Member review

I wanted to like Platoon- I really did. A story about a character who becomes disillusioned with the battle he is fighting and many of the people he is fighting for is something that I know I would definitely enjoy watching - but the film falls slightly flat.

I'm going to start off this review with the things I really liked about this film. First and foremost, I think that Charlie Sheen and WIllem Dafoe give a great performance in this film. I won't spoil it, but there was one moment where just through Dafoe's eyes you can see a myriad of emotions and feelings, and Sheen, despite having little dialogue in the film, masterfully displays how he feels the whole way through.

I also have to agree with many other reviewers and say that this film is certainly an experience. Oliver Stone's own experiences in the Vietnam war really showcase themselves at every corner. The setting seems (I don't have any other way to describe it) dirty. Ants and leeches are commonplace, and when a character gets hit or covered in mud, they are properly damaged, screaming and howling in pain. Actions have real, human consequences. Stone's goal to show what the war was actually like works in many ways - and while I did not think that this film was very good, I certainly felt affected by it and its message of the lack of morality in war.

My main gripe with this film is that, at many points, it feels as though the director has stepped away, and has just let actors and cinematographers work with the script. There are a few visual choices that I can absolutely get behind and look incredible, but they are few and far between, and the shot composition otherwise is very simplistic (not that simplicity is bad, just that it doesn't feel immersive, as would fit the concept better). The sound is nothing to write home about either: I don't understand how Platoon won the Academy Award for best sound editing rather than Top Gun! On top of that, the score is quite bland and uninteresting, and the same orchestral music is used whenever Chris feels emotional (often!). It just doesn't feel like the film was crafted at all times, like it is loose - certainly the pacing is loose at times, having moments of rapid pace, and then slowing to a standstill for what feels like hours. The film does really drag in the first act. It speeds up in the second and third, but the third act seems quite rushed and confused with itself.

Oliver Stone made a film that definitely resonates with the viewer, and since that was his goal in the end, I think he did, in many ways, do a fantastic job. I just wish he put more definitive choices in the actual style of the film at some points. it often feels repetitive, and some performances and writing feels sloppy. If you want a film that will deeply affect you at many times, and gives a relatively accurate and very personal presentation of the Vietnam war from an actual veteran, then I would definitely recommend it: just don't expect a masterpiece. If you want a really masterful film about Vietnam, I would suggest Apocalypse Now.