Platoon takes us
through a tour of the Vietnam War through the eyes of the fresh and idealistic
young volunteer Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen). We follow Taylor
from his first day in Nam
to his final battle accompanied by voice-over which expresses his thoughts,
worries and ideas. The film appears to accurately portray the day-to-day life
of a soldier in the jungle and promotes the views of the monotonous nature of
infantry warfare which is punctuated by moments of extreme violence. Platoon creates an environment for its
cast whereby the characters fear not only the Vietcong and jungle but also each
other as tensions and rivalries run high and suspicion spreads like wildfire.
Personally I think it is one of the finest war movies ever made and it went on
to win four Oscars including Best Director and Best Picture at the 59th Academy Awards.