Platoon Review

Platoon Review

Directed by Oliver Stone, Platoon is the fictionalised memoir of Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), and it is through his letters to his grandmother that the story is narrated. Although Chris is a fictional character, the film draws upon Oliver Stone’s own infantry experiences during his involvement in the Vietnam War.

The movie attempts to re-create the psychological and emotional realities of combat in the Vietnam War, and capture the experiences soldiers endured. It succeeds in these regards through its gritty, realistic, vivid imagery and its inability to shy away from the reality of warfare. This is evident even from the opening scenes where Chris encounters several body bags departing the base seconds after arriving. However, this sort of upfront, heart wrenching content doesn’t end there, the film refusing to shy away from showing the death and destruction caused from the futile combat.

The main focus of the film lies not in the historical events or politics of the war but in the psychological issues, moral, and human consequences surrounding Vietnam. Platoon gives the point of view from ‘the US grunt’s’, and concentrates on their intense living conditions in Vietnam.   Rather than being an objective, detached, or censored look at Vietnam, ‘Platoon’ searches deeper into the moral and personal conflicts faced, and seeks to highlight war for the horror it truly is. Platoon is not trying to merely entertain, but deliver an insight into the terror and dehumanising effect of war through its accurate representation of the Vietnam War.

Even though Platoon is far from a historical documentary of Vietnam, the film does contain scenes which can be linked to real life events. One example of this is present in the ‘village scene’. Although it is not said in the film, this scene has strong similarities to the ‘My Lai massacre’ of 1969. In this scene soldiers are seen violently looking to avenge one of their dead comrades who they earlier find...