Watching a movie
that was released a year after I was born introduces me to actors I’ve come to
respect now, I see them at their young age, being the best. I get to see them
when they were younger, trying to make a name for themselves. Here’s a list of
the men who were in this movie—most of whom, except the first two, had
supporting or minor roles:
- Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men)
- Tom Berenger (Hatfields & McCoys)
- Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man)
- Kevin Dillon (Entourage)
- Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
- Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean)
- Mark Moses (Desperate Housewives)
The movie is
good and captivating, with scenes so well depicted that I’m glad I never had to
witness such things firsthand. But it has a way of gluing you to your seat
until the end.
Platoon is
a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone, who was also a
war veteran. The story is based on his experiences as a U.S. infantryman in
Vietnam. He says the movie’s aim is to counter the vision of the war portrayed
in John Wayne’s The Green Berets. Platoon is the first film in
Oliver Stone’s Vietnam War trilogy, followed by Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
and Heaven & Earth (1993).
The movie is
narrated by Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), who drops out of college and
volunteers for combat duty in Vietnam. There, he serves under the lazy and less
influential Platoon Commander Lt. Wolfe and the experienced, more dominant
Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), who has been shot seven times and bears
scars all over his face.
Taylor struggles
to fit in as the platoon is divided into two sides: some are on Staff Sergeant
Barnes’ side, while others side with Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe). The two
groups are constantly at each other’s throats. Taylor eventually gets used to
the men and finds himself siding with Sergeant Elias.
During the war,
Taylor witnesses many atrocities, including backstabbing, rape, and murder—all
of which harden him into a better fighter.
The movie
cleaned up at the box office, turning its $6 million budget into over $138
million. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1986, along with Best
Director for Oliver Stone, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Film Editing.
It’s a great
movie about the war, and I sure hope you get to see it.
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