SummaryA young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
Directed By:Oliver Stone
Written By:Oliver Stone
Platoon
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
92
User score
Generally Favorable
8.0
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
100% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
Oliver Stone's Platoon is the most sobering Vietnam War epic ever made. It is an unqualified triumph for its honesty, its artistry, its brutality and its frank portrayal of a nation - our nation - divided by ideology, poverty, racism and drugs. [25 Jan 1987, p.1E]
100
If Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter are like slaps to the face, Platoon is a punch to the gut.
User score
Generally Favorable
87% Positive
207 Ratings
207 Ratings
9% Mixed
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
4% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
Oct 8, 2022
10
Of all the movies inspired by the Vietnam War this is one of the most compelling. From the point of view of a young recruit, he revealed that the worst enemy was not only in the trench, but also in the mirror. The movie that it put director Oliver Stone in the spotlight.
Nov 22, 2021
10
Classic movie and yes everyone should see it. There is not only action, but the focus is on the characters and how they are changed because of the terror of war. Great acting by all of them.
100
Platoon is a triumph for Oliver Stone, a film in which a visceral approach to violence, which has always set him apart, is balanced by classical symmetries and a kind of elegiac distance. This is not the Vietnam of op-ed writers, rabble-rousers or esthetic visionaries, not Vietnam-as-metaphor or Vietnam-the-way-it-should-have-been. It is a movie about Vietnam as it was, alive with authenticity, seen through the eyes of a master filmmaker who lost his innocence there.
90
With craft, crackle, a little bombast and plenty of residual rage, he has created a time-capsule movie that explodes like a frag bomb in the consciousness of America, showing how it was back then, over there.
90
Stone's eye-blistering images possess an awesome power, which sets the senses reeling and leaves the mind disturbed.
80
A touch too heavy on the Faust scenario, this is nevertheless a typically powerful effort from Stone especially strong on the nightmarish aspects of the war, as when a simple misundertsanding instantly becomes a massacre...Gripping stuff
70
There is plenty of good work to be found here, and pic certainly grabs the viewer by the collar in a way not found everyday in contemporary films.
Jan 30, 2021
10
Oliver Stone's best movie and one of the best movies of 1987.
In fact one of,if not already the best movie based on the Vietnam war.
Powerful & a must see.
Jan 17, 2023
6
Another brutal and hellish war depiction, I really enjoyed all the characters, honestly Sheen's was probably the worst or least interesting of the bunch. The voice over work and dialogue was so bad, and was completely unnecessary.
Aug 21, 2021
6
"Platoon" delivers its share of brutality and morality during the non-sensical war in Vietnam. However, despite the good performances and sincere direction by Stone, by the end of the film, nothing has remotely left an impact in my mind about it. In a sea of war pictures that all vary in explaining and showing the understanding of such awful violence and yes, sometimes decisions, "Platoon" came across as just another war movie. For movie-goers and war historians, take it for what its worth as I've personally seen more inspiring works which deal with the consequences of war.
Jan 11, 2020
6
Decent war film, fairly well-directed but feels contrived in parts. Sheen is fine.
Jan 19, 2026
3
The dialogue narration by Sheen's characters comes off as pretentious and immersion breaking annoying. I wish he would shut up and it would be a better movie for it. A lot of the characters seem almost like caricatures. The story is just survival and for some at any costs.
Production Company:
- Hemdale
- Cinema '84
- Cinema 86
Release Date:Dec 19, 1986
Duration:2 h
Rating:R
Tagline:The first casualty of war is innocence.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 4 Wins & 8 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 3 Wins & 4 Nominations
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 4 Wins & 5 Nominations
