Hell on Earth! (Platoon (DVD))

Member Name: loopy101

Product:	Platoon (DVD)
Date:	24/01/02 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: emotionally gripping, fantastic acting, Genius directing

Disadvantages: it made me cry

Platoon is probably one of the few films which has grabbed my heart, crush it and make me ball like a baby.

I?m not a big fan of war films, usually because they are so unrealistic and corny it makes me sick. But Oliver Stone?s take on Vietnam is something else.

Told through the eyes of new kid to the Platoon Chris (Charlie Sheen), we are taken on a trip through to the Caledonian border, amongst the Platoon are Sgt Barnes, to look at one would say a war veteran (not age wise) due to the amount of scarring, Barnes has an evil streak, as does Bunny who is a fan of Sgt Barnes. Sgt Elias too is very wise when it comes to war ? but the Sgt although tough has some heart ? he and Barnes do not get along.

Lt. Wolfe clearly does not have a clue how to run a successful Platoon, much to the amusement of all the Sgts. Also amongst the Platoon a highly amusing group of black men including Junior and Big Harold ? who like to give the new kid stick.

The actors present ar tremendous, each and every one made me truly believe their character - which in my eyes shows real talent.

Although there are a lot of characters present, and it is difficult to keep up with their names, you are still drawn in emotionally to each and every one, be it pity, love or hate. Charlie Sheen?s character Chris, is the one we learn most about, through letter to his Grandmother we learn how difficult he is finding his first experience of war and how emotionally attached to platoon members and Vietnamese citizens he is.

Ok enough about the characters; for it?s time the special effects are great, when you think of the time gap between this and Pearl Harbor (I know 2 different events!) and how little impact all the million dollar effects had in Pearl Harbor, this puts a majority of recent war movies to shame.

So what made me cry like a baby??? Well not far into the movie (no spoilers here) is a sequence where they tear through a local village,
the villagers do not understand them and are scared witless trying to protect their hard earned crops and their precious children and family members, some of the Platoon members relish in this and take it to extremes, killing innocent people who have nothing to do with the war, it was these heart rendering scenes that just got to me. It really hits home what a sh$tty world this really is, and that a majority of us do not know what really goes on.

For this fact I decided that this is be a great film ? to get a reaction like that Oliver Stone had drawn me into the world of the Vietnamese war. After the movie I felt drained, completely drained of all emotion, there I was all on my lonesome at 2am still crying! I wouldn't watch it again for the fact that I still do feel terrible, but it's a magnificent piece of work from Oliver Stone!!

Summary: