Platoon (film)
| Platoon | |
|---|---|
 The original Platoon film poster | |
| Directed by | Oliver Stone |
| Written by | Oliver Stone |
| Produced by | Arnold Kopelson |
| Starring | Charlie Sheen Willem Dafoe Tom Berenger Forest Whitaker John C. McGinley Johnny Depp Kevin Dillon Keith David |
| Cinematography | Robert Richardson |
| Edited by | Claire Simpson |
| Music by | Georges Delerue |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
Release dates | December 19, 1986 (USA) |
Running time | 120 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,000,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $137,963,328 (USA) |
Platoon is an Academy Award winning 1986 Vietnam war film written and directed by Oliver Stone and starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Willem Dafoe. Johnny Depp also plays a small role. The story is loosely based on Stone's experiences as an Army combat 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. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1986.
Plot
A young US Army soldier, Private Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), arrives in South Vietnam with several other replacements and is assigned to the 25th Infantry Division (which had a very successful combat record in Vietnam). Along with fellow soldier Private Gardner, he joins an experienced infantry platoon that has suffered in recent combat operations. As he steps off the plane upon arrival in Vietnam, he sees the seasoned veterans who have just finished their tours of duty (with the "Thousand Yard Stare" fully developed), taunting the new guys as they board a transport plane home.
His enthusiasm quickly evaporates as he goes on endless patrols and, as a new guy, is assigned to dig foxholes and perform other arduous tasks.
On his first night ambush patrol, his unit is set upon by a squad of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops who walk into the squad's ambush position. The soldier meant to be on guard duty (Junior) has fallen asleep. Private Gardner dies after being shot while standing up in a firefight and Tex has his leg blown off from a grenade thrown by Sgt. Red O'Neil (John C. McGinley), who threw the grenade and missed (Stone explains this on the commentary track for the Platoon Special Edition DVD). Private Taylor is grazed in the neck.
As Chris recovers from his wound—a rite of passage that grants him greater social contact with his platoon mates—he reveals in dialogue that he dropped out of college to volunteer for service in Vietnam (Stone himself had dropped out of Yale twice). He states that he felt college was leading him nowhere and that it was unfair that lower-class youths had to carry the burden of the fighting in Vietnam, while rich kids could avoid the draft. His new friends among the more seasoned troops introduce him to the "Underworld," a bunker converted into a pseudo-nightclub, where they smoke marijuana and opium, drink beer, and dance with each other to soul music.
After returning to field duty, Chris sees more combat and, during another patrol, a bunker complex is discovered. (In real life, the 25th Division encountered tunnel complexes at Cu Chi much like the ones in the film.) During the examination of a campfire left by the enemy, two soldiers, Sanderson and Sal, are mortally wounded by a booby trap. After leaving the bunker complex area, the soldiers come across another member of their unit, Manny, who has been snatched from his guard duty, tied to a post, and mutilated.
Reaching a nearby village several kilometers north of the bunker with a belief that the enemy was spotted there, the platoon discovers food and weapons caches. This scene is loosely based on the true events surrounding the My Lai Massacre. The villagers insist they were given no choice by the Viet Cong. The troops, tired and angry because of the deaths of some of their comrades, take out their frustrations on the village, murdering and torturing several civilians. Staff Sgt. Barnes kills a woman while interrogating her husband. The platoon burns the village and leaves, with a final scene depicting the gang rape of a teenage girl (which Chris stops).
Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe), having witnessed Staff Sgt. Barnes' (Tom Berenger) and Lt. Wolfe's (Mark Moses) illegal actions, attacks Barnes and then puts the two men on report to their Captain. Chris, having originally admired Barnes, now finds his loyalties leaning towards Elias, while Barnes' supporters talk of fragging Elias to prevent him from acting as an eyewitness in a formal report about the illegal killings.
Much of the film's theme is a struggle for Chris' soul, with the competing father-like figures of Barnes and Elias. Barnes is shown in the film to be brutal and unethical, but is also a formidable soldier on whom the entire platoon depends for survival. Indeed the platoon leader, Lt. Wolfe, allows Barnes to be the de facto leader. Elias is openly depicted as a Christ-like figure; for example, we first see him climbing a hill, an M60 machine gun across his shoulders, with his arms in cruciform, and indeed at one point Barnes refers to him as a 'water walker'. (Two years later, Dafoe portrayed Christ in The Last Temptation of Christ). When Chris faints on his first patrol, Elias carries some of his gear for him, and is the only NCO to offer him any advice. Both NCOs are shown to be experienced, efficient soldiers. The film can be seen as a war for the heart and soul of Taylor and the rest of the unit. While the ostensible enemy was the North Vietnamese Army, Taylor finds himself immersed in a struggle between two veteran sergeants: pragmatic and brutal Barnes and idealistic and ethical Elias. Early in the film, Barnes is the dominant character, winning Chris' admiration. By mid-film, he is beginning to side with the more sensitive Elias.
On yet another patrol, the platoon is ambushed and suffers casualties. Lt. Wolfe fails to take charge as the platoon suffers losses. Sgt. Elias, correctly anticipating an enemy flanking attack, suggests a flanking ambush to counter the threat. Although Wolfe is skeptical, Barnes agrees to the plan. Elias and three other men, including Pvt. Taylor, move around the fighting to try to intercept the flanking NVA troops. Meanwhile, the inexperienced and incompetent Lt. Wolfe ends up calling in an artillery barrage "danger close" to his own men. Along with the heavy fighting, many wounded need attention and Barnes calls for them to pull back. This action leaves Elias and his three troops unsupported.
While the rest of the platoon retreats to its landing zone to be airlifted out of the combat area, Barnes goes back, ostensibly to get Elias and his three men out. Barnes orders Taylor and the two others back to the landing zone, telling them that he will get Elias himself. However, instead of bringing Elias back, Barnes ambushes and shoots him.
Barnes then returns to the platoon. When Taylor asks where Elias is, Barnes tells him he is dead. During the extraction by helicopter, however, the entire platoon sees Elias alive, badly wounded and running away from the pursuing North Vietnamese. He dies, again in a Christ-like pose, in an open field after being shot several more times by the North Vietnamese troops.
Taylor now suspects that Barnes caused Elias' death and begins talking to his fellow soldiers about killing Barnes in retaliation. As a result there is a confrontation between Taylor and Barnes in the bunker.
The company is sent back into the area and builds defensive positions to bait the NVA. It had been discovered that an entire NVA infantry regiment is on the move south down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This final battle ends with the obliteration of nearly the entire platoon, including Lt. Wolfe, due to the heavy NVA attack and a US aerial napalm attack. During the battle, a berserking Barnes nearly kills Chris.
At dawn Chris regains consciousness, finding himself wounded and surrounded by bodies. He takes an AK-47 rifle from a dead NVA soldier and wanders around, aimlessly. Chris walks past, and ignores, a wounded but potentially dangerous NVA soldier (in the background), suggesting that now he is focused on exacting revenge on Sgt. Barnes. Eventually he finds the wounded Barnes.
Barnes demands that Chris call a medic but Chris does not budge and instead keeps the rifle trained on Barnes. Sneeringly, Barnes challenges Chris to "do it." Chris shoots Barnes three times in the chest, killing him. After this, when the tank is seen coming through the jungle, a nazi flag can be seen flying on the tank. One of the few other survivors of the platoon is Pvt. Francis, who emerges from a bunker and is seemingly horrified to find that he lived through the battle and will therefore be obliged to continue his tour of duty. He grabs a knife and stabs himself in the thigh.
An interesting detail to note is that when he is finally rescued after the final battle of the film, Chris drops an object. It turns out to be a hand grenade, because Charlie Sheen thought that the character would, at this point, be suicidal.
The injured Chris is reunited with Francis and the two are airlifted from the battlefield. The voiceover of the final scene suggests Chris Taylor is going home to the US, profoundly affected and significantly changed as a person. He states that those who survive have an obligation to those who died there and meditates on his life as a product of two fathers, Barnes and Elias.
Reception
Critics both praised and criticized Platoon for its uncompromising presentation of the brutal violence seen in the war and the moral ambiguity created by the realities of guerilla war, when unit leaders have to make a choice between saving the lives of their own men and taking those of suspected guerilla 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 portrayal of the Vietnamese.
The film shows many controversial aspects of the war in Vietnam, such as drug abuse, the stigma placed on new recruits by older and more experienced soldiers (known as the FNG syndrome), deliberate killing of unpopular officers by soldiers (known as fragging), and others.
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). Perhaps 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.
Other production information
Platoon was filmed on the island of Luzon in the Philippines between March and May of 1986.
The director, Oliver Stone, makes an appearance as the battalion commander in the final battle. When the command bunker is blown up by an NVA sapper, his character is presumably killed.
Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger received critical acclaim for their performances as the good and bad sergeant and Charlie Sheen was given praise for his performance as the protagonist of the film
Characters
Platoon focuses attention on an infantry platoon of 30 men plus their immediate superior (Lieutenant Wolfe). They are organized into three squads led by Sgt. Elias, Sgt. O'Neil, and Sgt. Warren who in turn are guided by Platoon Sergeant SSG Barnes. It is possible to work out which squads some of the soldiers are in but it is guess work for the rest of them. Unless stated otherwise the character uses an M16 rifle and holds the rank of Private.
Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a 19- to 20-year-old, rookie Private and the protagonist of the film whose thoughts are sometimes provided in voice-over narration. His family is described as being a traditional, upper-middle class American family. His grandfather and father fought in World War I and World War II, respectively. Chris had a stable, suburban life but after some time in college, felt it unfair to be exempt from service due to his school attendance, while the poor who can't afford higher education, are sent off to fight. Feeling he's not learning anything substantive, he drops out and volunteers for the infantry and deployment to Vietnam. During the film, we hear Taylor's voice as he writes letters to his grandmother, who we are led to believe is the only family member he gets along with since his decision to leave college and go to war. He also becomes part of the "Underworld" after being befriended by King.
Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes (Tom Berenger) is a hardened, ruthless, facially-scarred, and determined platoon sergeant who believes in what he is doing and cares about his men, but gives little regard to conventions of warfare or authority of superiors. It is also revealed that he has survived being shot several times. He drinks alcohol to excess, but does not smoke marijuana or hash, seeing both as a cop-out to escape reality; US soldiers in Vietnam described the former as a "juicer" and the latter as a "head." He is armed with a CAR-15 and a Colt 1911, which he lends to Elias when he explores the tunnels under the bunker complex. In some circles he is referred to as a "machine", in fact some consider him the epitome of a machine. He is killed by Taylor at the end of the movie.
Sergeant Elias K. Grodin (Willem Dafoe) is a more compassionate sergeant and squad leader who leads by example and has become, over three tours of combat duty in Vietnam, less and less enthusiastic about the war. He is most respected by the "Underworld" regulars, but is seen as a "do-gooder" and "crusader" by Barnes' clique. During the film, Elias is ambushed and shot in cold blood by Barnes after threatening to report him for war crimes. He is armed with a CAR-15. His character also has possible references to Christ. Examples include his being referred to as a "water-walker" by Barnes, his overall positive nature during the horrible war, his death by betrayal and even his position when killed, recalling the crucifixion.
Sergeant "Red" O'Neill (John C. McGinley) is a lifer and squad leader who recognizes Barnes as the actual power in the platoon and is very loyal to him, seeing him as a way to keep himself alive. He is war weary to the point of feeling no shame in requesting relief from combat duty just before a battle. He survives the final battle, unharmed, having hidden beneath a corpse when the NVA overruns his position, and is made platoon leader by Captain Harris after the incident (LT Wolfe and SSG Barnes having both died in the fight). Red is not happy about this.
Sergeant Warren (Tony Todd) is a squad leader and morphine addict. He is wounded along with Lerner in the battle by the church. His primary concern seems to be letting Barnes lead him because he thinks he holds the key to his survival, even if this means letting innocents be killed along the way. Presumably the drug has clouded his judgment. A major scene of his depicting him shooting up on morphine was cut from the finished film but does appear in the draft script.
Lieutenant Wolfe (Mark Moses) is an Ohio University graduate who establishes only shallow relationships with his men. He is inept at giving or receiving orders, cannot read a map (which results in a disastrous friendly fire artillery barrage), does nothing to discipline his men when they step out of line, cedes control of the platoon to Barnes, and by the end of the film exclaims, "I just don't give a flying fuck anymore." In the final battle in a very dark scene he is forced to hold and fight by Cpt. Harris but, unfortunately for him, is blinded by a grenade explosion and then shot through the chest. He is armed with a CAR-15. U.S. Military training schools have used the character of LT Wolfe as an example of how not to behave as an infantry leader.
Rhah (Francesco Quinn) is the King of the underworld "heads" and a friend of Elias, he also respects Barnes' fighting ability and realizes if Taylor attempted to kill Barnes it would only bring more trouble upon himself. After the death of Elias he takes over as a squad leader, and does his best to fill the role of 'big brother', as seen when he tells Taylor and Francis the best way to defend their position during the final battle. He is the last character seen by Taylor at the end of the film. He is talented in carpentry and an opium smoker.
King (Keith David) is a poorly educated yet understanding and combat-experienced soldier who befriends Taylor. King, his 12 month tour up, leaves before the final battle and bids the platoon, "Good-bye, motherfuckers!!" He is armed with an M60 Machine Gun
Junior Martin (Reggie Johnson) is a black radical who believes that all white people are responsible for all of the problems of his people. He resents the war so much that he does everything he can to avoid fighting, for example drinking contaminated river water in hopes of catching malaria and putting insect repellent on his bare feet to fake trench foot as well as simply retreating from his foxhole. He falls asleep while on watch during the disastrous first skirmish and blames it on Taylor. He is not part of the "underworld," but isn't part of Barnes' inner circle, either. He forms an unlikely friendship with Bunny but he tries to distance himself from him when he realizes he's a psychopath. He is bayoneted repeatedly in the stomach and is then shot by an NVA soldier, after running away during the final battle.
Big Harold (Forest Whitaker) is a large, friendly soldier who spends his down time in the bunker socializing in the "Underworld." When Taylor is injured during a night patrol, Big Harold talks to Taylor to keep his mind off his wounds. He loses a leg from a Viet Cong booby trap as he tries to find cover during the artillery barrage called in by Lieutenant Wolfe. He is seen being loaded onto a medevac helicopter still conscious.
Bunny (Kevin Dillon) is a gung-ho, brash, and unstable nineteen year old who is a great admirer of Barnes' and who has little regard for Vietnamese ("dinks"), allies, or the enemy. He is a fan of the Indy 500 and Daniel Boone, which is the reason he wears a raccoon tail on the back of his helmet. To some extent he is a 'redneck' caricature. He could also be seen as a murderer. He is seen armed with a Remington 870 shotgun. During a village raid, he shoots a pig and uses his shotgun to bash in the skull of a one-legged farmer. In the final battle, while claiming to be Audie Murphy, Bunny shoots a pair of NVA, but gets distracted by Junior's retreat and an NVA soldier shoots him to the ground and then jams his AK-47 in his mouth and blows his brains out.
Francis (Corey Glover) is another one of the "heads" who becomes good friends with Taylor. The two fight together in the final battle in the same foxhole. He follows Taylor's lead and the two launch a small but fierce counterattack when their foxhole is blown up. He survives the battle without being wounded, but deliberately stabs himself in the thigh the following morning to get sent home.
Doc Paul Gomez (Paul Sanchez) is one of Taylor's friends and serves as the platoon medic. He does not take sides until Elias is killed, even then imploring Taylor to "let military justice" take care of Barnes. He is shot during the final battle after losing Parker and losing his cool. After shooting a pair of NVA, he takes a bullet in the side and another in the neck.
"Gator" Lerner (Johnny Depp) is the platoon's interpreter and part of the "heads" underworld. He is the point man during the patrol in which Elias dies, and is shot several times, but survives after Taylor rescues him. In a deleted scene, Lerner is revealed to know lots about Barnes' and Elias' history. In this scene he also talks about having returned home on leave and is frustrated at his inability to relate to civilians. He holds the rank of Spec 4.
Crawford (Chris Pederson) is a California surfer and friend of Chris Taylor and King, he is one of three men (along with Chris and Rhah) that go with Elias. He is wounded in this battle and is carried to safety by Chris and Rhah. He is Sgt. Elias' RTO and holds the rank of Spec 4. He smokes marijuana and makes several remarks about Sgt. O'Neil "having his nose so far up Lt. Wolfe's ass, he has to be Pinocchio".
Tony Hoyt (Ivan Kane) is a soldier well known for his mustache. He is wounded during the final battle of the film, but survives and is seen sitting next to Ebenhoch, waving to Taylor as he leaves Vietnam. He is Ssg. Barnes RTO.
"Sandy" Sanderson (J. Adam Glover) was a friend of Sergeant O'Neil and a bully, he puts King on report for stealing beer and also makes him, Taylor, and Crawford clean out the latrines. He is killed along with Sal when he lifts an ammo crate of booby trapped intel, right before he staggers around with both arms blown off. Sanderson is armed with an M79 grenade launcher (Blooper) and holds the Spec 4 rank.
Sal (Richard Edson) was a very jumpy trooper, who smoked cigars and his another of Barnes' supporters. He dies in the same explosion that kills Sanderson and nearly averts it by telling him that they should leave and not touch anything.
Tex (David Neidorf) is a headstrong Texan soldier who detests replacement soldiers. He is wounded by friendly fire and loses a leg from a fragmentation grenade carelessly tossed by Sgt. O'Neil in the same night firefight that Gardner dies in. He uses an M60 machine gun.
Morehouse (Kevin Eshelman) is a man who participates in the village rape and is killed by the first friendly fire of the church battle. He inherits the M60 machine gun from Tex after his leg is blown off. One of the most memorable lines in the film is when he says to Taylor after he stops the rape, "Ya fuckin' lame fuck!"
Gardner (Bob Orwig) is another rookie who arrives in the platoon at the same time as Taylor and dies on the first night ambush after standing up in the firefight. He is mocked by the other men for his obesity. He buys hippie paraphernalia in an attempt to fit in. Back home he has an equally obese girlfriend named "Lucy Jean."
Manny (Corkey Ford) is another regular of the underworld. Manny had a particularly good singing voice, which made him popular amongst the "heads." He was captured by the Vietcong while away from the platoon during the attack on the bunker complex. They tied him to a post and cut his throat and pinned a Chieu hoi bag to his chest. His death was one of the immediate catalysts for the atrocities committed in the village.
Ace (James Terry McIlvan) is Lieutenant Wolfe's radio telephone operator (RTO) who also sides with Barnes. Ace is wounded by shell fragments from friendly artillery fire in the battle by the church.
Rodriguez (Chris Castillejo) is a soldier who is very religious and quiet. Rodriguez is seen boarding the same helicopter Taylor is on at the end of the film, apparently unhurt. Lt. Wolfe tells King to leave his M60 machine gun for Rodriguez to use in the final battle, although we don't actually see him using it.
Tubbs (Andrew B. Clark) is part of Barnes' faction of the platoon. Like Morehouse, his chief goal seems to be to make Barnes like him. He is killed off camera in the church ambush battle, however we do briefly see his body underneath one of the four tarpaulins when a huey's rotors blow them off (the other bodies are Morehouse, Flash, and Fu Sheng). He is armed with an M79 grenade launcher.
Fu Sheng (Steve Barredo) is Hawaiian. He was off on R&R with Morehouse when Barnes wanted their squad to go on patrol. O'Neil tried to use that as an excuse to get his squad out of it. Barnes excused his squad but still ordered O'Neil to go out with Elias, because he needed veterans out there to help out with the rookies (Taylor and Gardner). He is seen briefly in the film and is killed by an artillery round during the battle in which Elias is killed. He is also seen on guard outside the "heads" bunker. He was Sgt. O'Neil's RTO.
Ebenhoch (Mark Ebenhoch) is part of the underworld, seen partying with the "heads" early in the film and is sitting with Taylor, King, Rhah, and others during the Barnes' "What do you all know about death?" scene. He seems to be the platoon's demolition expert because Barnes instructs him to wire up and detonate the weapons they discover in the village. He is seen waving to Taylor with Tony at the end of the film. He is Sgt. Warren's RTO. He was played by one of the film's assistant technical advisors.
Parker (Peter Hicks) is another quiet member of the platoon. He briefly appears in the village scene and is sitting next to Tubbs who is throwing a knife into the floor while Lt. Wolfe is doing his meet-and-greet rounds. He is seen being dragged dead into a bunker by Doc during the final battle.
Flash (Basile Achara)) has a blink and you might miss it. He is one of the "heads" and can be seen partying with them. He also acts as Cpt. Harris' RTO when they are on patrol at the beginning of the film. He is killed in the church ambush scene and can be seen laying dead when Taylor moves up to rescue Lerner. You also see him laying dead when Doc is working on Lerner later.
Huffmeister(Robert "Rock" Galotti) like Ebenhoch, was an assistant technical director on the film who doubled up as a platoon member. He can be seen in the village scene throwing a white phosphorus grenade down a well and is also stood behind Sergeant O'Neil when he is promoted to Platoon Sergeant by Captain Harris after the final battle.
Captain Harris (Dale Dye) is the Company Commander, Lt. Wolfe's immediate superior and not a member of the platoon. He is highly critical of the incompetent and inexperienced Wolfe, and is seen to be calm under fire, even quoting "It's been a lovely fuckin' war!". However, he requires both Barnes and Elias to continue serving together in the same platoon after receiving Elias' war crimes report. In the film's final battle, after the death of the Battalion Commander (played by Oliver Stone), he calls in the air strike on the battalion's defensive position. He is played by the film's chief technical advisor Dale Dye, who himself served in the Vietnam War. He is armed with a CAR-15.
Vietnamese Villager (Patrick Muscat) He also plays: an extra in "Plan 9 from outer space", and Al Gore in "An Inconvenient Truth"
Awards and nominations
- Winner of the Academy Awards for 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.
Other portrayals
- A novelization was written by Dale Dye as a tie-in to the film.
- A wargame was produced by Avalon Hill as an introductory game to attract young people back to the wargaming hobby. The Platoon game was a direct film tie-in as well.
- A video game was released as a tie-in by Sunsoft for the NES as well as other systems.
Music
The piece played throughout the film is the Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber.
Various audio samples from the movie can be heard in the Ministry (band) song 'Flashback' from album 'The Land of Rape and Honey.'
The song White Rabbit by psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane can also be heard.
During the memorable scene in the "Underworld" the soldiers sing along to Tracks of My Tears by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
During an early scene at base camp, Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee" plays in the background. Bunny speaks the praises of the song while Junior refers to it as redneck noise.
See also
External links
- 1986 films
- American films
- Independent films
- Vietnam War films
- Best Picture Academy Award winners
- English-language films
- Films whose director won the Best Director Academy Award
- Best Sound Mixing Academy Award winners
- Best Film Editing Academy Award winners
- Best Drama Picture Golden Globe winners
- Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Globe
- Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe winning performance
- Films directed by Oliver Stone
- Vietnamese-language films
- Orion Pictures films