Platoon Film Analysis

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Platoon is based on Oliver Stone's experiences during the Vietnam War. The 1986 drama/action movie Platoon (written and directed by Oliver Stone), is about a man Chris Taylor (who portrays Stone) who decides to leave college to enlist in combat duty in Vietnam in 1967. Once he is in the middle of battle, his original idea of war fades. Going into the war, he was pro United States, and he wanted to support the war. However, through his experiences, he becomes anti-war. This movie claims to be based on a true story, however, how much of it is Hollywood fiction?
In the movie, during Taylor’s war experience, there is fighting in his unit between Staff Sergeant Barnes, who believes nearby villagers are sheltering Viet Cong soldiers (the enemy), …show more content…
It was consistently rainy, hot, and humid. In the film, the environment and the scenes the soldiers were in depicts a very good image of what war in the jungle was really like in reality. For example, in one scene, Chris Taylor (Oliver Stone), had woken up covered in huge welts all over his body and face due to mosquitoes, ants, and other insects biting him. Another issue the soldiers faced was “jungle rot”. In the film, one man had it quite badly because of having wet feet for too long, which caused blisters and sores. This led to serious infections in the soldier’s feet. There are also some scenes in the movie where the Viet Cong created booby traps for the United States’ soldiers. This was also an accurate depiction of what our soldiers went through. Many of the United States’ soldiers were maimed because of the different traps. Some were blown up and killed instantly, while others had to suffer with limbs missing. In another scene, Taylor had stopped a rape that was taking place on a North Vietnamese girl by a couple of the United States soldiers who did not think they were committing a violent and wrongful act. Unfortunately, this scene was factual because Oliver Stone discusses it in one of several
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