Plot
Oliver Stone's breakthrough as a director, Platoon is a brutally realistic look at a young soldier's tour of duty in Vietnam. Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a college student who quits school to volunteer for the Army in the late '60s. He's shipped off to Vietnam, where he serves with a culturally diverse group of fellow soldiers under two men who lead the platoon: Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger), whose facial scars are a mirror of the violence and corruption of his soul, and Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe), who maintains a Zen-like calm in the jungle and fights with both personal and moral courage even though he no longer believes in the war. After a few weeks "in country," Taylor begins to see the naïveté of his views of the war, especially after a quick search for enemy troops devolves into a round of murder and rape. Unlike Hollywood's first wave of Vietnam movies (including The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, and Coming Home), Platoon is a grunt's-eye view of the war, touching on moral issues but focusing on the men who fought the battles and suffered the wounds. In this sense, it resembles older war movies more than its Vietnam peers, as it mixes familiar elements of onscreen battle with small realistic details: bugs, jungle rot, exhaustion, C-rations, marijuana, and counting the days before you go home. This mix of traditional war movie elements with a contemporary sensibility won Platoon four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, and a reputation as one of the definitive modern war films. ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
Platoon is remembered for the striking realism with which it recreated the Vietnam War from the viewpoint of the U.S. soldier. At stark contrast are the story's two protagonists, played by Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe, the latter at peace with himself despite the hostilities around him, the former representing the corruption of ideals that defined American participation in the war. The film established Oliver Stone as a major director and boosted the careers of several cast members, including Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker, and Johnny Depp. Delivering as the favorite at the Oscars, Platoon took four statues in the seven categories in which it was nominated, including one for Stone and for Best Picture. ~ Richard Gilliam, RoviCast
- Tom Berenger - Sgt. Barnes
- Willem Dafoe - Sgt. Elias Grodin
- Charlie Sheen - Chris Taylor
- Forest Whitaker - Big Harold
- Francesco Quinn - Rhah
Credit
Rodell Cruz - Art Director, Doris Sherman Williams - Art Director, Warren McLean - Casting, Pat Golden - Casting, Bob Morones - Casting, A. Kitman Ho - Co-producer, Oliver Stone - Director, Claire Simpson - Editor, John Daly - Executive Producer, Derek Gibson - Executive Producer, Georges Delerue - Composer (Music Score), Georges Delerue - Musical Direction/Supervision, Merle Haggard - Songwriter, Grace Slick - Songwriter, Marvin Tarplin - Songwriter, Cecille Baun - Makeup, Gordon J. Smith - Makeup, Bruno Rubeo - Production Designer, Robert Richardson - Cinematographer, Arnold Kopelson - Producer, Yves de Bono - Special Effects, Simon Kaye - Sound Mixer, Gil Arceo - Stunts, Richard Boyle - Screenwriter, Oliver Stone - Screenwriter, Charles Grenzbach - Re-Recording Mixer, Richard D. Rogers - Re-Recording Mixer, John "Doc" Wilkinson - Re-Recording Mixer, Samuel Barber - Featured Music, Smokey Robinson - Featured Music| Platon (2008 Film), Plato's Run (1997 Film) | |
| Platoon Leader (1987 Film), Platoon Warriors (1988 Film) |
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