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Platoon (1986)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Oliver Stone (written by)
Release Date:
24 December 1986 (USA)
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Tagline:
The first casualty of war is innocence.
Plot:
A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won 4 Oscars.
Another 18 wins
&
9 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(52 articles)
People Unveils Sexist Man Alive - And It's Not RPatty
(From PopStar. 18 November 2009, 11:52 PM, PST)
Taking Woodstock and cinema's love of trippy scenes | Anne Billson
(From The Guardian - Film News. 12 November 2009, 2:30 PM, PST)
(From PopStar. 18 November 2009, 11:52 PM, PST)
Taking Woodstock and cinema's love of trippy scenes | Anne Billson
(From The Guardian - Film News. 12 November 2009, 2:30 PM, PST)
User Comments:
One man goes to war and stares at its two contrasting faces
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Keith David | ... | King |
 | Forest Whitaker | ... | Big Harold |
| Francesco Quinn | ... | Rhah |
 | Kevin Dillon | ... | Bunny |
 | John C. McGinley | ... | Sgt. O'Neill |
| Reggie Johnson | ... | Junior |
 | Mark Moses | ... | Lt. Wolfe |
| Corey Glover | ... | Francis |
 | Johnny Depp | ... | Lerner |
| Chris Pedersen | ... | Crawford |
| Bob Orwig | ... | Gardner |
| Corkey Ford | ... | Manny |
| David Neidorf | ... | Tex |
 | Tom Berenger | ... | Sgt. Barnes |
 | Willem Dafoe | ... | Sgt. Elias |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
120 min
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Germany:16 |
Canada:PA (Manitoba) |
Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) |
Iceland:16 |
Singapore:NC-16 (cut) |
Australia:MA (Special Edition DVD) |
Brazil:14 |
India:A |
Argentina:18 |
Australia:M |
Canada:13+ (Quebec) |
Chile:18 |
Finland:K-16 |
France:-12 |
Hong Kong:IIB |
Ireland:15 |
Israel:PG |
Japan:PG-12 |
Netherlands:16 |
New Zealand:M (DVD rating) |
New Zealand:R (original rating) |
Norway:18 |
South Korea:15 |
Spain:18 |
Sweden:15 |
UK:15 |
USA:R (PCA #28241) |
Vietnam:(Banned) |
West Germany:16
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The dog tags which make up the double O's in the poster for the film are those of Willem Dafoe's character Sgt. Elias Grodin. His service number is 3365664125.
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Goofs:
Continuity: After the first firefight, the blood "M" the medic puts on Private Gardner's forehead disappears.
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Quotes:
[first lines]
Pvt. Gardner: [seeing body bags] Aw, man, is that what I think it is?
Sergeant: All right, you cheese-dicks, welcome to the 'nam! Follow me.
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Pvt. Gardner: [seeing body bags] Aw, man, is that what I think it is?
Sergeant: All right, you cheese-dicks, welcome to the 'nam! Follow me.
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Soundtrack:
TRACKS OF MY TEARS
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FAQ
A Note Regarding SpoilersIs "Platoon" based on a book?
What is the song...?
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more (421 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Platoon (1986)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Incredibly Overated? | Spidersthrash |
| The introductory quote | Polygraph |
| A Nazi Flag? | Elmorado |
| what did he say in that rape scene? | Badlands1 |
| First Firefight Question | Mookie01 |
| F-16s?? | rigger67 |
Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
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Related Links
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| News articles | IMDb top 250 movies | IMDb Action section |
| IMDb UK section | Add this title to MyMovies |
Platoon is an idealised crayon-sketch of Oliver Stone's Vietnam experience, with its fair dose of guns, bombs, blood, rain, jungle, evil murderous Asian faces and similarly evil murderous Americans. It lacks the gritty realism of Full Metal Jacket and shuns the hysterical philosophical nonsense in Apocalypse Now, instead telling its story and its ideas with action, atmosphere, characters and soundbites. Is it the best Vietnam War movie made to date? That title will always depend upon perspective and criteria, but Platoon comes close: it is well made, well written, craftily shot and cannily acted.
Green and inexperienced, Private Chris Taylor (Sheen) arrives in Vietnam, a volunteer rather than a conscript. At first he commits all the sins of a rookie: overloading his pack, making misjudgements and acting with zeal, although there is an obvious sense of his 'education' as we follow him through the film. He encounters two veteran sergeants: the brutal, battle-scarred, kill-em-all Barnes, and Elias, a dreamy pot-smoker with much more smarts, idealism and political nous. These men are obviously metaphors for those in Vietnam, those who are coordinating it from abroad, if not the whole conflict itself. The futility of a purely military solution to political problems and the wasteless murder of search-and-destroy missions are both obvious.
In terms of action, the archetypal Vietnam elements are all there: the jungle ambush, the village raid, the attack with rolling air support, and the set-piece battle against NVA regulars. These scenes will satisfy fans of hardcore war-porn, but they are not so overplayed, choreographed or downright gory that they will alienate the mainstream movie watcher. The viewer gets a very real sense of Vietnam as a 3-D war, with threats coming from all around you, not just the enemy in front. We leave Vietnam with Taylor at the end of his tour, and the whole thing is as untidy and unfair as it was when we arrived: the snivelling O'Neill (McGinley) survives because of his cowardice in battle, for example. In that respect it is a fairly unfulfilling story, though as a movie it succeeds on most levels.