Private Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) was a collage drop-out, so he decided to enlist in the army, where he was sent to Vietnam. One week after arriving, he already regretted his mistake.
Taylor is part of a platoon that is stationed not very far from the Cambodian border. His platoon is anything but "family." They constantly fight, almost as much as they do with the enemy.
Taylor learns overnight not to make friends. Day after day, night after night, more and more of the people in his platoon are killed by the enemy, "charlie." Some out-right murdered while others shot dead. Verily, Taylor sees it all. And so do we.
But as the violence becomes heavier and heavier, Taylor asks him self one question: "Will I get out alive?"
The Vietnam War, the central moral and political issue of the 1960's has inspired some of the best movies ever made. Forrest Gump, Born on the Fourth of July, The Deer Hunter. Such movies, like Apocalypse Now, Coming Home, Good Morning, Vietnam and The Killing Fields have told many sides of the Vietnam war and what it ment to many different people.
In Platoon, we see the point of view of a grunt, a foot soldier, who was really director Oliver Stone, as the movie is based on his memories of his time spent in southern Asia.
The Vietnam Memorial in Washington says that "Before you can make any vast, sweeping statements about Vietnam, you have to begin by understanding the bottom line, which is that a lot of people went over there and got killed, and that is what the war meant for them."
Well, it's true. Platoon is the first movie to be told from the grunt's point of view. In other films, we have the story told by veterins returning home, the families of veterins or civilians. You never saw the film told from the cold, brutal, bottom-line perspective.
Where Platoon scores big is in the way it tells it's story. It doesn't tip-toe around the details or clean them up. The movie is hardly "hollywoodized" as some films tend to be.
The film is graphic and gross and very disturbing, but that is the way it was meant to be. That is one of the reasons Platoon is such an incrediably poigniant film. With films like Platoon, however, we can see what the war was all about. We will NEVER be able to feel what it was like to fight in Vietnam. Never. EVER.
Platoon. One of the best films of the decade.
Plot: 
The film was written by an actual Vietnam veterin. Oliver Stone wrote an incredible screenplay. Thank GOD he was able to remember the events of his tour of duty, because it's films like this that capture the life and times of the era and all the horror that went with it.
Visual Effects:
The battle scenes are very well done and the action is incredibly real.
The only thing that made the film worse was near the beginning, we see a lightning strike. The effect looks incredibly fake, and everyone can tell it's fake. Surely that could have been done better!
Sound: 
There is a score to the film that is great, although there are a couple of songs in the film (only to fit in certain scenes, though).All-in-all, OK.
Character Development:
They say that the first casualty of war is innocence. The saying is true.
We see many characters seemingly "grow up" over night. Taylor, the main character, is no exception. His is the biggest change of all.
Atmosphere:
This film is hard to get into. But once around twenty minutes in, you'll get involved in the action and won't easily be pulled away.
Realism:
This film was based on director Oliver Stone's real life experiance in Vietnam. Stone did a masterful job of retelling his experiances in a way that not only veterins but John Q. Public could relate to.
Warren’s Rating:
Movies it beat out for Best Picture:
Children of a Lesser God, (1986); Hannah and Her Sisters, (1986); The Mission (1986); A Room with a View, (1985)
9.5/10 Is the movie worth your time to watch?
25-10-04
