What Makes "Platoon" Great

Going for a more realistic approach compared to something like "Apocalypse Now", Oliver Stone's Platoon offers a realistic take on the war that creates a brutal and powerful experience, and one of the greatest war films ever made. The film follows a new arrival Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) and his Platoon over a few months and explores he's moral crisis, and his relationship with his squad leaders, the more laid back and reasonable Sergent Elias (Willem Dafoe), and the scared and hardened Sergent Barnes (Tom Berenger). Taylor's personal crisis becomes the forefront of the film as he and his squadmates face the brutality of the war. What makes Platoon stand out not just compared to Vietnam war films, but war films, in general, is that it is much smaller in terms of scope and plot. There is no trekking through enemy territory to save one Private, no boat ride through hell to terminate a rogue Colonel, it is instead a more personal look at a Platoon's day to day lives, and how this war begins to divide them and tear them apart. Oliver Stone served in Vietnam, and you can tell the subject is very personal and at some points semi-biographical. We see this throughout with the soldiers fighting not just the enemy but the elements as well, such as at the beginning where Chris has a hard time keeping up with the Platoon due to a heavy pack, and a constant swarm of bugs on him. Taylor's letters to his Grandma are also heard throughout the film detailing his experience and thoughts on the war and they feel very real like they could have been written by any soldier. The Commanding Officer Lieutenant Wolf (Mark Mosses) is an incompetent College boy who is often walked over by the more experienced enlisted men. There is also an emphasis on the fact that most of the soldiers in Taylor's unit come from poor working-class backgrounds and are there either because of being drafted or simply have nowhere else to go. They are men that have very little and their goal of simply return home to their families is much bigger than fighting for their country. Taylor, on the other hand, comes from a wealthy background and dropped out of college to serve in Vietnam, a fact that shocks his fellow-men, as the idea of dropping out of college and choosing something like this despite the open options is insane in their eyes. Taylor's development represents another aspect that many veterans find very familiar. Chris is a young naive recruit who believes the cause he's fighting for, and simply wants to do his part to his country. This romanticized view is slowly broken as the death, destruction, and exhaustion begin to take its toll on Taylor's psyche. This accumulates to a village raid where Taylor has a mental breakdown which almost results in Taylor killing a civilian before coming to his senses. He later witnesses some of his fellow soldiers attempting to rape a young Vietnamese girl before he steps in and stops them. It's during this sequence that Taylor sees the war for what it really is, it goes back to the tagline of the film, "The first casualty of war is innocence". Taylor than walks a tightrope between the more sensible Sergent Elias, and the more brutal Sergent Barnes. Elias has been in Vietnam for years and has lost faith in America's cause for being there, he even bluntly says "We're gonna lose this war". Despite the years there, he doesn't allow it to affect his mindset as much as the other seasoned men. This is thanks to his open mind and mental escapes through things like drugs. Sergent Barnes is, however, the complete opposite of Elias, he has been both physically and mentally scarred by his time in Vietnam and this experience has turned him into a brutal dictator over his fellow men and is willing to do whatever he thinks is necessary to win the war, no matter how cruel it may be. Taylor can easily become either of these men, but in the end, when he's time in Vietnam is over, he emphasizes the war will always be there for him, and that there will always be a bit of both his mentors in him. The performances from Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, and Tom Berrenger are all solid, with Berreanger partially standing out in a performance that I believe was robbed of an Oscar. Stone also brilliantly captures the look of the war in Vietnam. Despite being shot in the Philippines, Stone creates an accurate depiction of the landscape of Vietnam, being both beautiful and terrifying thanks in large part to the work of Cinematographer Robert Richardson. There is one scene in particular that stands out in this regard. While sleeping in the jungle, Taylor is woken up by a slowly approaching group of NVCs. It's a brilliant use of tension as the anticipation of the inevitable firefight that will ensue is nerf racking. Oliver Stone's deeply personal take on the Vietnam War stands out brilliantly in a genre that is filled with both masterpieces and misfires.