Adagio For Strings Sings (Platoon (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	Platoon (DVD)
Date:	10/10/01 (639 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great film, informative commentaries, great documentary

Disadvantages: the sound mix

A look through the filmography of Oliver Stone will show that he isn’t a filmmaker interested in romantic fairytales or mind-numbing action flicks. No Stone’s motives for being in film are different. He tackles subjects of his home country, the unanswered questions in America and at the same time brings true realities of situations to a global audience.

Platoon is part of Stone’s Vietnam trilogy that also incorporates Salvador and Heaven And Earth, this is the part of the trilogy that gets into the thick of things with a look at the experiences of one young soldier in a platoon deep in the jungle. The film has no real plot; there are no primary objectives like taking down a enemy base. Instead we get to see what happened through the eyes of Stone during that period. Charlie Sheen plays Chris Taylor, a new trooper thrust into the harsh realities where commanding officers are against each other, friends are killed and lives are lost for no real reason. Platoon is a harsh film; it’s gritty, realistic and at times poetic. You only have to look at the scene that has since become a classic of cinema where one officer reaches towards the heavens as Adagio for Strings swells in the background.

The film has been released on dvd before in a bare bones edition where it had passable sound and picture quality but nothing else when you know there was more to be offered. Well now that time has come with a Special Edition.

The film itself is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Made in 1986 on a relatively small budget you would expect the transfer to not be pristine. In some respects it isn’t but then again this is the best it has ever looked. The film is shot in a lowlight atmosphere for the most part so you do get grain in the image. Throughout there are soft spots but nothing too awful. In fact I was impressed that the night scenes have been well reproduced on the black levels when they could have been terrible.
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The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is a however a different matter. I have to say I was very disappointed with the mix. Quite a lot of the film takes place in the front speakers with subtle use of the rears for ambience but it’s not hugely noticeable. Obviously when the full scale of war erupts then we get some good bass and rear effects. But there are flaws as well. At points during the film there is rainfall and instead of creating a using all speakers the sound instead seems to drop in and out of various speakers. It’s as if the sound effect of rain is on a constant loop with a slight delay before restart. It’s marginally distracting, not awful but something that could have been corrected.

The main menu uses subtle clips from the film while being backed by the un-mistakable theme. Subsequent menus are static.

Like most releases of Stone movies, Platoon gives you good value on the extras front.

“I WAS MORE CONCERNED THAT A COBRA MIGHT CRAWL UP MY COLON!”

That’s a line from John C McGinley talking about the film in the 51-minute documentary ‘Tour of the Inferno’. This features a mix of behind the scenes footage, interviews and actual Vietnam War footage. There is some great stuff here as we learn what the cast had to go through in order to prepare for the role. Military Supervisor Dale Dye tells how he was incredibly hard on the mental and physical preparations. There’s also a great story where Willem Dafoe tells of how they prepared for one scene by smoking grass and by the time it came to do the scene everyone had come down and was too tired.

Following on from that are two audio commentaries. The first is from Oliver Stone and like his other tracks you don’t just get comment on the film. Stone also talks about real life stories and his opinions on the war. It’s a lesson in filmmaking as well as American history.

The other track is from Dale
Dye who also speaks about the war and the similarities between the film and real life combat. He also talks about his experiences and the war in general.

Rounding out the dvd is the trailer, 3 TV spots, a stills gallery of poster art and behind the scenes photos as well as an 8 page booklet of production notes.

There is also a trailer for Salvador that is quite bizarre as it sells the film as something completely different from what it actually is!

This is a great package that has been worth waiting for. For many Platoon is one of the best films to come out of the eighties and is another jewel in the Oliver Stone film-making crown.

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