Platoon (1987)

 ●  English ● 1 hr 59 mins

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Chris Taylor is a young, naive American who gives up college and volunteers for combat in Vietnam. Upon arrival, he quickly discovers that his presence is quite nonessential, and is considered insignificant to the other soldiers, as he has not fought for as long as the rest of them and felt the effects of combat. Chris has two non-commissioned officers, the ill-tempered and indestructible Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes and the more pleasant and cooperative Sergeant Elias Grodin. A line is drawn between the two NCOs and a number of men in the platoon when an illegal killing occurs during a village raid. As the war continues, Chris himself draws towards psychological meltdown. And as he struggles for survival, he soon realizes he is fighting two battles, the conflict with the enemy and the conflict between the men within his platoon.
See Storyline (May Contain Spoilers)

Cast: Tom Berenger

Crew: Oliver Stone (Director), Newton Thomas Sigel (Director of Photography), Robert Richardson (Director of Photography), Georges Delerue (Music Director)

Rating: A (India)

Genres: Drama, War

Release Dates: 06 Feb 1987 (India)

Tagline: The first casualty of war is innocence.

English Name: Platoon

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Did you know? Several of the actors wrote messages on their helmets worn throughout the movie. Charlie Sheen's helmet reads, "When I die, bury me upside-down, so the world can kiss my ass", while Johnny Depp's simply reads, "Sherilyn", a tribute to Sherilyn Fenn, whom Depp was dating at the time. Mark Moses (Lt. Wolfe) had on his helmet a drawing of MAD magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman with the phrase "What, me worry?" and, according to Tom Berenger, this caused Oliver Stone to laugh hysterically once during filming. Read More
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as Sgt. Barnes
as Tubbs
as Flash
as Village Chief
as Gardner
as Chris
as Rodriguez
as Crawford
as Old Woman
as Francis
as Manny
as Captain Harris
as Tex
as Big Harold
as Rhah
as Tony
as Sanderson
as Sgt. O'Neill
as Lerner
as King
as Bunny
as Morehouse
as Parker
as Village Chief's Daughter
as Lt. Wolfe
as Terrified Soldier
as Doc
as Parker
as Junior
as Sal
as One-Legged Man
as Flash
as Fu Sheng
as Village Chief's Wife
as Warren
as Captain Harris
as Sgt. Elias

Direction

Director
First Assistant Director
Second Assistant Director
Assistant Director

Production

Producer
Co-Producer
Executive Producer
Production Supervisor
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Production Coordinator

Writers

Dialogue Writer

Camera and Electrical

Director of Photography
Still Photographer

Music

Music Director
Music Coordinator

Sound

Sound Re-recording Mixer
Sound Effects Editor
Boom Operator

Art

Production Designer
Assistant Props Master

Casting

Editorial

Associate Editor
First Assistant Editor
Assistant Editor

Location

Location Manager

Makeup and Hair

Assistant Makeup Artist

Special Effects

Special Effects Technician

Stunts

Stunt Coordinator
Stunt Performer
Film Type:
Feature
Language:
English
Colour Info:
Color
Sound Mix:
Stereo
Frame Rate:
24 fps
Aspect Ratio:
1.85:1 (Flat)
Stereoscopy:
No
Taglines:
The first casualty of war is innocence.
Movie Connection(s):
Reference: The Girl Next Door (English)
Goofs:
Factual Mistake
In the attack on the camp, we see two NVA/VC soldiers acting as suicide bombers (one falls and explodes, the other makes it into the communication bunker before blowing up). In the script, these two men are identified as sappers. NVA and VC Sappers were specially trained combat engineers/reconnaissance commandos who used stealth to infiltrate a camp's defenses and take out strategic targets, such as barbed wire obstacles or bunkers, with explosives before the main attack. Although there were indeed reports of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops using suicide bombers during the war, sappers were never used as suicide bombers because they were considered too valuable to expend.

Errors in Geography
When Sandy and Sal are investigating the bunker they come across a reused ammo-box filled with maps. The map shown is actually of the British Isles with Ireland, most of England and northern France plainly visible. A local VC/NVA unit would have no interest in detailed maps of Europe.

Continuity
During the last battle, Sergeant O'Neill hides behind a dead body. As he pulls the body over him, the body's eyes are closed but when we see O'Neill peeking out, the eyes are open.

Continuity
When the platoon finds the bunker complex, the Lieutenant sends Taylor and Washington out to guard the flank. Washington has a pack of Marlboros stuck in his helmet. Once he reaches his position, it is a pack of Kools in his helmet.

Character Error
At one point, a character is warned not to drink from a river because he might get malaria. While drinking the water could cause any number of diseases, malaria is not one of them, as it can only be transmitted by insect bite.
Trivia:
With this movie, Oliver Stone became the first Vietnam veteran to direct a major motion picture about the Vietnam War. He was already the first Vietnam veteran to win an Oscar (for Midnight Express (1978), a distinction which he still holds, and became with this picture the first Vietnam vet to win an Oscar for Best Director. As of 2010 he is the last veteran of any war to win an Oscar for Best Director, other than Clint Eastwood who served in the Army during the Korean War, but never went to Korea.

Several of the actors wrote messages on their helmets worn throughout the movie. Charlie Sheen's helmet reads, "When I die, bury me upside-down, so the world can kiss my ass", while Johnny Depp's simply reads, "Sherilyn", a tribute to Sherilyn Fenn, whom Depp was dating at the time. Mark Moses (Lt. Wolfe) had on his helmet a drawing of MAD magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman with the phrase "What, me worry?" and, according to Tom Berenger, this caused Oliver Stone to laugh hysterically once during filming.