48th Favorite Movie - Platoon

So here we are, two movies in already... and I have received a total of zero comments on my first two posts. What's up with that? I was hoping I'd get some good lively discussion going with this list. Maybe I will slip in a truly awful movie like Battlefield Earth just to see if anyone is paying attention.

My 48th favorite movie is Oliver Stone's Platoon, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1986. Said to be based on Stone's own experiences as a soldier in Vietnam, the story of Platoon is told through the eyes and voiceover narration of Chris, a private played by Charlie Sheen. Chris is caught in the middle of a power struggle for the command of his platoon between the compassionate Sgt. Elias and the veangeful Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger). The film focuses on the war that goes on within the platoon as well as the war going on around them.

The first of four war movies on my top 50, Platoon is gut-wrenching, but is not without its warmth. The film balances the harshness of war with a sweet camraderie found among the soldiers in the platoon. Some of these soldiers are played by actors who went on to become stars: Kevin Dillon, Forest Whitaker, and Johnny Depp (he is only in a few scenes). To me, Platoon's greatness lies in the moods it creates. After seeing this movie I can almost imagine the horror of trying to sleep through a rainy night in the mud in the middle of a jungle while having to trust one guy to stay awake and keep watch. Or the insanity of witnessing soldiers take their fear and anger out on innocent civilians. Or the pain and regret that comes with losing a close friend to a war that does not seem to make sense. Many war films - and Vietnam war films - have been made since, but Platoon still holds its own twenty years later.