Andrew McMurtryREVIEW: Platoon (1986)
One of my favourite lines in any movies was in Gran Torino, when Walt Kowalski says “The thing that haunts a guy is the stuff he wasn't ordered to do.” That is what “Platoon” is. It’s all about the things that happen in the heat of war. Or sometimes the things that happen after the battle. It’s a heavy subject matter. Frustration at being so far from home, mixed with fear and testosterone make it a horrible image of war. Horrible but necessary, especially for those who have never fought and hope never to witness the atrocity of war. There is one scene in particular in a Vietnamese village, where a little girl has a gun pointed at her face. That is a brutal, haunting image. It also sees the harsh occupation by the Americans, torching the village, rape the girls and beating the locals. It’s intense and unforgiving, the way a war movie should be.
The film follows, as the name implies, a platoon. The platoon that Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is involved in. While most others are poor, lowest common denominator type people, Taylor is comparably intelligent, having gone to college, while others have only “two years of high school” under their belt. But in the wilderness of the Vietnamese jungle, intelligence doesn’t mean anything. Smarts is what’ll keep you alive. The more experienced men know that, but it’s up to the new guys to find out for themselves, even if it costs a few of them their lives. War is unforgiving and doesn’t discriminate. And Vietnam was one of the worst. The Vietnamese or “gooks”, as they are known in the movie, have fought in jungles for hundreds of years. They know how to be invisible. For a new recruit, how do you kill something you can’t see without any prior experience against centuries of knowhow? It really does give you a glimpse of the hardships those men had to endure, although it’s probably toned down for Hollywood.
“Platoon” has a whole lot going for it. First off, it has a magnificent cast including Tom Beringer, John C. McGinley, Forest Whitaker, Johnny Depp, Keith David and, as I said before, Charlie Sheen just to name a few. Taylor (Charlie Sheen) tries desperately to retain his morality, especially early in the film. He writes to his grandmother to carry the story on. He desperately clings onto anything that can make him feel human in a time of insane horror and inhumanity. He seems to trust Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe) as his confidant and mentor to get through this experience. Elias seems to encompass the same ideals as Taylor, just with more experience. He’s a hardened warrior, but seems to piss people off in the lowest common denominator world of Platoon. Then we have Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), a no nonsense prick of a man who does what it takes to get what he wants, whether it means holding a gun to a child or killing a man in the platoon over a grudge.
The film builds the characters well early in the film. It spends quite a lot of time on character development, which works well for the story. Without it, you wouldn’t feel anything about these characters when they change or die. The difference in Charlie Sheen’s character by the end is clear but all that changes seems to be that he lost his innocence. It shows great cinematography, even though the scrubland they are fighting in looks similar. It still looks amazing though for a film from 1986. Oliver Stone should be proud of what he accomplished with this film. It uses great techniques to show the battles and, while not all that innovative there are some glorious shots from helicopters, brilliant tracks to follow the soldiers and great explosion sequences. During the battles there are frantic and chaotic movements with the camera creating a shaky look, while trying to keep up with the action. It makes you see what a battle would really seem like. Another great technique is the ambient noise which builds suspense. The silence, as would be the worst thing about being in the jungle, builds a tense atmosphere. The only music breaking the tension is in the sequences of movement or discussion. But for the most part the silence works. Together, it makes a brilliant visual film.
After finally seeing “Platoon” all I could think was thank god someone made a movie successfully showing the hardships and morality that come in war times. Losing friends and those you’ve grown close to, your brothers. That’s been done before. But this movie shows there is no time for love in war. It makes a much better movie than movies that look at the love stories that come out of conflict. You have to do what you have to do. It has to be hard and there are no real rewards for those who fight. Just fighting within themselves over what they did when they are at war. “Platoon” is not the best movie I’ve ever seen but a great way to show the chaos, desperation, horror and, basically, the shit fight that is war. At times it’s hard to watch but it’s necessary to understand the terrible cost of war. I’d give it 4 out of 5.
