PLATOON (1986) watch along
Added 2024-11-07 17:39:50 +0000 UTCI have a complicated relationship with Platoon. On one hand, I absolutely hated it—because it’s brutal, raw, and painfully real. The portrayal of war is so intense and horrific that there were moments I literally couldn’t watch. But on the other hand, I loved it because of how genuine and unflinchingly authentic it felt. The film hits you with a different kind of emotional weight, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on while watching. It felt deeply personal, almost like the story was speaking directly to you. The cinematography was stunning—visually artistic and immersive—and I really appreciated the voiceover narration, which added layers of reflection and depth.
There's so much to unpack in this movie, and it leaves you thinking long after it's over. I think the anti war message works.
Xx
Ames
Comments
All war is hell, but Vietnam was especially messy for those involved. As stated in the film, most of the soldiers didn't want to be there, and Vietnam itself was torn between wanting help and not. When you're already there against your will and think you're helping only to receive resistance, it has to make it so difficult and make you just feel like being there is pointless. I can't imagine how hard it must have been. This film is so important because it's one of the earlier films to show that not all soldiers are perfect, that everyone is flawed and does horrible things. Earlier films like Kelly's Heroes and Dirty Dozen touched on that, but this and Full Metal Jacket really went in there. I checked while watching this to see if you'd watched FMJ and yeah, I don't envy you that. I saw it once and never again. On a final note of this rambling comment, I must recommend to never watch Casualties of War. It has an amazing cast, with Sean Penn and Michael J Fox, but it's the only film I've never been able to sit through. It's a 2-hour film and I'd say at least an hour of that is physical abuse and SA. I can't fathom the amount of money someone would need to pay me to attempt it again. I don't think I ever could.
China Andronicus
2025-05-18 02:46:00 +0000 UTCStone made three Vietnam movies. I highly recommend Heaven and Earth. Also Born On The 4th of July. Both of these are based on true stories and show different sides of the war and veteran struggles.
Chris H
2024-11-11 03:30:35 +0000 UTCCouple of interesting backstories about this movie. I'm sure you may recognize a much younger Dale Dye, he later played Col. Sink in Band of Brothers. The final battle was based upon a battle he was in as a Marine in Vietnam when he also had to call in an airstrike on his own position just like he did at the end of the movie. As another commenter mentioned the director Oliver Stone was also a Vietnam vet, he and Dale Dye, who could not be on more opposite sides of the pole in terms of worldview or politics, became very good friends and continued to collaborate often on several of Stone's future films. They both agreed no matter what they wanted this movie to be as accurate as possible both in terms of action but also the feeling of hopelessness many of the vets felt while serving over there.
Robert Berry
2024-11-08 20:11:18 +0000 UTCMy Father is a Vietnam Veteran so we watched this a few times when it showed up on HBO as a child. It's been so long since I saw it but the things that stayed with me are the soundtrack and the village scene.
Wade Wallenstein
2024-11-08 13:29:10 +0000 UTCAt least now you understand the Platoon joke from The Naked Gun movie from a while back
Mario
2024-11-08 13:04:01 +0000 UTCTotally appreciate that
Amalia Wolf
2024-11-08 08:29:15 +0000 UTCTotally Bubba!
Amalia Wolf
2024-11-08 07:53:34 +0000 UTCI may have to pass on this one this week. I own this movie and have seen it a few times, but the more of this genre that comes up, the less often I'm finding myself excited for the combat films. I enjoy stories taking place during and centered around war and combat situations quite a bit. I never have problems with Bridge on the River Kwai, Best Years of Our Lives, Patton, and Gone with the Wind. I can take those any day, but things like this and Apocalypse Now just get harder for me to revisit.
Shawn Goforth
2024-11-08 02:45:39 +0000 UTCDefinately one of those movies you don't watch, you experience.
Bubba Fett
2024-11-08 00:10:01 +0000 UTCRegarding the scene where Chris shoots Barnes, the fact that Barnes seemingly wants to die (or at the very least is ambivalent about staying alive), basically daring Chris to shoot him, has an effect on the decision Chris makes. I'm thinking he probably does it anyway, but Barnes essentially giving Chris permission to kill him wipes away any remaining doubt Chris might have had. At this point Barnes has been so thoroughly morally and emotionally corrupted by his experience in Vietnam it's hard to imagine what kind of life he would have had after the war had he lived.
Carl Lyngholm
2024-11-07 23:57:33 +0000 UTCYou nailed it in your prediction that Chris was going to kill Barnes. The scene of Elias running through the field gives the iconic (somewhat melodramatic) image of Elias (Willem Dafoe) thrusting his arms upright into the air while being shot/killed. I wondered if you noticed that Captain Harris in this movie and Colonel Sink in Band of Brothers are the same actor. Did you notice the Oliver Stone cameo near the end of the movie? The US tied in the Korean War but lost the Vietnam War. The village scene is tough. I loved this movie when I was young – watched it in the theater at age 23 in 1986. Early in the movie, Barnes says “I goddamn guarantee you” and “I shit you not” – I heard that more irl back in the late 1970’s/early 1980s. I don’t rewatch the movie as much now because how sad the movie – yet, there is a richness about the movie. I like how the movie starts with no background or training camp but with them arriving in Vietnam. This movie is good highlighting stuff like how the poor fought our wars, or the complexity of the Viet Cong (VC) being in the villages. The VC were not regular army – they were not members of the North Vietnamese Arm (NVA). Instead, the VC were guerillas – throughout South Vietnam – and were sometimes somewhat indistinguishable from civilians or supported by civilians or they threatened civilians. I always thought it the VC (or could have been NVA) that hacked off the inoculated little arms in Apocalypse Now. I think about the Sledge arc in The Pacific. How he was able to recover some of his humanity (a redemption moment) in holding that Okinawan women in his arms comforting her as she died in episode 9. In contrast, it seems that Chris in this movie didn’t have that. Chris killing Barnes might could be redemption but negative or at least gray with regard to humanity. I like to think that the end scene of Chris in the helicopter with his narration/thoughts was some kind of redemption or acceptance.
Clay F
2024-11-07 22:57:55 +0000 UTCYou mentioned at the end that the movie felt so personal. For Oliver Stone, it literally was. "Platoon" is largely based on his experience as an Infantryman in Vietnam, Chris (Charlie Sheen) is essentially supposed to be a fictional representation of Stone, himself. He was in Vietnam for about a year, getting wounded twice. Otherwise, to provide a little clarification, Chris's foxhole buddy at the end of the film stabs himself in the leg after the fighting is finished in order to get a trip back to the hospital. I got the impression that you were a bit confused about what happened in that scene. It's been argued that making a truly "Anti-war" film is impossible as the depiction of war and violence is at some level exciting and engaging to watch, but regardless of whether you think that's true or not, "Platoon" is about as close as it gets.
Carl Lyngholm
2024-11-07 22:38:49 +0000 UTCIf you want a more indepth look into the Vietnam War and the U.S. Army's involvement, there was a T.V. show that came out in 1987 called "Tour Of Duty". Was my go to show, despite being fictionalized. They were able to get support from the military in the 1st season at least, so it looks quite good. I suspect if "Platoon" (1986) hadn't been released the year before, then "Tour Of Duty" might not have been greenlit? Who knows?
Guston Zimasheen
2024-11-07 22:38:00 +0000 UTC
