, the use of screenplay remains incredible where the screen of the movie slides into as well as out of the important scenes without the loss of the distant cool. The director involves emotional music that brings outrage - especially on the sight of the dead bodies of soldiers. The Vietnam villages getting burned in a broad daylight and brutal murder in the forests also is accompanied with some emotional music by Georges Delerue. The other members of the film also play important parts. For example, Kevin Dillon, younger brother to Matt, plays a crucial role as a homicidal maniac, although having a baby face. Keith David, best friend to Mr. Sheen, plays as the only sane one in the film. Everything about the movie is positive and completely impressive dues to the magnificent duties each actor plays, especially Tom Berenger, John C., Charlie Sheen and Keith David. Again, everyone would be impressed by realistic combat scenarios portraying his seriousness of the chaos, the funny dialog, suspense, taut and a storyline full of tension. The combination of all this factors makes the movie the most impressive and one of the best in the history.
Oliver Stone in this movie tried to portray the real events from the war zone as Historian Fabian Hilfrich explained. Hilfrich was also in the jungle together with Stone in 1967. The scene shown in the movie was close to the actual events only that the situation was worse in the jungle. There were deadlier booby traps lying beneath the grounds. Many American soldiers were brutality murdered and some fell into the hands of Vietnamese Cong. In the battle ground, more than 3 million people, 58,000 American and other civilians lost their lives. The war lasted for more than 20 years and remains as the biggest war in American history. The movie show American to have won the battle but I go against that fact. With the kind of resources that were poured into the Vietnam War, the troops did not take care of business as they should. Therefore, the perception among Americans at that time was that we were not winning the war hence the dragging of the war. The troops also lost a good number of soldiers, something that remains etched in the minds of the people. On the other hand, the bloodshed portrayed by Stone in the movie is actually what was going on in the battle field. The torching of Vietnam villages, rape, murder and other hard times faced in Vietnam. However, majority of the combats participating in the war were volunteers, something the movie does not make the viewers understand.
Another important impact of this movie is the emotional connection. While watching the film, I developed strong emotional connection. For instance, watching determined soldiers say, “goodbye” to the killed comrades in the battle is quite heartbreaking. Watching Vietnamese villages being burnt down, the attempted rape of that young girl by American soldiers and brutal murder of the mentally handicapped Vietnamese mother and son bring extreme sympathy and emotion. Moreover, at the end of the war, some soldiers realized they were alive and having survived the harsh environment in the thick forests of Vietnam brought much joy as I watched the film. The film made me realize how happy the survivors of the war might have felt and the impacts it made to Vietnam people.
In conclusion, I would strongly recommend anyone to buy the film and take time go back to the one of the darkest moments for the American soldiers and their families in history. Platoon remains as one of the few outstanding films in the history of America. It is the best movie Oliver Stone ever directed and filmed. Through the use of brilliant scripts, superb acting as well as a clearly portrayed tense story, the movie remains the best of any other movie showing of the plight of combat in Vietnam War zone. The movie is a picture of the actual events in the war zone. The massive death of American soldiers and Vietnamese during the actual combat somehow relate to the movie.