Review of Platoon (1986) by Brad D — 09 Mar 2015

By 1986, Oliver Stone was mostly recognized as the screenwriter behind Brian de Palma´s masterpiece "Scarface", even due he had written a handful of films and directed a couple of films; but it all changed when he presented a film that was "partially" based on his personal experiences in the Vietnam War: "Platoon".

Chris Taylor is a colleague dropout who volunteers for duty in Vietnam as he sees it as the only thing he can do in life and because he has nobody that cares for him. When he is finally in the battlefield he encounters and befriends a group of soldiers but he soon witness the cruel reality of war and the atrocities that people are willing to do inside of it.

The Vietnam War has been used as the setting of numerous films and most of them are pretty forgettable with some exceptions like Kubrick´s "Full Metal Jacket", Coppola´s "Apocalypse Now", "The Deer Hunter", and Oliver Stone´s "Platoon". "Platoon" is one of those war films that manages to tell a human story without glorifying war. It counts with a pretty big and impressive cast that delivers solid/strong performances with the best being, obviously, Charlie Sheen in a role that reminds me that he is/was a solid actor beyond his "comedic" roles; gorgeous locations that are perfectly exploited, memorable dialog, beautiful cinematography, a perfect pacing, a memorable story, iconic scenes, an excellent use of songs of the time, well executed character relationships, a script that doesn't fall in any cliché, solid themes, and intense and pulse pounding action sequences that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The only big complain with "Platoon" is that it wastes a lot of talented actors like Johnny Deep and Forrest Whitaker in roles that mostly remain on the background and are then completely drop from the film. The other issue I have is the fact that there are too many characters that at times I got them confused or even forgot who they were.

"Platoon" is filled with emotion, phenomenal acting and a touching, relatable and unforgettable story about the humanity in the middle of hell. This is not only Oliver Stone´s masterpiece but also one of the best war films ever made and the third best film about the Vietnam War in my list.