PLATOON (1986) (****)

This is the second time that I've seen this Best Picture winner from 1986 and I liked it better this time. But I still can name war pictures that came prior and after this one that say more about the insanity and pointlessness of war. From that negative note, I will say that this film contains wonderful performances from an impressive cast and the cinematography creates an equally claustrophobic and chaotic feeling that heightens the overall mood of the film.

Charlie Sheen gives his best performance as Chris Taylor, a confused college student from a well-off family that enlists in the infantry to see what life is really like. He quickly discovers that war isn't life -- it's hell. Up until this time, Tom Berenger (BIG CHILL) played good guys and Willem Dafoe (STREETS OF FIRE) played bad guys, but director Oliver Stone (BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY) casted them against type as Sgt. Barnes and Sgt. Elias respectively. Barnes understands the brutality of combat and doesn't try to bring conventional morality into madness, because he sees that as madness. Elias is a crusader who tries to retain his humanity by acknowledging the humanity of all people. The two characters are the yin and yang of the platoon and Chris flip flops from one viewpoint to the other depending on the crisis in front of him.

Keith David (THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY) plays King, Chris' closest friend, who tells him the only point of war for the grunts in surviving it. The rest of the cast is filled with a lot of wonderful actors as well -- Johnny Depp (ED WOOD), Forest Whitaker (GHOST DOG), Kevin Dillon (WHERE THE HEART IS), John C. McGinley (OFFICE SPACE) and Tony Todd (CANDYMAN).

I loved the opening scene when the new recruits come off the plane as the dead are being taken onto another. Of course one of the unforgettable scenes is when Barnes and Elias square off over the murder of villagers. It sets up the battle of wills between the two characters and serves as a microcosm of the whole film in one scene. Along with cinematographer Robert Richardson, Stone creates a stark landscape that truly feels imposing. In scenes of chaos in the jungle, they keep the camera tight, building the claustrophobic tension. If the approach is maddening for the viewer, one can only imagine what it was like to really be in combat.

The story is simple, which might mean that I'm looking for too much. I guess I'm kind of like Chris in a way -- I'm trying to find meaning in war and death when there isn't any. Chris survives, but his innocence is dead forever.