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"Platoon"
Directed by Oliver Stone
Starring Tom Berenger,
Willem Dafoe and Char
lie Sheen
★★★★★
Hollywood has
provided several
interesting films about the
Vietnam War.
First came John
Wayne’s horrible “The
Green Berets,” a film that
insulted the audience by
reducing America’s most
controversial war to a
simple good guys versus
bad guys shoot ’em up.
Then there was Francis
Ford Coppola’s
“Apocalypse Now,” an
allegorical tale of insanity
set in one of the most
insane periods of
American history. Then
there was Michael
Cimino’s “The Deer
Hunter” and Hal Ashby’s
“Coming Home,” two
gripping stories about the
way the war destroyed the
lives of those who fought
and those who stayed
home. Vietnam became a
popular target, and tons
of anti-war films were
made.
With the rise of
Reaganism there was a
rise of patriotic films, and
anti-war films became
unpopular. The best
patriotic films usually have
to take place during a war
and, since Vietnam was
the war most people
remembered, Vietnam
became that war. All
political, social,
philosophical and moral
questions were stripped
away to give Sylvester
Stallone and Chuck
Norris an endless supply
of bodies to destroy.
“Platoon” is the newest
and most realistic film
about Vietnam. The film
was written and directed
by Oliver Stone, a man
who spent the late ’60s
fighting the Viet Cong.
(During this time Stallone
was making pomo movies
and Norris was practicing
to be Bruce Lee’s
punching bag.) “Platoon”
is taken from Stone’s
experiences during the
war.
“Platoon” is the story
of Chris Taylor (Charlie
Sheen), a 19-year-old
college drop-out who
joins the army in 1967
because he wants to do
his share for his country,
just like his grandfather
who served in World War
I and his father who
served in World War II.
Taylor soon learns that
this is not the same type oi
war his father and
grandfather fought.
The Viet Cong were a
frightening enemy. They
were rarely seen — a
platoon would be
marching through the
jungle and then all hell
would break loose. After a
few minutes of fighting
there would be dead
Americans and
Vietnamese but nothing
was won. The jungles
were so heavily booby
trapped that many
Americans lost their lives
without being anywhere
near an enemy soldier.
The Viet Cong was just
one of the enemies that
had to be fought. There
was the heat, insects,
snakes, disease, jungle
rot, drugs, incompetence,
confusion, fear and
dispair. There were the
problems with the “lifers,”
the professional soldiers
trying to fight a new war in
the old way, the “juicers,”
those who avoided
fighting and spent their
time trying to make
money by dealing on the
black market, and the
“grunts,” the common
fighting man. “Platoon”
shows all of this in highly-
detailed fashion.
There are two
sergeants in Taylor’s
platoon who personify
two attitudes toward the
war. Sgt. Bames (Tom
Berenger) is the classic
warrior — brave, tough,
heroic and dedicated to
the cause. Bames likes to
kill. Sgt. Elias (Willem
Defoe) is also brave,
tough and heroic but he
has a conscience. Elias
kills only when it is
necessary. Depite the fact
there is an officer in
charge, the sergeants are
the true leaders of the
platoon. Taylor admires
both men.
The two sergeants
come into conflict when
the platoon comes to a
village suspected of
harboring Viet Cong
soldiers. They come to
blows and the conflict
results in the deaths of
both men by the end of
the film.
“Platoon” is the best
film that has been made
about Vietnam. It works
so well because it
incorporates many of the
images of the war that
have been burned into
our memory due to
television and
photographs. For those
who remember the war,
“Platoon” stirs up
memories that have been
buried for too long. For
those too young to
remember the war,
“Platoon” offers a
personal look at the war
that has to be understood
on a personal level.
—Review by Karl
Pallmeyer
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