Platoon (film): Difference between revisions
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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Chris Taylor ([[Charlie Sheen]]) is a young, well-to-do American who has abandoned college for combat duty in Vietnam. The year is 1967. After landing on a hot Vietnamese runway, he sees the soldiers he will replace being loaded into his plane in body bags. Shocked, he is teased by passing veterans who will return home alive. The scene cuts to an ariel view of the dense jungle canopy. Taylor, along with several other [[rookie|replacements]], has been assigned to Bravo Company, 25th Infantry, "somewhere near the Cambodian border." Taylor writes home frequently to his grandmother. Worn down by the tremendously exhausting work, poor living conditions, and "patrols," which more closely resemble disorganized hikes through an impossibly thick jungle, he quickly abandons the naive enthusiasm he once had for the war. Taylor comes to deeply admire the more experienced "grunts," despite the fact that they are reluctant to extend their friendship. |
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[[United States Army|US Army]] soldier, [[Private (rank)|Private]] Chris Taylor ([[Charlie Sheen]]) is a young, naive American who gives up college and volunteers for combat in Vietnam. Along with several other [[rookie|replacements]], Taylor joins an experienced rifle platoon that has suffered losses in recent combat operations. His enthusiasm quickly evaporates as he goes on continual patrols and, as a "new guy", is assigned to dig [[Defensive fighting position|foxholes]] and perform other arduous tasks. On his first night on patrol, his unit is set upon by a squad of [[Vietnam People's Army|North Vietnamese Army]] troops after the soldier meant to be on guard duty (Junior) falls asleep. In the subsequent fire fight, one soldier is killed and another maimed by a grenade thrown by Sergeant Red O'Neil ([[John C. McGinley]]). Taylor receives a graze to his neck, and Junior shirks all responsibility, telling the platoon that Taylor was on guard duty. |
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One night on patrol, his sleeping unit is set upon by a squad of [[Vietnam People's Army|North Vietnamese Army]] soldiers. Despite having successfully passed the watch-duty to a more experienced soldier (Junior), who subsequently fell asleep, Taylor is blamed for the resulting casualties. In the end, one soldier is killed and another maimed, the latter by his own sergeant, "Red" O'Neil ([[John C. McGinley]]), who carelessly threw a grenade in fear without looking. It is the first time his cowardice is revealed in the film, although his troop does not see it. The dysfunctional group dynamic is also revealed for the first time as the platoon's sergeants bicker. The sensitive Sergeant Elias ([[Willem Dafoe]]) could not more strongly contrast the brutally hard [[Staff Sergeant]] Barnes ([[Tom Berenger]]). Yet another first sight for the viewer is death, and as Barnes famously orders a screaming soldier to "take the pain," Taylor discovers a wound to his own neck, one which will afford him some much-needed "R&R" in the hospital. Ironically, Taylor naively assumes that the wound is mortal, and accepts his death in a morphene-fueled bout of drowsy confidence. |
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As Taylor recovers from his wound—a rite of passage that grants him greater social contact with the platoon—he is introduced to the "Underworld", a bunker on the American base which has been converted into a pseudo-nightclub, where beer is available and [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] and [[opium]] are smoked. After returning to field duty, Taylor sees more combat and during another patrol, an empty bunker complex is discovered. During the examination of the bunker, two of the platoon are killed by a [[booby trap]]. Upon leaving the area, the rest of the platoon encounter another member of their unit, who has been snatched from his guard duty, tied to a post, and mutilated. |
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After returning to his platoon, Taylor finds a new from of social acceptance with some of the more experienced members of the platoon. He is introduced to the "underworld," a bunker on the base which has been converted into a hangout of sorts with sandbags, red lights, candles, and various paraphernalia. The tight-knit group talks, dances, and consumes drugs freely. Their soul music juxtaposes the country music of the more straight-edge, card-playing sergeants and others in the the bunk next door. Here, [[Private (rank)|privates]] Bunny ([[Kevin Dillon]]) and Junior ([[Reggie Johnson]]) discuss their racial differences, but have similar opinions against drug use. As time goes on, Taylor becomes an increasingly seasoned "grunt," and no longer stands out amongst the others. Still, while leading a patrol one day, he nearly walks right into a well camouflaged enemy bunker. Alias sees it, of course, and his experience shows as he then searches the underground complex. After finding and killing an enemy soldier, two members of his platoon are killed by a [[booby trap]] above while attempting to collect intelligence, and the rest of the platoon discovers that a private named Manny, who had been the lookout, is now missing. |
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The platoon reaches a nearby village, where it discovers a food and weapons cache. The villagers insist the [[Viet Cong]] forced them to hide the cache. Led by [[Staff Sergeant]] Barnes ([[Tom Berenger]]), some of the platoon take out their frustration and anger at the deaths of their comrades on the villagers. A young soldier, Bunny ([[Kevin Dillon]]), beats a disabled boy and his mother to death with his shotgun's butt, and several more are killed. The platoon burns the village and leaves, while Taylor prevents the gang-rape of a teenage girl by three other members of the platoon. Sergeant Elias ([[Willem Dafoe]]), having witnessed Barnes' actions, reports him to their company commander, Captain Harris ([[Dale Dye]]). Taylor, having originally admired Barnes, now finds his loyalties leaning towards Elias, while Barnes' supporters talk of killing Elias to prevent him from giving testimony about the illegal killings. Taylor speaks of this as "a civil war in the platoon. Half with Elias, half with Barnes." |
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Manny's mutilated body is found tied to post along a nearby river. The visibly frustrated platoon soon reaches a nearby village, where a food and weapons cache is discovered. Despite the villager's insistence, Barnes believes they are aiding nearby [[Viet Cong]] soldiers. Furious, Barnes shoots a screaming elderly woman in the head to shut her up. Meanwhile, the rest of the soldiers explore the village. In one house, Taylor discovers a disabled boy and his mother hiding in a ditch beneath the floor. Frustrated, Taylor harasses and taunts the boy, and Bunny, in a fit of rage, beats the boy to death in front of Taylor and the traumatized mother with the butt of his shotgun. Sergeant Elias, who seems to have arrived behind the others, is furious with Barnes, and the two get into a fist fight. [[Lieutenant]] Wolfe ([[Mark Moses]]), who had been weak before Alias' arrival, finally speaks up to end the fight, and orders the men to torch the village. The platoon burns the village and leaves, but not before a now shocked, blood-splattered Taylor prevents the gang-rape of a small girl by three other members of the squad. |
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During another patrol, the platoon is ambushed. As the platoon suffers losses, [[Lieutenant]] Wolfe ([[Mark Moses]]) calls [[Friendly fire|friendly artillery fire]] down on his own men. Elias, with Taylor and two other soldiers, attempts to intercept flanking North Vietnamese Army troops. During the fire fight, Barnes orders the platoon to fall back, leaving Elias unsupported. While the remainder of the platoon retreats to its landing zone to be [[airlift]]ed from the area, Barnes goes back into the jungle, citing a desire to retrieve Elias' group. Finding Taylor and the two soldiers, Barnes orders them back to the landing zone and goes to find Elias. Instead, he ambushes and shoots Elias. |
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Upon returning to base, Elias reports Barnes' actions to Captain Harris ([[Dale Dye]]), who cannot afford to remove him due to a lack of personnel. The squad soon finds itself in a civil war, "Half with Elias, half with Barnes," and Barnes' supporters hint of killing Elias to prevent him from giving testimony about the illegal killings. The platoon soon finds itself on yet another patrol, but this one erupts into a massive firefight. The platoon is pinned down and outgunned, and begins to suffer losses. The weak [[Lieutenant]] Wolfe mistakenly calls in artillery fire on his own men. Elias, with Taylor and two other soldiers, attempts to intercept the flanking enemy troops. Barnes soon orders the rest of the platoon to fall back, leaving Elias and the others cut off. While the remainder of the platoon retreats to the helicopters, Barnes goes back into the jungle to look for the others. Finding Taylor and the two soldiers, Barnes orders them back to the landing zone and continues to look for Elias. The two meet face to face, and Elias lowers his weapon with a smile. Barnes does not- After a brief hesitation, he fires three rounds into Elias' chest, and leaves him for dead. |
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Barnes returns to the landing zone, telling Taylor that Elias is dead. As the helicopter takes off, the platoon sees a badly-wounded Elias running from the jungle towards the zone, the North Vietnamese Army in pursuit. As the helicopters fly overhead, he dies in a field after being shot several more times by the North Vietnamese Army. Upon their return to base, Taylor begins to suspect that Barnes caused Elias' death and talks of killing him in retaliation, leading to a confrontation between the two. The platoon is sent back to the ambush area and builds defensive positions to bait the North Vietnamese Army. A battle occurs, which ends with the obliteration of almost the entire platoon after a US aerial [[napalm]] attack. |
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Taylor regains consciousness the next morning, finding himself wounded and surrounded by bodies. |
Barnes returns to the landing zone, telling Taylor and the others that Elias is dead. As the helicopter flies away, the platoon is shocked to see a badly-wounded Elias running from the jungle, miraculously, with what appears to be an entire NVA army behind him. As the helicopter circles overhead helplessly, Elias drops to his knees and reaches towards the sky before finally being brought down. Taylor's suspicions, and Barnes' guilt, are evident by their exchange of looks. Back at the "underworld," Taylor hopelessly attempts to rouse the others to kill Barnes in retaliation, but not before a drunken Barnes stumbles in and confronts the "potheads." The platoon is ultimately sent back to the ambush area in order to build and maintain defensive positions against what many know, and fear, will be a fight to the death. That night the attack does occur, which ends with the virtual obliteration of the entire platoon. During the chaos, Barnes and Taylor meet, and just as Barnes is about to kill Taylor, the two are knocked unconscious by a [[napalm]] attack, which was knowingly dropped on the area by Captain Harris as a last resort to stop the advancing enemy. Taylor regains consciousness the next morning, finding himself wounded and surrounded by bodies. Nearby he finds Barnes, who is also wounded heavily. Taylor trains a rifle on Barnes, who goads him and dares him to pull the trigger. Taylor shoots Barnes three times in the chest, killing him. He then collapses and awaits medical attention, and he and the other survivors are soon airlifted from the battlefield. As he is loaded into the chopper, Taylor is reminded that as a "two-timer," he finally has his ticket home. Sitting in the helicopter, he begins to weep as he stares down at the destruction. |
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==Development== |
==Development== |
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Revision as of 12:16, 26 June 2008
| Platoon | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Oliver Stone |
| Written by | Oliver Stone |
| Produced by | Arnold Kopelson |
| Starring | Charlie Sheen Tom Berenger Willem Dafoe Forest Whitaker John C. McGinley Mark Moses Kevin Dillon Tony Todd |
| Cinematography | Robert Richardson |
| Edited by | Claire Simpson |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
Release date | December 19 1986 |
Running time | 120 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English Vietnamese |
| Budget | $6.5 million |
| Box office | $136 million |
Platoon is a 1986 Vietnam war film written and directed by Oliver Stone and starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Dillon, Keith David, John C. McGinley, and Johnny Depp. The story is drawn from Stone's experiences as a US Infantryman in Vietnam and was written by him upon his return as a counter to the vision of the war portrayed in John Wayne's The Green Berets.[1] The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1987. In 2007, the American Film Institute placed Platoon at #86 in their 100 Years...100 Movies poll. Channel 4 voted Platoon as the 6th greatest war film ever made, behind Full Metal Jacket and ahead of A Bridge Too Far.
Plot
Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a young, well-to-do American who has abandoned college for combat duty in Vietnam. The year is 1967. After landing on a hot Vietnamese runway, he sees the soldiers he will replace being loaded into his plane in body bags. Shocked, he is teased by passing veterans who will return home alive. The scene cuts to an ariel view of the dense jungle canopy. Taylor, along with several other replacements, has been assigned to Bravo Company, 25th Infantry, "somewhere near the Cambodian border." Taylor writes home frequently to his grandmother. Worn down by the tremendously exhausting work, poor living conditions, and "patrols," which more closely resemble disorganized hikes through an impossibly thick jungle, he quickly abandons the naive enthusiasm he once had for the war. Taylor comes to deeply admire the more experienced "grunts," despite the fact that they are reluctant to extend their friendship.
One night on patrol, his sleeping unit is set upon by a squad of North Vietnamese Army soldiers. Despite having successfully passed the watch-duty to a more experienced soldier (Junior), who subsequently fell asleep, Taylor is blamed for the resulting casualties. In the end, one soldier is killed and another maimed, the latter by his own sergeant, "Red" O'Neil (John C. McGinley), who carelessly threw a grenade in fear without looking. It is the first time his cowardice is revealed in the film, although his troop does not see it. The dysfunctional group dynamic is also revealed for the first time as the platoon's sergeants bicker. The sensitive Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe) could not more strongly contrast the brutally hard Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger). Yet another first sight for the viewer is death, and as Barnes famously orders a screaming soldier to "take the pain," Taylor discovers a wound to his own neck, one which will afford him some much-needed "R&R" in the hospital. Ironically, Taylor naively assumes that the wound is mortal, and accepts his death in a morphene-fueled bout of drowsy confidence.
After returning to his platoon, Taylor finds a new from of social acceptance with some of the more experienced members of the platoon. He is introduced to the "underworld," a bunker on the base which has been converted into a hangout of sorts with sandbags, red lights, candles, and various paraphernalia. The tight-knit group talks, dances, and consumes drugs freely. Their soul music juxtaposes the country music of the more straight-edge, card-playing sergeants and others in the the bunk next door. Here, privates Bunny (Kevin Dillon) and Junior (Reggie Johnson) discuss their racial differences, but have similar opinions against drug use. As time goes on, Taylor becomes an increasingly seasoned "grunt," and no longer stands out amongst the others. Still, while leading a patrol one day, he nearly walks right into a well camouflaged enemy bunker. Alias sees it, of course, and his experience shows as he then searches the underground complex. After finding and killing an enemy soldier, two members of his platoon are killed by a booby trap above while attempting to collect intelligence, and the rest of the platoon discovers that a private named Manny, who had been the lookout, is now missing.
Manny's mutilated body is found tied to post along a nearby river. The visibly frustrated platoon soon reaches a nearby village, where a food and weapons cache is discovered. Despite the villager's insistence, Barnes believes they are aiding nearby Viet Cong soldiers. Furious, Barnes shoots a screaming elderly woman in the head to shut her up. Meanwhile, the rest of the soldiers explore the village. In one house, Taylor discovers a disabled boy and his mother hiding in a ditch beneath the floor. Frustrated, Taylor harasses and taunts the boy, and Bunny, in a fit of rage, beats the boy to death in front of Taylor and the traumatized mother with the butt of his shotgun. Sergeant Elias, who seems to have arrived behind the others, is furious with Barnes, and the two get into a fist fight. Lieutenant Wolfe (Mark Moses), who had been weak before Alias' arrival, finally speaks up to end the fight, and orders the men to torch the village. The platoon burns the village and leaves, but not before a now shocked, blood-splattered Taylor prevents the gang-rape of a small girl by three other members of the squad.
Upon returning to base, Elias reports Barnes' actions to Captain Harris (Dale Dye), who cannot afford to remove him due to a lack of personnel. The squad soon finds itself in a civil war, "Half with Elias, half with Barnes," and Barnes' supporters hint of killing Elias to prevent him from giving testimony about the illegal killings. The platoon soon finds itself on yet another patrol, but this one erupts into a massive firefight. The platoon is pinned down and outgunned, and begins to suffer losses. The weak Lieutenant Wolfe mistakenly calls in artillery fire on his own men. Elias, with Taylor and two other soldiers, attempts to intercept the flanking enemy troops. Barnes soon orders the rest of the platoon to fall back, leaving Elias and the others cut off. While the remainder of the platoon retreats to the helicopters, Barnes goes back into the jungle to look for the others. Finding Taylor and the two soldiers, Barnes orders them back to the landing zone and continues to look for Elias. The two meet face to face, and Elias lowers his weapon with a smile. Barnes does not- After a brief hesitation, he fires three rounds into Elias' chest, and leaves him for dead.
Barnes returns to the landing zone, telling Taylor and the others that Elias is dead. As the helicopter flies away, the platoon is shocked to see a badly-wounded Elias running from the jungle, miraculously, with what appears to be an entire NVA army behind him. As the helicopter circles overhead helplessly, Elias drops to his knees and reaches towards the sky before finally being brought down. Taylor's suspicions, and Barnes' guilt, are evident by their exchange of looks. Back at the "underworld," Taylor hopelessly attempts to rouse the others to kill Barnes in retaliation, but not before a drunken Barnes stumbles in and confronts the "potheads." The platoon is ultimately sent back to the ambush area in order to build and maintain defensive positions against what many know, and fear, will be a fight to the death. That night the attack does occur, which ends with the virtual obliteration of the entire platoon. During the chaos, Barnes and Taylor meet, and just as Barnes is about to kill Taylor, the two are knocked unconscious by a napalm attack, which was knowingly dropped on the area by Captain Harris as a last resort to stop the advancing enemy. Taylor regains consciousness the next morning, finding himself wounded and surrounded by bodies. Nearby he finds Barnes, who is also wounded heavily. Taylor trains a rifle on Barnes, who goads him and dares him to pull the trigger. Taylor shoots Barnes three times in the chest, killing him. He then collapses and awaits medical attention, and he and the other survivors are soon airlifted from the battlefield. As he is loaded into the chopper, Taylor is reminded that as a "two-timer," he finally has his ticket home. Sitting in the helicopter, he begins to weep as he stares down at the destruction.
Development
After his tour of duty in Vietnam ended in 1968, Stone wrote a screenplay called Break: a semi-autobiographical account detailing his experiences with his parents and his time in Vietnam. It featured several characters who were the seeds of those who would end up in Platoon. The script was set to music from The Doors; Stone sent the script to Jim Morrison in the hope he would play the lead (Morrison never responded). Stone's return from Vietnam led into a "big change" in how he viewed life and the war: "Vietnam was really visceral, and I had come from a cerebral existence: study... working with a pen and paper, with ideas. I came back really visceral. And I think the camera is so much more... that's your interpreter, as opposed to a pen." Though Break went ultimately unproduced, it was the spur for him to attend film school.[2]
After penning several other produced screenplays in the early 1970s, Stone came to work with Robert Bolt on an unproduced screenplay, The Cover-up. Bolt's rigorous approach rubbed off on Stone, and he was inspired to use the characters from his Break screenplay (who in turn were based upon people Stone knew in Vietnam) as the basis for a new screenplay titled The Platoon. Producer Martin Bregman attempted to elicit studio interest in the project, but Hollywood was still apathetic about Vietnam. However, the strength of Stone's writing on The Platoon was enough to get him the job penning Midnight Express in 1978. Despite that film's critical and commercial success, and that of other Stone-penned films at the time, most studios were still reluctant to finance The Platoon, as they feared a film about the Vietnam War would not attract an audience. After the release of The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalypse Now (1979), they then cited the perception that these films were considered the pinnacle of the Vietnam War film genre as reasons not to make The Platoon.[2]
Stone instead attempted to break into mainstream direction via the easier-to-finance horror genre, but The Hand (1981) failed at the box office, and Stone began to think that The Platoon would never be made. Stone wrote Year of the Dragon (1985) for a lower-than-usual fee of $200,000, on the condition from producer Dino de Laurentiis that he would then produce The Platoon. De Laurentiis secured financing for the film, but struggled to find a distributor. Because de Laurentiis had already spent money sending Stone to the Philippines to scout for locations, he decided to keep control of the film's script until he was repaid.[2] Then Stone's script for what would become Salvador (1986) was passed to John Daly of British production company Hemdale. Once again, this was a project that Stone had struggled to secure financing for, but Daly loved the script and was prepared to finance both Salvador and The Platoon off the back of it. Stone shot Salvador first, before turning his attention to what was by now called Platoon.[2]
Production
Platoon was filmed on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, starting in February 1986. The production of the film on a scheduled date was almost canceled due to the political upheaval in the country with then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos, but with the help of a producer well-known in Asia, Mark Hill, the shoot went on as scheduled. The shoot lasted 54 days and cost $6.5 million. The production made a deal with the Philippine military for the use of military equipment.[2]
James Woods, who had starred in Stone's previous film, Salvador, was offered a part in Platoon. He turned the role down, later saying he "couldn't face going into another jungle with [Stone]". Upon arrival in the Philippines, the cast was sent on a two-week intensive training course, during which they had to dig foxholes and were subject to forced marches and night-time "ambushes" which utilized special-effects explosions. Stone explained that he was trying to break them down, "to fuck with their heads so we could get that dog-tired, don't give a damn attitude, the anger, the irritation... the casual approach to death".[2]
Stone makes a cameo appearance as the battalion commander in the final battle. Dale Dye, who played company commander Captain Harris, is a U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam veteran who also acted as the film's technical advisor. [1]
Music used in the film includes Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane, Okie From Muskogee by Merle Haggard, and Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival. During a scene in the "Underworld" the soldiers sing along to The Tracks of My Tears by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles.
Reception
Critics both praised and criticized Platoon for its presentation of the violence seen in the war and the moral ambiguity created by the realities of Guerrilla warfare, when unit leaders have to make a choice between saving the lives of their own men and taking those of suspected Guerrilla sympathizers.
It shows some US soldiers as violent and indiscriminate killers. Fueled by rage at seeing their friends killed and maimed by booby traps, they take their anger out on villagers who were found hiding a cache of firearms, killing and torturing Vietnamese villagers and setting their village on fire. The film has been banned in Vietnam mostly due to these scenes and the negative and arguably condescending portrayal of the Vietnamese.
The film currently has an 88% rating at Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 86%
Platoon's release was timely. During the mid-1980s there was a softening of attitudes towards Vietnam veterans (which had taken over ten years, since the last American soldiers pulled out of Vietnam in 1973. Saigon fell in 1975).Sparked by the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington, DC, in 1982, Hollywood suddenly saw a small surge in films related to the war.
Awards and nominations
- Winner of 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound.
- Nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tom Berenger), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Willem Dafoe), Best Cinematography and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
Marketing
Several licensed tie-ins were released between 1986-1988. A video game was produced by Ocean Software for various formats. The Nintendo Entertainment System version was ported and published by Sunsoft. Loosely based on the film, the object of the game is to survive in the Vietnamese jungle against guerrilla attacks. A wargame was also produced, by Avalon Hill, as an introductory game to attract young people into to the wargaming hobby, and a board game was also produced.[3] The novelization of the film was written by Dale Dye.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Stone, Oliver (2001). Platoon DVD commentary (DVD). MGM Home Entertainment.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b c d e f Salewicz, Chris (1999-07-22). Oliver Stone: The Making of His Movies (New Ed edition ed.). UK: Orion Publishing Group. ISBN 0-75281-820-1.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|origdate=ignored (|orig-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Platoon (1986)". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
External links
- 1986 films
- Independent films
- British films
- American films
- English-language films
- Vietnamese-language films
- Drama films
- War drama films
- Vietnam War films
- War films
- Best Picture Academy Award winners
- Best Sound Mixing Academy Award winners
- Best Drama Picture Golden Globe winners
- Films whose director won the Best Director Academy Award
- Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Globe
- Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe winning performance
- Films directed by Oliver Stone
- Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award
- Films set in the 1960s
- Orion Pictures films