Review of Platoon (1986) by Daniel E — 28 Jan 2011

As a visual experience it doesn't really have many rivals and mostly just copycats. It's sort of in a lower realm of the Apocalypse Now! world if you follow. I remember when I first saw it how I was repulsed and not all that impressed, but I've steadily grown to appreciate it as a type of perfect nightmare. The script is pretty heavy handed where it's not just funny, and it is funny in a macabre way. Sounds like Oliver Stone right? Of course this is his biggest film and I think it deserves it. Oliver does have himself blown up by a suicide bomber in some sort of grotesque bodies-flying pennance, so there's that. I think it's a little shallow to dismiss the good versus evil theme as Star Wars in Viet Nam such as what was said of it ad nauseum. Full Metal Jacket may be a lot more sophisticated, but it still dealt in pairs, dichotomies.

Platoon also marks a great performance for Charlie Sheen to look back on back when he wasn't a fuck up playing himself on some show with Jon Cryer and this fat kid. Anyways, to hell with that, this is a great flick if you can stand it. I'd still stack it up against any war flick yet made along the lines of say "The Hurt Locker" most recently etcetera.