‘Platoon’ (1986) Is an Essential Movie

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For anyone who knows me personally or has listened to the podcast version of The Canon, you’re sure to have heard me mention that my dad is a Vet of the Vietnam War. That experience has understandably greatly informed his sensibilities and in turn, informed mine as well. This obviously included cinematic sensibilities, many of which I still carry today.

Growing up, I’d watch war movies with him; all eliciting varying responses from him. Platoon always stood out though. He always held that it was the closest any movie came to capturing what the experience was actually like on the ground. The interpersonal dynamics, the deterioration of the psyche, and the relationship to the country where the war was being waged all accurately reflected what he’d known.

Understanding this movie helped me understand my dad, which I’ll always be thankful for. But it also helped me understand the power of film and storytelling from a fairly early age.

History

In many ways, Platoon is the movie that Oliver Stone was born to make. As a Vietnam War veteran himself, Stone wrote much of Platoon based on his own experience. After more than a decade of working in filmmaking, including two modest directorial efforts and several screenwriting credits, Platoon was Stone’s coming out party.

Platoon was also the coming out party for one of the emerging stars of the 80’s, Charlie Sheen. Although he wasn’t the first choice to play the lead role, and there are no credible accounts of its intentionality, it’s hard to not see his role as Chris Taylor as being in direct conversation with his father’s role as Capt. Willard in Apocalypse Now.

Although the younger Sheen’s character doesn’t fully descend into madness, his time in the war fundamentally changes him. Chris Taylor (Sheen) starts the movie a bright eyed, bushy tailed volunteer looking to serve his country the way his father and grandfather had in previous wars. By the end, he’s heading home as a shell of himself.

He does become somewhat of a war machine, displaying heroism in his second firefight, and develops into a full killer by the final one. When Taylor shows up, he recognizes that he’s been dropped into hell. But the movie quickly reveals that this hell’s demons are within the soldiers fighting said war.

That internal struggle is externalized for Taylor via the Sgt. Barnes and Sgt. Elias characters, played wonderfully by Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe respectively. Their power struggle is for the soul of the platoon, and of course of Taylor.

In the most obvious exploration of their duality, an early scene shows the stark differences in how the two men (and their followers within the platoon) spend their downtime. Elias and his crew listen to rock and roll while smoking weed, seemingly having as much fun as one can have in an active warzone. Conversely, Barnes and co. rigidly drink beers and stiffly play cards.

It’s clear early on who Stone thinks Taylor and audience members should identify with. It becomes less clear who actually wins that battle by film’s end.

Importance

There were already several successful and impactful movies about the Vietnam War before Platoon. The moviegoing public was beginning to grow tired of the War as cinematic topic by the mid-80’s, but they had not fully soured on it just yet, luckily for Platoon. Additionally lucky for Platoon is the fact that it’s easily recognizable as a good movie.

There’s nothing all that remarkable about the filmmaking here. The camera use, script construction, editing, score, etc. are all fairly conventional but with great competence and confidence. Stone has a great understanding for the story he wants to tell and that shines through every moment and aspect of the movie.

There’s a raw emotionality that Platoon deals in. Never more present than the scene at the village. It’s the most heartbreaking stretch of the movie, and in many ways the lynchpin of everything the film is about. It puts you right in the middle of this experience of war. That realistic element that so many Vets speak to is evident here. And it’s evident because only someone who also experienced it firsthand, like Stone, can properly tell.

Legacy

Among many other things, Platoon launch the career of one of the most fascinating American directors of the last 40 years. Stone has had some misses, but he’s also delivered some unbelievable hits. He’s never shied away from sharing his worldview through his movies, and has stayed unapologetically himself through the good and the bad.

Platoon received 8 Academy Award nominations, winning 4 including Best Picture. It was a critical darling, making several “top of” lists for its year. But it’ll always be most important for me because of what I said at the top. I can’t imagine I’m the only person out there who’s connected more with a family member who had a similar experience to what’s depicted in Platoon after watching with said family member. This one is for all of y’all. And for your dads, brothers, uncles, and grandfathers who saw themselves in this film.