Review of Platoon (1986) by Koba L — 07 May 2012

WE DID NOT FIGHT THE ENEMY; WE FOUGHT OURSELVES. THE ENEMY WAS IN US.

Those are the words from the last lines of the movie. The movie that today is seen as one of the most accurate Vietnam War movies. Directed by Vietnam vet O. Stone, Platoon is a very emotional story about war and about ordinary people who try to survive during it. Stone tried to make a war movie that would not be a fantasy, legend or metaphor but simply a memory of what he had seen in Vietnam. As far as I am concerned, he succeeded in every way. Main stars of the film are Ch. Sheen (echo to his father's role in Apoclapyse Now), W. Dafoe and T. Berenger.

Platoon's storyline is very simple. A young recruit Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) comes to Vietnam in order to serve his country. He is full of hopes and patriotism. However, soon Taylor realizes that war is not a fairy tale. He confronts horrors of war and faces the moral crisis. Chris searches for someone to lean on and finds himself in crossfire between two commanding officers Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) and Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger). Before long, Taylor has to decide which ones views he finds more reasonable.

While it is obvious that the storyline is not a very strong one, movie's strength lies in other places. One of them is the collision of two very strong personalities - Sgt. Elias and Sgt. Barnes. Firstly, neither of them is a typical war hero that we are used to see in movies. Sgt. Elias is a compassionate and charismatic leader who is experienced enough not to lose his mind and to defend his beliefs, however he is not perfect either and we see him doing drugs to escape from this war. Barnes is a veteran sergeant with many scars on his face (one of the characters says that he was hit seven times). His bravery and combat skills are undeniable and his men even believe that he cannot be killed. Barnes does not do drugs, he is a kind of man that bravely stands up to reality and does not hide from it. However, he has his dark side either - he saw so much in his life that killing is nothing more but a necessity for him. When we see both of these characters on the screen, we can sense the tension between them and it takes movie on a higher level.

When there is no fighting and no Sgt. Elias or Sgt. Barnes on the screen, the story revolves around a bunch of young freshmen. Their metamorphosis from frightful rookies to solders is one of the most interesting things in Platoon. It amazes and scares how war changes and splits people. Even though all rookies seem to be different personalities, they all go through the same path during the war and only at the end of this path, they become real soldiers. In this movie, we are shown that there only are three kinds of real solders - hardy and cruel (like Barnes), fearful and weak (like Sgt. O'Neill (John C. McGinley)) and there are some who manages to keep their sane mind and become brave and calm solders like Elias.

To sum up, Platoon is an overwhelming war drama that helps us to feel what war really feels like and shows what war does to people. It is not a movie full of special effects or a philosophical journey to human heart and sometimes the simplicity of the story annoys a bit. However, it is a human drama than can and should be seen by every grown up because of its anti-war message.

2011-06-22.