Platoon (1986)

We did not fight the enemy. We fought ourselves. And the enemy was in us. This week we're going into the jungle for Platoon (1986) — Oliver Stone's raw, autobiographical, Academy Award-winning Vietnam War masterpiece that didn't just win Best Picture — it finally gave a generation of veterans the film they had been waiting a decade to see. This is the film where Stone settled his debts with the war. And it shows in every frame.Written and directed by Stone — himself a Vietnam War veteran who had struggled for over a decade to get the film made — Platoon follows Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), a naive, college-educated volunteer who enlists out of idealism and finds himself in a platoon torn apart by the moral conflict between the ruthless, battle-hardened Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger) and the more compassionate, free-spirited Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe). Keith David, Kevin Dillon, John C. McGinley, Forest Whitaker, and a young Johnny Depp in an early film appearance round out a cast who all underwent a two-week military boot camp in the Philippine jungle before a single frame was shot. It was the first Hollywood film ever written and directed by a Vietnam War veteran.We're going deep on everything: the extraordinary performances of Berenger and Dafoe — both received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in the same year for the same film — Stone's visceral ground-level approach to combat that deliberately denies the audience the comfort of comprehending what's happening in a firefight, the devastating village raid sequence that remains one of the most morally confronting scenes in American war cinema, and the extraordinary behind-the-scenes story of a script that Stone wrote in the early 1970s based directly on his own experiences but couldn't get financed for over a decade until Hemdale finally backed it on a budget of just $6 million. We're also talking about the extraordinary cast that almost was: Mickey Rourke, Emilio Estevez, Kevin Costner, Denzel Washington, and Keanu Reeves were all considered for key roles before the final cast was assembled.We're also asking the big questions that Vietnam War cinema demands: where does Platoon rank against Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket — the three films that define this genre? Is Barnes or Elias the moral heart of the film? And does Platoon remain the most honest depiction of the Vietnam War ever put on screen?Whether you're a Vietnam War cinema devotee, an Oliver Stone fan, a Charlie Sheen admirer, a Willem Dafoe enthusiast, a Tom Berenger fan, a student of American military history, a lover of Oscar-winning war films, or just someone who wants to understand why this film hit the culture like a thunderclap in 1986 — this episode is essential.Topics covered: Platoon 1986 | Oliver Stone | Charlie Sheen | Willem Dafoe | Tom Berenger | Forest Whitaker | Johnny Depp early career | Keith David | Kevin Dillon | Best Picture Oscar 1987 | best war films ever made | Vietnam War films ranked | Oliver Stone Vietnam veteran | Platoon vs Apocalypse Now | Platoon vs Full Metal Jacket | best Vietnam War movies | ground-level war cinema | anti-war films | village raid scene | Sergeant Barnes | Sergeant Elias | Kevin Costner passed on Platoon | Keanu Reeves passed on Platoon | Denzel Washington almost in Platoon | $6 million budget Best Picture | most authentic Vietnam War films | movie review podcast | film analysis | Oliver Stone filmography | best Oscar winners | Barnes vs Elias debate | Born on the Fourth of July trilogy | first Vietnam film by veteranSubscribe, rate, and leave us a review — and settle the debate that has raged since 1987: in the Vietnam War film pantheon, is Platoon better than Apocalypse Now? And who do you side with — Barnes or Elias?YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@RegularorMentholContact us: [email protected]