Platoon (DVD 2000)

The Vietnam War waged for practically a decade or more. Oliver Stone's movie, Platoon, like the war itself, will remain in the minds of humankind for years to come.

Based primarily around Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen, 'Wall Street', 'Eight Men Out'), the film portrays a young college kid who has opted out of college life in order to join those fighting the Vietnam War.

The film is the first part in a trilogy written and directed by Oliver Stone, the subsequent movie titled 'Born on the 4th July' starring Tom Cruise and 'Heaven and Earth' with Tommy Lee Jones. Stone (JFK, Nixon, The Doors) captures the Vietnam War and its consequences about as well as anyone ever could, 'Platoon' being the strongest of the trilogy. The director is famous for his interest in political subjects, especially those relating to the life and times of his childhood and younger years, the 1960s and 1970s. Write and direct what you know is the general concensus. Stone knows his work.

A huge and talented cast includes Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem DaFoe, Kevin Dillon (The Doors), John C McGinley (Wall Street, Born on the 4th July, Any Given Sunday, Talk Radio, Nixon), Keith David, Forest Whitaker, Mark Moses, Chris Pederson, Tony Todd - and an early performance by Johnny Depp - only contributes towards the excellent story and sharp directing by Stone, making 'Platoon' arguably the best Vietnam War film in the history of cinema.

Stone aptly captures the horrors of the war while further injecting a dramatic - albeit fictional - storyline, which serves not as a backdrop to the conflict but is incorporated into the heart of the film comfortably, almost effortlessly. The moviegoer is entertained by the conflict between Sgt Barnes and Sgt Elias - hopefully rooting for Chris, the idealistic Private stuck somewhere in the middle of a private war - and yet are offered an insight into the war itself. There is history and entertainment here --- and hopefully a moral message about the futility of war and its effects upon humankind.

It is still nice to watch Charlie Sheen in this film and remember when he was probably the most promising actor of the 1980s with his other performances in John Sayle's 'Eight Men Out', Oliver Stone's 'Wall Street', John Milius's 'Red Dawn' and John Hughes's 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'. Other strong performances come from John C McGinley(Point Break, Se7en)- and an Oliver Stone regular - Kevin Dillon (The Doors) and Forest Whitaker.

Moreover, the battle scenes are skillfully executed although some critics downed the film for its graphic portrayal of violence --- but Stone was trying to depict the realities of the war and the hard decisions those in charge had to face when confronted with guerrilla warfare.

This special edition is particularly good value, for the extras are plentiful and informative. Well worth the money!

Matt Lee-Williams.

ONE OF THE ORIGINAL WAR FILMS AND ONE OF THE MUST SEE FILMS ON MY TOP LISTS.
RAW SENCES AND UN CLUTTERED ACTING BY BRILLIANT ACTORS UNTARNISHED BY HYPE.

This film is an epic. It is about the American soldiers innocence being lost in Vietnam. It is very realistic and convincing.
Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a young naive American who upon his arrival in Vietnam, quickly discovers that he must do battle not only with the Viet Cong (VC), but also with the gnawing fear,physical exhaustion and intense anger growing inside him.
While his 2 commanding officers (Tom Berenger and William Dafoe) draw a fine line between the war they wage against the enemy and the one they fight with each other, the conflict, the chaos and the hatred penetrate Taylor, suffocating his realities and numbing his feelings to man's highest value ... Life.

I recommend that you purchase the Special Edition DVD version as it contains a 51 min documentary on the making of "Tour of the Inferno" plus many other special features.

The film itself is 1 hr 55 mins long.

great film, bought off ebay a while back, great service from seller and when i put dvd on 3 weeks later the dvd kept sticking and jumping....so had to buy another one to fully watch the film...

any way about the film, its a film where you have to sit down from start to finish to fully understand. poor lighting in places as its based at night, but on the whole i think i would watch it again.