Platoon

R

Released Dec 19, 1986

2 hr. 0 min.

War

Drama

List

89%

123 Reviews

Tomatometer

93%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) leaves his university studies to enlist in combat duty in Vietnam in 1967. Once he's on the ground in the middle of battle, his idealism fades. Infighting in his unit between Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), who believes nearby villagers are harboring Viet Cong soldiers, and Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe), who has a more sympathetic view of the locals, ends up pitting the soldiers against each other as well as against the enemy.

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Critics Consensus

Informed by director Oliver Stone's personal experiences in Vietnam, Platoon forgoes easy sermonizing in favor of a harrowing, ground-level view of war, bolstered by no-holds-barred performances from Charlie Sheen and Willem Dafoe.

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Tony C

Love this film, just brilliant. Great cast and filming.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/20/24

Full Review

Howard H

A great war film. Sheen and Dafoe deliver a great deadly/friendly rivalry.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/15/24

Full Review

Joe C

The way it tells a story within a winless war is profoundly human.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/01/24

Full Review

Aidan M

Not the best war film ever made but it's definitely up there, the action scenes are amazing, but the character development and the realism element of the film makes this a classic, along with Dafoe's famous scene.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/27/24

Full Review

Beth S

It was an amazing experience and displayed how betrayal happened during war. Amazing movie!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/27/24

Full Review

Ant D

Intense, emotional, etc.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/24

Full Review

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Oliver Stone

Director

Tom Berenger

Staff Sgt. Bob Barnes

Willem Dafoe

Sgt. Elias Grodin

Charlie Sheen

Pvt. Chris Taylor

Forest Whitaker

Big Harold

Francesco Quinn

Rhah

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Platoon: Official Clip - Pecker Hard, Powder Dry

3:02

Platoon: Official Clip - Retribution

4:16

Platoon: Official Clip - I Am Reality

2:06

Platoon: Official Clip - The Death of Sgt. Elias

3:09

Platoon: Official Clip - Elias is Betrayed

2:09

Platoon: Official Clip - Burning the Village

3:05

Platoon: Official Clip - We're Gonna Lose This War

1:13

Platoon: Official Clip - Barnes Crosses the Line

2:40

Platoon: Official Clip - Hell Is the Impossibility of Reason

1:30

Platoon: Official Clip - Dance!

2:04

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David Denby

New York Magazine/Vulture

This is a great American movie -- easily the most powerful film of the year.

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

Marsha McCreadie

Arizona Republic

I didn't take a single note during the screening of Platoon: It's that engrossing, that overwhelming.

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

Eleanor Ringel Cater

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It's a powerful, painful, must-see film -- an impassioned and riveting dispatch from the front that's at once a battle cry and a lamentation.

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

Mark Johnson

Awards Daily

One of the most visceral and authentic war films ever made.

Jun 14, 2023

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Platoon may not be the best Vietnam war film ever made -- I still prefer both Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket by a healthy margin -- but I wouldn't care to argue with any veteran who states that it's the most honest depiction of that insane skirmish.

Rated: 3.5/4

Oct 11, 2022

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

In terms of the day-to-day madness of combat, Stone’s vision is horrifyingly realistic, the reportage of someone who was there.

Rated: A-

Aug 31, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) leaves his university studies to enlist in combat duty in Vietnam in 1967. Once he's on the ground in the middle of battle, his idealism fades. Infighting in his unit between Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), who believes nearby villagers are harboring Viet Cong soldiers, and Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe), who has a more sympathetic view of the locals, ends up pitting the soldiers against each other as well as against the enemy.

Director: Oliver Stone
Executive Producer: John Daly, Derek Gibson
Screenwriter: Oliver Stone
Distributor: Orion Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Hemdale Film Corporation [us]
Rating: R
Genre: War, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 19, 1986, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 2, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $138.5M
Sound Mix: Surround

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