Platoon

Platoon, motion picture about one young man’s experiences during the Vietnam War (1959-1975). Released in 1986, the film won Academy Awards for best picture, best director, best film editing, and best sound. Oliver Stone wrote and directed this film, which is loosely based on his own stint in the army. A middle-class college student named Chris (played by Charlie Sheen) joins the war effort and learns all about the horrors of guerrilla warfare.

Director

• Oliver Stone

Cast

• Tom Berenger (Sergeant Barnes)
• Willem Dafoe (Sergeant Elias)
• Charlie Sheen (Chris)
• Forest Whitaker (Big Harold)
• Francesco Quinn (Rhah)
• John C. McGinley (Sergeant O'Neill)
• Richard Edson (Sal)
• Kevin Dillon (Bunny)
• Reggie Johnson (Junior)
• Keith David (King)
• Johnny Depp (Lerner)
• David Neidorf (Tex)
• Mark Moses (Lieutenant Wolfe)
• Chris Pedersen (Crawford)
• Corkey Ford (Manny)
• Corey Glover (Francis)
• Bob Orwig (Gardner)
• Tony Todd (Warren)
• Kevin Eshelman (Morehouse)
• Terry McIlvain (Ace)
• J. Adam Glover (Sanderson)
• Ivan Kane (Tony)
• Paul Sanchez (Doc)
• Dale Dye (Captain Harris)
• Peter Hicks (Parker)
• Andrew Clark (Tubbs)
• Bernardo Manalili (Village chief)
• Than Rogers (Village chief's wife)
• Li Thi Van (Village chief's daughter)
• Clarisa Ortacio (Old woman)
• Romy Seville (One-legged man)
• Mathew Westfall (Terrified soldier)
• Nick Nicholson (Mechanized soldier)
• Warren McLean (Mechanized soldier)
• Oliver Stone (Officer in bunker)

Awards

• Academy Award for Best Picture (1986)
• Academy Award for Best Director (1986): Oliver Stone
• Academy Award for Best Film Editing (1986): Claire Simpson
• Academy Award for Best Sound (1986): John 'Doc' Wilkinson, Richard Rogers, Charles 'Bud' Grenzbach, Simon Kaye

Quote

• Chris (talking about Vietnam): “Somebody once wrote: ‘Hell is the impossibility of reason.’ That's what this place feels like. Hell.”