Plot:
Platoon is a movie that tells about Vietnam war. A young recruit, Chris Taylor, drops out of college and volunteers for combat duty in Vietnam and he’s assigned to Bravo Company, near the Cambodian border. He’s facing alot of problems from the beginning. He writes to his grandmother every now and then and he tells her that Vietnam is hell even though he’s only been there for a week. ”A goddamn week” says Chris himself. Soon after arriving, Chris is sent for an ambush during which one soldier loses his arm and few others are hit, including Chris. The platoon then returns to base camp.

Then the platoon is sent for a patrol near Cambodian border where they find a bunker complex. Sergeant Elias says ”See you next week” (even though he’s soon back) and jumps into the bunker tunnel to see where it leads. Meanwhile, Sandy and Sal are killed by a booby-trap. As the patrol moves forward, they reach a village nearby. The villagers are hiding in little holes but the platoon finds all of them. They also discover a supply cache. The soldiers are having trouble with the villagers and the chief’s wife is killed in order to get some answers. Sargeant Elias then interrupts Sargeant Barnes by also starting a fight but platoon commander Lieutenant Wolfe orders the men to leave with the villagers and burn the village which they then do. As they’re leaving, Chris also stops a group of soldiers raping two young girls.

The platoon then returns to base and they meet Captain Harris who says there will be court-martial if he finds out that there’s been illegal killing in the village. Then comes the next patrol and the platoon runs into an ambush during which numerous soldiers are wounded. Wolfe then calls for an artillery strike but accidently gives wrong coordinates which leads in friendly fire casaulties. In the meantime, Elias takes Taylor and Rhah with him to intercept the enemies. Barnes orders the platoon to retreat and he goes into the jungle himself to find Elias’ group. Barnes finds Elias in the jungle and shoots him. As Barnes returns, he claims that Elias was killed by the enemy troops. As the platoon is taking off, they spot Elias running away from a group of Vietnamese soldiers. Back in the base camp, Taylor is mad at Barnes and is willing to kill Barnes as revenge. Drunken Barnes then interrupts them and Taylor starts a fight with Barnes which results in Taylor having a cut near his eye.

Bravo Company is then sent back to combat. Wolfe also orders Ramucci to take Elias’ squad. Taylor’s good friend King is sent back home. Taylor shares a foxhole with Francis and that night NVA (North Vietnamese Army) attacks the platoon breaking their defensive line. NVA also breaks through Alpha Company. During the fight, some of the soldiers of Bravo Company are killed, including Junior, Bunny and Wolfe. O’Neill is also about to die but he manages to hide under a dead body so the ”gooks” couldn’t see him and thus O’Neill survives. Taylor’s foxhole is also blown up. Not only that, a suicide bomber runs into the battalion headquarter killing everyone inside it. Captain Harris then asks for the air force to blow the whole perimeter up. Barnes is just about to hit Taylor very hard but an explosion knocks both men unconscious. In the morning, Taylor finds wounded Barnes and shoots him. Friendly forces then find Taylor, Francis and O’Neill. Francis wasn’t harmed so he stabs himself in the leg so he can leave for home along with Taylor. Captain Harris then tells O’Neill shocking news that he gets the second platoon. Shocking because O’Neill has wanted to go home badly for a long time.

Information:
Charlie Sheen as Chris Taylor
Tom Berenger as Sergeant Bob Barnes
Willem Dafoe as Sergeant Elias
Keith David as King
Johnny Depp as Lerner
Mark Moses as Lieutenant Wolfe
John C. McGinley as Sergeant O’Neill

The movie is written and directed by Oliver Stone and produced by Arnold Kopelson. Charlie Seen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe are the stars of the movie. Platoon was released on the 19th of December, 1986. Music is by Georges Delerue.

Full soundtrack can be found here.

Source and full information can be found here.

Genre:
The main genre for this movie is war. Other genres are drama and action. Platoon won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1986. In 2007, the American Film Institute placed Platoon at #83 in their ”AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies” poll. British television channel Channel 4 voted Platoon as the 6th greatest war film ever made, behind Full Metal Jacket and ahead of A Bridge Too Far.

My opinion:
I haven’t ever been a big fan of war movies. Some time ago a good friend of mine told me to watch this along with few other war movies. I really liked all of them. Now I’ve watched this movie about ten times and I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t watch this ten more times. I can suggest this movie to anyone who likes nice action because this one is full of it. Now I can proudly say I love war movies.