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      Platoon Leader

      R Released Oct 1, 1988 1 hr. 40 min. War List
      Reviews 36% 250+ Ratings Audience Score An American lieutenant leads a small band of soldiers into the Vietnamese jungle on a relentless search for enemy forces. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (21) audience reviews
      William D This was an okay film. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review ARNI S Honestly a really bad movie even for the time back in the 80's. From the writing to the ripping off of the sound track music from Full Metal Jacket. I guess the studio had to make one more Vietnam movie and this was one of the worse I've ever tried to watch "Honestly a terrible movie"... Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 09/18/22 Full Review Audience Member This is the most banal, cliche-ridden, hackneyed, mindless Vietnam War movie ever made. The writing, directing and acting are completely lame. The South African shooting location isn't remotely similar Vietnam, but it belies the 20% film incentive. Veterans of the Vietnam War deserve better. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Golan/Globus Cannon Pictures nonsense pretending it's a serious film about the Vietnam War. The American Ninja, Michael Dudikoff, plays a young officer (not a ninja), just out of West Point and sent to Vietnam. Dudikoff must then earn the respect of his battle hardened men. Nothing you haven't seen before and done much better, but on the plus side, there is a small role for my all-time favorite character actor, William Smith, as a commanding officer. FUN FACT! This was directed by Chuck Norris' brother and is the only film he ever directed that didn't star Chuck. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member I didn't expect much coming into this movie, and was actually pleasantly surprised by it. It's no where near being as good as other Vietnam war movies, or the other Vietnam movies of the 1986-88 years like Platoon, Hamburger Hill and Full Metal Jacket. It's the lowest of the bunch, and the least modern looking by far. It has far more of a older feel to it, with the dialogue, sound effects, explosions, and action scenes all more of a 1960s feel than 1988. So in those respects the movie does not stand a chance to those others above, but you can almost never go wrong with Vietnam war movies, as they are always good. This one is right on the line however, and is saved by some good jungle battles scenes and the typical but good Vietnam war plot. The movie didn't get off to a good start in my opinion with some cheesy lines, and go just nobody in the military would talk they do in the movie. But they after their first patrol the movie got more interesting. Everything improved, the acting, the lines and the story. The booby traps became firefights, and people started to get killed. The battles scenes where pretty good for the most part, except the one night attack on the camp. I missed the good helicopter scenes that everyone knows and loves from Vietnam war movies, so that was a great disappointment, because in my opinion that is one of my favorite parts in these movies. Anyway it ended good, not as I excepted but better, and turned out to be better than I thought it would. So not bad, and on the verge of being good. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member A West Point graduate finds that what he learned in textbooks won't earn the respect of his platoon in Vietnam. Decent but I expected more given the track record of previous collaborations between Michael Dudikoff and the Cannon Group. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Ed Travis Cinapse Dudikoff turns in the best performance of his career by a substantial margin. Norris captures the Vietnam vibe pretty authentically. The trouble is that the entire movie just feels rote. Nov 2, 2018 Full Review Austin Trunick Under the Radar Expect American bullets to hit three enemies at once, and single grenades to explode multiple times and in different locations. Dec 13, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis An American lieutenant leads a small band of soldiers into the Vietnamese jungle on a relentless search for enemy forces.
      Director
      Aaron Norris
      Rating
      R
      Genre
      War
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Oct 1, 1988, Limited
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Jan 1, 2018
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $482.1K
      Sound Mix
      Surround