Love him or hate him, Oliver Stone has always made his films on the edge. Platoon, the deserved winner of the 1986 Best Picture Oscar, remains his undisputed masterpiece to this day. Even though there have been several DVD versions of the film throughout the years, Sony has released the definitive version of the film to honor its 20th anniversary.
Stone has never been one to hold back his political opinions be they popular or not. Whether it’s a conspiracy theory involving J.F.K., the inner turmoil of Nixon, the effect the media has on society in Natural Born Killers, or the greed of Wall Street, Stone does not compromise in his incendiary beliefs.
His natural obsession has been the Vietnam War. Having fought in the war, he felt that he could be the first to shed light on what is was to fight there, which led him to his Vietnam trilogy: Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), and Heaven and Earth (1993).
The center of the film is Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen). Meant to personify Stone as he was in the war, Taylor is new to the bush. He dropped out of college, rejected his privileged upbringing, and volunteered for Vietnam. As he arrives, body bags and the haunted eyes of veterans meet him. It won’t be long before he realizes he made a huge mistake. The time is September of 1967 and Taylor joins Bravo Company platoon of the 25th infantry near the Cambodian border. Taylor is quickly overwhelmed to the point of physical collapse by intense heat, long marches, no sleep, insects, snakes, and an ever present, terrifying, sometimes paralyzing fear.
Sound is a major factor here. Platoon won Oscar for sound as well, and Stone zeroes in on everything Taylor hears and feels. These points and others are reinforced through his narration, which consists of letters that he writes to his grandmother, presumably the only member of his family that he is in contact with. While it can be argued that this narration is the film’s sole weakness, it can at times be useful in hearing how these types of young men felt upon their initial arrival and how they changed as the war progressed.
We hear his early initial optimism die quickly. He notes how as a new arrival, no one cares if he lives or dies. It is a commonly held belief among the men that it’s best to die in the first few weeks; that way you don’t feel a thing. No one bothers to tell the new recruits what to do or how to do it.
The most important of his early realizations, however, is that he is unlike any of the men there in one significant sense: “Here I am…with guys nobody really cares about…they come from the end of the line…most of ‘em small towns you never heard of…most of them got nothing, they’re poor, they’re the unwanted.”
In a way, this actually confirms to Chris that he has, initially, made the right choice. When asked by a black grunt King (played beautifully by Keith David) why in the hell he would volunteer for this, Chris remarks, “Why should all the poor kids have to go and the rich ones get away with it?”
Platoon is mostly plotless. The viewer is in the dark as much as the soldiers are. There is no ultimate objective for the soldiers and there is rarely a clear shot of the Vietcong. They are presented as evil ghosts, hidden in the foliage. Stone uses this to his advantage by deliberately not given them clear frames in which to be seen in. It is unclear how close or how far they are in relation to the platoon. The battle scenes involve looking in every direction and in many instances men are ordered to “shoot anything that moves.” As a result, many of the soldiers are never clear exactly whom they are shooting at which leads to an even greater fear; chances for survival are one in two. Never before in a war film had battles been so purposely confusing so as to demonstrate the pure madness of war. You truly feel the disorientation and separation that the grunt feels toward the outside world.
The heart of the film lies elsewhere. Chris finds himself in the middle of a growing civil war among the platoon. On one side there are the “juicers” led by Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger.) Barnes is a tough, cold-blooded, battle-hardened soldier. His face seems carved out of a jagged rock; it is horribly scarred as the result of several battles. In his mind, he represents reality and believes in the system and the war. He’s the most experienced fighter in the platoon and intimidates nearly everyone including the out of his depth company commander Lieut. Wolfe (Mark Moses).
Wolfe has to actually take Barnes aside after an attack planning and state that in the future, it would be better if he addressed the men in these instances rather than Barnes. He has been shot seven times and the men believe that he can’t die. “The only man who can kill Barnes is Barnes,” one soldier points out to Chris. But, while being a great soldier, he has completely lost any sense of compassion or morality. He is quite willing to, and does, kill anyone without the slightest provocation. He has an almost inhuman sense for killing and violence. His juicers are predominantly white soldiers that listen to Merle Haggard and drink excessively. Amongst them the cowardly bully O’Neill (John C. McGinley) and the psychotic Bunny (Kevin Dillon).
On the other side are the “heads” led by Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe.) Elias, much like Barnes has been in Vietnam way too long and has seen its horrors. However, unlike Barnes, Elias still has his humanity and decency and does not believe in the war anymore. He quite simply states with a sad, haunted resignation that “we’re gonna lose this war.” His “heads” are predominantly minority soldiers who smoke dope, listen to Jefferson Airplane, dance to Smokey Robinson, and are truly a band of brothers. Amongst the members are Rhah (Francesco Quinn), King (Keith David), Big Harold (Forest Whitaker), and Lerner (Johnny Depp in one of his early pre-21 Jump Street roles.) Stone makes it clear that Barnes is meant to personify evil and death while Elias personifies good and life. Both men despise, yet understand the other. Elias is also portrayed as a Christ like figure in one of the film’s many haunting, soul shattering moments. Chris, while initially attracted to the savage Barnes, finds his soul with Elias and his group. He smokes dope for the first time and is genuinely welcomed into the group.
The split between the two groups and between Barnes and Elias comes to a head during a scene that reminds one of My Lai. The platoon has just discovered one of their men with his throat slit. Led by the seething anger of Barnes, they march into a village that may or may not be harboring VC weapons. The anger is fed by fear and it explodes horrifically with Bunny then Barnes. Elias physically confronts Barnes in front of the platoon and the split is irreparable from that point on.
For a film that only had a 6 million dollar budget, Stone makes every penny count. He explores the horrors of the war from a foot soldier’s perspective that brings you into the conflict. At the time it was the most realistically filmed war movie ever. Spielberg knows in his heart of hearts that without Platoon to lead the way, Saving Private Ryan would not have happened. Platoon belongs with Apocalypse Now when the topic of best Vietnam film ever is discussed. A touch of irony; both films involved a Sheen in the central role (Martin in Apocalypse, son Charlie in Platoon) with a narration. However, unlike Apocalypse, Platoon deals with the war in a more immediate, non-abstract way. Apocalypse Now was a metaphysical meditation of the war and the conflict between good and evil in man’s heart. Platoon remains, all respects to Private Ryan, the best war film when dealing with combat on a ground level. The Deer Hunter (1978) and Coming Home (1978) both deserve merit as well when speaking of the greatest Vietnam films, however they mostly focused with the before and after-effects of the war on those who experienced it.
Stone, who won his first of two Best Director Oscars with Platoon (the other for Born On the Fourth of July), was coming off the commercial disappointment of the vastly underrated Salvador earlier that year. Platoon had been turned down at least once by every major studio before producer Arnold Kopelson decided that the film had to be made. This was the make or break point in his career and he knew it. His use of Samuel Barber’s haunting Adagio for Strings scored here by Georges Delerue is the recurring theme of sadness and innocence lost the film hangs its hat on. The battle scenes have an authenticity and bloody realism to them that redefined screen warfare. His screenplay contains the gritty soldier speak that had never been heard before in a film.
We hear the men take pride in how many confirmed kills they have and eavesdrop on their unrelenting fear that any moment or movement could be their last. Longtime Stone collaborator Robert Richardson’s majestic cinematography brings you inside the hell that is war. If there is a flaw, even classics such as this film have them, it is the aforementioned voice over narration which can be overly preachy and sentimental at times, particularly at the end; however, it can be overlooked in favor of the film’s sustained brilliance and Stone has never been shy to sometimes beat you over the head with his own morality and beliefs.
The acting is note-perfect by all. Charlie Sheen perfectly captures the initial innocence and later savagery of Chris and is able to have the viewer see the war through his eyes. He would be this good only one more time, that being in Stone’s Wall Street the following year. After that, his career would emerge as a punch line. Both Berenger and Dafoe earned Supporting Actor Oscar nominations for their roles here. Stone was intelligent to cast both against type here. Dafoe had played mostly slick villains (To Live and Die in L.A. released in 1985) until Platoon, and Berenger had played mostly good guys (The Big Chill released in 1983). Their scenes together are classics. Dafoe’s quiet scene with Sheen while staring at the stars is his standout while Berenger’s drunken confrontation (“What do you know about death?”) with Sheen and the “heads” is acting at its highest level. Both men inhabit their roles with an eerie authenticity that makes you understand where each man comes from and how they got to be who they are. The rest of the cast, McGinley, Depp, Whitaker, Dillon, David etc., all manage to bring a human element to their character whether you care for them or not. For many of them, this was the start of a long, sustained career.
The extras included here are a mixture of some carried over from previous DVD versions and new ones presented for the first time. The two audio commentaries (one by Stone, the other by Military Advisor to the film and co-star Dale Dye) are carryovers from the previous release. Stone’s commentary is somewhere between a history lesson and an honest account of where the movie originated from and the difficulties in bringing it to the screen. He gets genuinely caught up in the moment of some scenes but is always fascinating and informative. All of Stone’s commentaries on his films fall in this category. He is one of the best directors, commentary-wise, when it comes to really taking you inside his mindset and heart. You always come away from them having learned something new. Dye’s commentary is emotional, much like Stone’s, as he draws upon his own experiences from the war and doesn’t shy away from pointing out certain scenes that he and Stone clashed over.
Also from previous editions is the documentary Tour of the Inferno, which is one of the best making of/retrospective film documentaries ever made. Stone and much of the cast and crew take you through the casting, pre/post production, and the brutal 2 week boot camp that Dale Dye had the actors complete before filming. New additions here include 3 featurettes under the heading Flashback to Platoon on the second disk. Snapshot in Time 1967-1968 sets the years in question in context in terms of Vietnam and the U.S. involvement, Creating the ‘Nam deals with the rigors and difficulties of the production, and Raw Wounds: The Legacy of Platoon discusses how the film impacted America then and now. It goes into detail to explain how it was both positively and negatively received by Vietnam veterans.
There are two new documentaries as well; One War, Many Stories that follows an emotional Q&A/focus group study among veterans following a screening of Platoon intercut with Stone’s recollections and Preparing for ‘Nam which deals with several vets, including Stone, discussing why they volunteered and their experiences in basic training. There are also ten minutes of deleted scenes with commentary by Stone. The highlights include a scene with Dafoe as a ghost and an alternate ending that Stone now wishes he had used. Three T.V. spots, a theatrical trailer, and a stills gallery round out the extras as well as some bonus previews of other Sony DVD releases. There is a special booklet included that has some vintage pictures and production history. This is a first-rate special edition all the way. Normally, I never advocate going for the studios’ tired attempts at repackaging classics over and over again on DVD. This is the third repackaging of this film for those who have lost track. But in this case, it is a worthwhile investment. Sony has done a masterful job putting this edition together and the extras are proof of it. All the featurettes and documentaries included are first-rate and immensely watchable.
Platoon heralded the arrival of Oliver Stone as one of the premier voices in American film. Prior to its release, he was known as the Oscar winning screenwriter of Midnight Express (1978), the underrated 8 Million Ways to Die (1986), and the over-the-top excess that was Scarface (1983.) With Platoon, he showed his brilliance behind the camera and continues to push buttons in his films much like the great Sam Peckinpah did.
Having lost none of its immediacy, honesty, and brutality, Platoon remains the definitive, authentic film account of the Vietnam foot soldier and one of the greatest war films ever. No matter what your opinion of him and his political stances are, Stone deserves eternal praise for bringing this difficult subject out of his soul and to the screen. Platoon is one of the great screen masterpieces. It will endure .
Platoon – The 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD’s database for more information.
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