War is Hell.

Some of us don’t really know what really happened during the Vietnam War. Films were made about the war but none of the came really close to what happened to these soldiers during the tours in the Vietnam War. Until director Oliver Stone made the 1987 Academy Award winning picture, Platoon. This film is about the tragedy of the Vietnam War and what this war has done to main soldiers during their time in Vietnam. This film deals with the topics of good vs. evil, the change of man through war, and the truth of what really happened in Vietnam.

            When Chris Taylor (played Charlie Sheen) arrives in Vietnam he doesn’t know what he is in for and is hit by world wind when he gets his first action in Vietnam. He is led by two Sergeants; Sgt. Barnes (played by Tom Berenger) who is ruthless man who will do whatever he wants whenever he decides. He doesn’t care about the lives he takes, which leads to some evil that is unexplainable from him and others on his side of the platoon. Sgt. Elias (played by Willem Dafoe) however is more of a free spirit and who is trying just survive this war and keep his humanity.

            Chris is torn when he sees an illegal killing in a village from Sgt. Barnes who kills an innocent woman in cold blood. He is now losing his humanity and is now facing to fights, the fight of him surviving and stay alive throughout this war, and the war between him and the men in his platoon.

            The film really shows how these men transform to being innocent men to hard core killing machines. Some who have lost themselves through what they have seen and what they have done throughout this war. Oliver Stone created characters that really were relatable to audience members, doesn’t matter which character it was anyone could relate to these men who have lost themselves during this war.

            This film is a masterpiece and a classic which is why it has won a lot of awards including Best Picture at the Oscars. This not just a film, this is an experience of what really happened to these men who fought for our country and what the price that they had to counter that lives on with them till this day. Platoon is the first film to really capture the truth of the Vietnam War.