PLATOON

Despite the critical acclaim and the Oscars it received (Best Picture and Best Director) this isn't the best Vietnam film (obviously) but it can claim to offer the best account of what it was like to be an ordinary soldier caught up in the middle of this conflict. 

This is down to the writer and director Oliver Stone being a decorated veteran of the war who wanted to make a film based on his combat experience.

The film is told from the point of view of a newly arrived volunteer, Taylor (played by Charlie Sheen) who clearly represents Stone to some extent.  

The other two main characters are Sergeants Barnes and Elias (Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe respectively).  

Barnes is a no-nonsense military type who doesn't put up with anything he sees as weakness.  Initially I thought this was OK, because after all you do need the men under you to be tough to survive, but as the film progresses it becomes apparent that he has well and truly lost his moral compass.   

Elias is equally courageous and competent but he knows the difference between right and wrong.  In a pivotal scene in a Vietnamese village he intervenes when Barnes shoots a villager's wife dead as part of his interrogation.  As a result Barnes is going to face a court martial hearing with Elias as the main witness against him.

Later on the platoon is ambushed and Barnes ends up being the one who goes to rescue Elias who has become separated from the others, but instead he shoots him and leaves him for dead.

There then follows a scene in which Elias, wounded but not dead, is killed by the Vietnamese but not before striking a Christ-like pose which I didn't much care for.

By this point Taylor is determined that Barnes should be brought to justice one way or another, and in a final prolonged and horrific battle in which the platoon is overwhelmed Taylor gets to kill Barnes.

There are a couple of things that took me out of the film.  One is Taylor's voiceover which isn't Stone's finest bit of writing and doesn't really add much.

The other is the use of Barber's Adagio on the soundtrack.  Using such a profoundly moving piece of music strikes me as a cheap and lazy way to manipulate the audience's emotions. 

Other than that though it's easy to see why this film is so admired.  

The combat sequences are very well staged, the final battle in particular being a tour-de-force. 

All three of the lead actors deliver fine performances, and this must surely be a career-high for Berenger (who along with Dafoe received an Oscar nomination).

But the real strength of the film is the skilful way in which Stone gets us familiar with many other members of the platoon, from the inexperienced Lieutenant downwards, each of whom gets a little story arc.  John C McGinley in particular plays a memorable character.  Forest Whitaker and Johnny Depp are among the supporting actors although I can't say I noticed the latter at all.