OPPapers.com

Platton The Movie Review

John Doe
English
Mrs. Robinson
03/01/03
Platoon
There are many war movies some more realistic then others. But the movie "Platoon" raised some questions as to how real it actually was. Some people think that it was the director's time in Vietnam that made the movie so realistic. Others say that he touched perfectly on the segregation between the soldiers. No one can exactly pin what it was that made Mr. Stones "Platoon" so realistic.
There are a lot of war movies several that deal with Vietnam, such as "Full Metal Jacket". That movie seemed to be very accurate, but it dealt more with the physical pain of the soldiers, rather then the mental pain. In Platoon you don't see the training, but Mr. Stone still shows his viewers the harsh physical reality.
He not only shows the physical pain, but he makes you see the mental trauma that these US soldiers suffered. He doesn't go as in depth into the emotional anxiety as "Apocalypse Now". That movie seemed almost too weird, almost as if they were on drugs the whole way through it. "Platoon" showed that the soldiers smoked pot and drank alcohol, but not to the extent of them becoming incoherent to their environment. That is why "Apocalypse Now" would be considered less realistic then "Platoon".
Another great attribute that Mr. Stone showed was the intense battle scenes. But unlike "We Were Soldiers", he didn't try to make it too cinematic. In "We Were Soldiers" the movie is a battle were the Americans fought against an overwhelming number of Vietnamese troops and won. It is possible, but unlikely, because the Vietnamese were fighting for their freedom and we were fighting because we were forced to. Mr. Stone decided to show it like it was in the final battle in the movie were the Vietnamese attacked and beat the Americans.
All of the movies about Vietnam have shown some true aspects of the war. But none have come as close to the actually war as "Platoon". Oliver Stone includes most of the...