Oliver Stone's Platoon is 25 years old, but for its age, its impact remains undiminished. Platoon is Stone's semi-autobiographical story of his time in Vietnam, and it was hailed upon its release as the first even-handed depiction of the conflict in the Asian country in the '60s and '70s. Terrible things happened there (as in any war), and Platoon shows how they happened. The foot soldiers there were subject to incredible pressure and made decisions that on the surface seem to be poor. They carried out orders that seemed cruel and illogical, but Platoon shows there may have been some reason behind them without trying to diminish or excuse the horror. Charlie Sheen plays Chris, our Oliver Stone allegory. He's green, and that's obvious as soon as his boots hit the dirt in 'Nam. The outgoing soldiers look like 100 miles of bad road, with haunted stares. Chris sees his future before him. When Chris gets to his platoon, he is a pariah. The seasoned soldiers don't want to know his name, don't want him endangering them with his naivete. Chris's two sergeants depict two conflicting perspectives on the war at the time (1967). Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger) is intimidating, scarred and gung-ho. He believes in what he does and hates the indigenous population. Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) is kind, offers helpful advice and smokes weed with the boys. He believed in what he did in '64, but now... In just a short time, Chris becomes more seasoned and is allowed into the inner circle. We see illustrations of various personality archetypes in his platoon mates - cowards, masochists, the shell-shocked, the doomed. The picture looks sharp on Blu-ray, and it sounds great, too. The extra features, recycled from the 20th anniversary edition, are nonetheless worthwhile. The most appealing is Snapshot in Time: 1967-1968, which sets the stage for the way the world was at the time, with faith in American leadership waning as president Johnson decides not to seek nomination for a second term. Vietnam was and is a complex issue, and there are too many perspectives to show in one film - but Platoon delivers a valuable one. |
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