Platoon: the absurdity of war

Oliver Stone has always exposed his opinions in his movies. In Platoon, he shows the absurdity of war in Vietnam, and does it masterfully.

Charlie Sheen plays a military recruit for a wealthy family who needed to find meaning in his life - he even dropped from college. Right when he lands, he's thrown in the action with body bags everywhere. Many soldiers in his platoon are lower-class (one makes a lot of mistakes in a love letter). From time to time, we hear Charlie "thinking" out loud - in a letter to his grandma - about why he's in the middle of the jungle and why he's shooting at random people.

This is probably the first Stone movie I watched, and I whole-heartedly defend it (I oppose war). It's raw and doesn't sugarcoat anything; there's even a full scene where they capture a village, arson it and kill innocent people who were just living their lives. And yes, there are comments about the rich vs poor most socialists talk about, but there is truth to it in war; many wealthy people were exempted from Vietnam like Trump, Romney, etc.

So if you're not into war, definitely give this best-picture Oscar movie a watch. You'll see the absurdity of being the world policeman (without any clear goals), of blindly and indiscriminately kill people and why so many soldiers get PTSD.

Finaly rating: 4.1/5