Review of Platoon (1986) by Tim S — 30 Mar 2012

And now on to Oliver Stone's most famous and most talked about film, Platoon. This film won an Oscar for best picture in 1986 and its easy to see why. Its stark and realistic look at an innocent young man in the army who is sent to Vietnam and goes to hell and back is still as powerful today as it was in 1986.

The film's log line "the first casualty of war is innocence" can't be any more relevant to its subject matter. It's also worth mentioning that this is the first film in Stone's Vietnam trilogy, following with Born On The Fourth Of July in 1989 and Heaven & Earth in 1993.

One thing you have to marvel at while watching this film is its cast: Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, Johnny Depp, John C. McGinley, Kevin Dillon, Forest Whitaker, Keith David, Tony Todd, Francesco Quinn and Dale Dye.

..absolutely remarkable. Everybody's performances are stellar throughout the entire film. Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe steal the show of course. The score for the film is pretty sparse, but the main theme of the film that repeats itself over and over throughout is effective and emotional.

There is also a mix of music from the era, including some Motown tunes and most notably, Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit'. The violence level of this film is pretty high, and there is a small amount of gore throughout.

Not surprising coming from Oliver Stone who tends to push the limits and get into the realism of storytelling. The film doesn't really have the frenetic style that Stone would later be known for, mostly from Natural Born Killers, but I think that the craziness of the portrayal of war wouldn't lend itself to that sort of style anyway.

Needless to say, Stone really hit this one out of the park. It's a phenomenal and gripping tale that had me glued to my chair from beginning to end. A very emotional and human tale.