One of the most accalimed and honored war movies ever, Oliver Stone's
Platoon is a captivating look at both war and the struggle to retain one's humanity during the Vietnam War. The film was engrossing and the cinematography makes the viewer feel like they're in the jungle with the characters--fire fights are frantic and disorienting, often obscuring the sources and targets of gunfire, giving the viewer a sense of what it must have been like to live through those events. Additionally, Chris Taylor, the main character, finds himself being pulled between his two commanding officers, Barnes and Elias, as they attempt to pass on their polar opposite views on war and life itself to the rest of the platoon. The outcome to this struggel is essential for Taylor's humanity to remain intact.
With state-of-the-art special effects, this movie still holds up to modern war movies. Aside from a few scenes, this movie could pass for one released in the late 90's or early 00's. Furthermore, the issues of the loss of humanity dealt with in this movie can still be applied today, sauch as with the war on Iraq. Set during the Vietnam War in the late 60's, this is not a distinctly 80's film, which helps to hold it up, as all the costumes, music, etc. are circa the 60's, rather than the 80's.
Overall, I'd recommend this film to others. Anyone who enjoyed
Apocalypse Now,
Saving Private Ryan, or
Black Hawk Down will enjoy
Platoon as well.
1 comment:
It's especially interesting to watch Platoon and then Wall Street. Both Oliver Stone flicks, both starring Charlie Sheen and seeing what Stone is saying about the novice who enters a dangerous professional world and what the end result is.
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