The second in director Oliver Stone's trilogy of Vietnam War films, Platoon received four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound.
As with many of director Oliver Stone's films, Platoon sparked some controversy for its violently realistic portrayal of the negative aspects of guerrilla warfare. The film showed scenes depicting some of the lesser known occurrences of the Vietnam war, such as drug use, "fragging" (soldiers' deliberate murder of unpopular officers), the disgrace new recruits faced from more experienced soldiers and soldiers' taking out their frustrations on Vietnamese civilians.
Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) Quotes
- "They're poor, they're the unwanted, yet they're fighting for our society and our freedom. It's weird, isn't it? They're the bottom of the barrel and they know it. Maybe that's why they call themselves grunts, cause a grunt can take it, can take anything."
- "Somebody once wrote: "Hell is the impossibility of reason." That's what this place feels like. Hell."
- "I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy; we fought ourselves. The enemy was in us. The war is over for me now, but it will always be there, the rest of my days."