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 enlarge | Actors: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David, Johnny Depp, Kevin Dillon
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $3.49
You Save: $11.49 (77%)
New (67) Used (39) Collectible (4) from $2.48
Avg. Customer Rating:  296 reviews
Sales Rank: 1436
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 120
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: 027616862815
UPC: 027616862815
EAN: 0027616862815
ASIN: B00005AUJQ
Theatrical Release Date: December 24, 1986
Release Date: June 5, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ******BRAND NEW****** THE SOURCE FOR RARE MEDIA, THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS SATISFIED, AND OVER 250 000 ITEMS IN STOCK, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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| Customer Reviews:
 great! March 16, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
the best thing about this film is it shows what many people didnt talk about in the war,such as how people really didnt get along with their platoon and how some really raped the village girls.there area lot of people i know that will not watch this film because they say its too real for them.
this is a great movie.. and started with fighting a war but ended up fighting themselves.
Hard Hitting Movie March 16, 2006
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
"Platoon" is a moving and compelling film which provides the viewer with a feel of the hardships and epic struggles that troops had to endure in the Vietnam War. One sees thick jungles with the constant fear of ambushes from guerrilla fighters at every moment without warning. It is indeed dreadful to see soldiers trudging in muddy waters, struggling in rain and crossing thick mosquito infested jungles.
The film appears to be an open and objective portrayal of the terrible war in Vietnam. For example, it shows drug abuse by soldiers, killing of innocent civilians and some personal vendettas resulting in killings of war colleagues. Social and racial tensions are apparent as well as rivalry between junior officers and other ranks. This, in my view, is what makes "Platoon" particularly great by not glamorising war but as a mature and balanced critique of the horrors of war.
The film is a story of a small platoon of men doing their best to survive during the Vietnam War. Based on this, the director, Oliver stone, (a Vietnam War veteran himself) directed a hard hitting and compelling account (if controversial) of the war. The movie shows the horrors of war and how it affects soldiers emotionally and psychologically. The long sleepless nights and ever present dangers eventually take their toll on most soldiers.
This is a fantastic, if brutal movie about the livers of soldiers who fought the war in the jungles of Vietnam. The fire-fights, the battles, the fear, paranoia and everyday frustrations are apparent. The film shows how war can change one's views about what is right or wrong or what is good or evil.
This is recommended viewing for anyone who wants to have a feel of what war entails and a perspective of what troops had to endure in Vietnam.
Platoon March 6, 2006
This a one of the best War movies about Vetnam. Oliver Stone is at his best. The best war machines may not win the war if the heart is not there. It is worth every cent you spent to purchase this DVD. It is a must-own for your collection.
 More than just a movie March 1, 2006
4 out of 21 found this review helpful
In my opinion, the crucial thing about Platoon is that the movie has as little to do with Vietnam War, as Nietzsche's Zarathustra with the ancient Persia (a crude analogy, but that's the first that comes to mind). Platoon gives the metaphor for a man in the concrete jungle, how he gets his experience and loses his innocence, how he finds his place in the life. Platoon is O.Stone's symbolic and sensual insight into the human soul and psyche - much deeper and realistic than Freudian, Jungian or religious ones. Platoon has a rich philosophy combining the Western and the Oriental, the Antique and the Modern, the Personal and the Universal.
For example, the allusions to Homer (with Barnes as Achilles and Elias as Patrocles) suggest not only that these principal characters shouldn't be taken just as a Good Sarge /a bad Sarge, but also that not much changed in the world since the times of the Trojan War - greed, lies and ambition starting the wars, nobody winning them after all. "There's no remembrance of the former generations...", indeed.
Returning to Barnes and Elias, another line from Ecclesiastes can be remembered as well: "There is a time and season for EVERY thing done under the heaven... A time to kill and a time to heal... A time to love and a time to hate... A time for war and a time for peace". Machiavellian morale can hardly be blamed when you not only risk your own life, but also are in charge of the soldiers who trust you. The original script tells "The Devil does God's work too", and it wasn't good of the editor to cut it off the film. Barnes goes off the limits - that's true. But through Tom Berenger's brilliant acting, mind the expression in his eyes when he sees his guys killed - is he really so ruthless? His famous words "When the machine breaks down, we break down" are blamed as regarding a soldier in terms of a machine gun. But if you ever led or ruled people and were responsible for them, if you ever were at the head of an organization, you'll get the truth of the idea. If any of your people doesn't do what he's told, the machine (the organization) really breaks down. The difference is that the war suggests much graver results when "we break down".
Another line from the script reads "[Elias] is as crazy as Barnes". In fact, the two have much in common, both being strong-willed loners (Elias extraversial, Barnes introversial), both having their own moral principles, both having their own concept of justice (none of which can be called wrong). And the final of the drama is as inevitable as the death itself, because both Barnes and Elias belong completely to the war and have no way home - Elias facing the drug rap and having lost his faith, Barnes poisoned with his hatred which isn't so unjustified. Look at his face - is it possible for him to find place in the further "normal" life? How many of you would be able to forgive the enemy who had done THAT to you (and mind that he was shot SEVEN times). I've got a 4-inch scar on my body and I can tell much about the way it changes your life and views. I think Barnes has the moral right to make "Inter arma silent leges" (laws are silent beside the arms) his personal credo. If you are so sure to judge him, just imagine if you were him and could revenge. I can hardly believe, as much as I know people, that somebody would "turn the other cheek" and follow any other commandments but his own concepts of what is right and what is wrong. After all, Chris gave himself up to revenge, too. And Barnes won. As to Elias, Nietzsche said "God died because of his love to people". No comments.
I don't justify Barnes - it's just the idea that the Good and the Evil are not as simple as it may seem. The Light and the Darkness are in any of us. Platoon suggests we can learn them in us and find strength to manage them. That's the only way to be the master of your own life and fate.
Platoon February 23, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Excuse my bad american language, I'm french living in Florida only for one year and a half and still need to do some progress.
This movie could be a good aid used for the youngest about the history of their country. It is the sad reality of the war and all its horror. The Vietnam war has been controversial at the moment and we live the same with the current war in Irak.
The script, the actors, the colors are pretty good. This movie like the one "Hamburger Hill" shows what lived and endured all our young soldiers, people like you and me, coming from different horizons, "brothers-in-arms they become heros through force of circumstance and changed for ever after such an experience... when they have the luck to come back home...
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