The first casualty of war is innocence (Platoon (DVD))

Member Name: tommy7

Product:	Platoon (DVD)
Date:	03/06/01 (135 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Realistic, Great performances

Disadvantages: Will not suit all tastes

I think the thing that comes through most in Platoon is this is what Vietnam was like. It doesn’t go in for the glory of war or any other Hollywood nonsense; Oliver Stones uses his own experiences to put across what it was like. It is probably as close to a true to life account as you can get.

The story is told through the letters and experiences of a naive college dropout, Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) to his grandmother. The letters tell a lot of what Chris is feeling after being in ‘Nam for a few weeks. Quite early on we are told that the new guys are treated with contempt as they have not served their time yet and if someone is going to die its better being a new guy than someone with experience.

On arriving Chris is immediately met by the sight of body bags and broken men travelling home. He regrets volunteering and begins to doubt his ability to see the year of duty out. On his first watch he is wrongly accused of falling asleep and the lives of some men are lost. In truth he froze and couldn’t respond when the unit were under attack. The tension at this point in the film was unbelievable as you hear Chris’s heartbeat get louder and louder as he sits helplessly praying that somehow he will be able to avoid the confrontation.

As time wears on we see Chris begin to fit in with the others as he begins to be accepted. His behaviour starts to mirror the other men as he begins to come to terms with the situation he is in. He always has a conscience that sets him apart from the majority of the other men.

There is a scene in the village which is quite disturbing and may be based on the atrocities at My Lai. Again this shows the war realistically and it certainly shows the Americans in a bad light. We are shown the provocation that some of the men faced which goes a little way to explaining their actions but in no means justifies them. The village scene causes division among the men as they are tor
n between severe violence and leaving the villagers alone. This starts the confrontation between Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger) and Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe). These two men are the opposite of each other Barnes is a sadistic, evil murderer but Elias is the kind of man that most people would like to be. He has a lot of compassion which leaves him looking out of place at times. A reasonable part of the film concentrates on the relationship between the two men which comes to a shocking conclusion. Also a lot of the film looks at the different men and how they attempt to handle the circumstances.

I thought this movie jumped about a lot the first time I watched it. It seemed to be a series of events that were connected but that there was no big picture as such. On subsequent viewings I think that this is the real strength of the film as we get the same information Chris does. He doesn’t know what he is doing there and certainly has no idea how the war as a whole is progressing. This puts the viewer in the same position as the characters and it also helps the realism as there isn’t a case of the good guys winning. It really shows the old adage of there being no winners in war. In the battle scenes you can actually sense what it must have been like. There is darkness and confusion with there being no real clarity of how is on your side. General confusion reigns and it works very well.

This is an excellent film which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1996. Apparently Stone had the cast take part in a 13 day training program to let them experience what a soldier experiences, He then started filming immediately after which meant no recovery, showers or relaxation. This resulted in some great performances from many of the cast as they were not acting as such. This was the situation they found themselves in as well. Check it out if you like war films and especially if you liked the other Vietnam movies. I don’t think you wi
ll be disappointed.

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