History Film / Platoon

* ForTheEvulz: Basically the reason why Barnes and Bunny likes to go around killing people in war.

* EvilCounterpart / {{Foil}}: Elias and Barnes function as this; Chris even compares his conflict between the good and evil inside of him to their conflict.

* HeyItsThatGuy: In addition to the three main characters and a young Johnny Depp, the platoon's membership includes: [[MassEffect Captain Anderson]]; [[SonicYouth Ricard Edson]]; Ghost Dog; and Corey Glover, vocalist form the band Living Color.
** John C. McGinley, aka Dr. Cox from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' and also {{Office Space}}, says "Bob" so often it's practically a retroactive ActorAllusion.

** ''Chris T'''aylor. One of the soldiers even makes a joke about him dying and being resurrected.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: the snakes Chris keeps seeing

** John C. McGinley, aka Dr. Cox from {{Office Space}} and ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', says "Bob" so often it's practically a retroactive ActorAllusion.

* OpposingCombatPhilosophies: Elias (laid-back) and Barnes (aggressive). Stone based them on two different sergeants he knew while he was in Vietnam. They never met but Stone wondered what would happen if two men of such opposing viewpoints were in the same platoon.

* ScrewTheWarWerePartying: Subverted with Elias, a stoner with a relativist attitude to war who is still a badass and a more effective commander than Barnes.

* GoodIsNotNice: Most of the soldiers who weren't just like Barnes, Bunny and Wolfe, especially Taylor and Elias.
* HeyItsThatGuy: In addition to the three main characters and a young Johnny Depp, the platoon's membership includes: [[MassEffect Captain Anderson]], [[SonicYouth Ricard Edson]], Ghost Dog, and Corey Glover, vocalist form the band Living Color.
* {{Jerkass}}: Any of the soldiers (bar Chris and Elias, who look like absolute saints compared to the others, although hey, their [[ClusterFBomb constant swearing]] might made them into jerks too) that you might see in this movie were assholes from start to finish, especially Barnes, Bunny and Wolfe. And don't even start about the village scene where they interrogate the civilians in there.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Barnes]] being "fragged" by [[spoiler: Chris]].

* MentorOccupationalHazard: [[spoiler: Elias]].

** The Really big fight at the end is based on the New Years Day Battle of 1968 that Stone lived through.

''Platoon'' is an acclaimed war-time movie written and directed by OliverStone based on his experiences as an American soldier in the VietnamWar. It was released in 1986 and won the AcademyAward for Best Picture.

''Platoon'' is an acclaimed war-time movie written and directed by OliverStone based on his experiences as an American soldier in the VietnamWar. It was released in 1986 and won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Particularly Pvt. Bunny and Lt. Thomas Wolfe during the final battle. In general, most, if not all, of the soldiers (bar Chris and Elias) in the platoon might count. It's hard to root for or to feel sympathy for any of them after they attempted to massacre the Vietnamese villagers.]]

* JerkAss: Any of the soldiers (excluding Chris and Elias, who look like absolute saints compared to the others, although hey, their [[ClusterFBomb constant swearing]] might made them into jerks too) that you might see in this movie were assholes from start to finish, especially Barnes, Bunny and Wolfe. And don't even start about the village scene where they interrogate the civilians in there.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Particularly Bunny and Platoon leader Thomas Wolfe during the final battle. In general, most, if not all, of the soldiers (bar Chris and Elias) in the platoon might count. It's hard to root for or to feel sympathy for any of them after they attempted to massacre the Vietnamese villagers.]]

* AssholeVictim: In the final battle, [[spoiler: Bunny]] getting killed by [[spoiler: a NVA soldier.]] And later on, [[spoiler: Platoon leader Thomas Wolfe.]]
** In general, [[spoiler: most, if not all, of the soldiers (bar Chris and Elias) in the platoon might count. It's hard to root for or to feel sympathy for any of them after they attempted to massacre the Vietnamese villagers.]]

** In general, [[spoiler: most, if not, all of the soldiers (bar Chris and Elias) in the platoon might count. It's hard to root for or to feel sympathy for any of them after they attempted to massacre the Vietnamese villagers.]]

* JerkAss: Any of the soldiers (excluding Chris and Elias, who look like absolute saints compared to the others, [[ClusterFBomb although hey]]) that you might see in this movie were assholes from start to finish, especially Barnes, Bunny and Wolfe. And don't even start about the village scene where they interrogate the civilians in there.

* JerkAss: Any of the soldiers (excluding Chris and Elias, who look like absolute saints compared to the others, [[ClusterFBomb although hey]], [[YourMileageMayVary YMMV]] on them) that you might see in this movie were assholes from start to finish, especially Barnes, Bunny and Wolfe. And don't even start about the village scene where they interrogate the civilians in there.

* JerkAss: Any of the soldiers that you might see in this movie were assholes from start to finish, especially Barnes, Bunny and Wolfe. And don't even start about the village scene where they interrogate the civilians in there.

* HeyItsThatGuy: LivingColour frontman Corey Glover as GenreSavvy Francis, who survives the final battle uninjured, then promptly [[HowToSurviveAWarMovie stabs himself in the leg to get sent home.]]
** And don't miss a younger [[{{Scrubs}} Dr. Cox]] as the jittery Corporal O'Neil, [[{{Film/Spider-Man}} Green Goblin]] as the kind-hearted Sergeant Elias and of course [[HotShots Topper Harley]] in the starring role of Private Taylor.

* JerkAss: Any of the soldier that you might see in this movie were assholes from start to finish, and don't even start about the village scene where they interrogate the civilians in there. Especially Barnes, Bunny and Wolfe.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Bunny]] getting killed by [[spoiler: a Viet Cong soldier.]]
** In general, [[spoiler: most of the soldiers (bar Chris and Elias) in the platoon might count. It's hard to root for or to feel sympathy for any of them after they attempted to massacre the Vietnamese villagers.]]

* JerkAss: Any of the soldier that you might see in this movie were assholes from start to finish, and don't even start about the village scene where they interrogate the civilians in there. Especially Barnes and Bunny.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Bunny]] getting killed by [[spoiler: a Viet Cong Soldier.]]
** In general, [[spoiler: most of the soldiers (bar Chris and Elias) in the platoon might count. After the attempted massacre at the village scene, it's kind of hard to root for or to feel sorry for any of them though.]]

* JerkAss: Any soldiers that you might see in this movie were assholes from start to finish, and don't even start about the village scene. Especially Barnes and Bunny.

** [[spoiler: After the village scene, it's kind of hard to feel sorry for any of the soldiers in the platoon though.]]

** And don't miss [[{{Scrubs}} Dr. Cox]] as the somewhat jittery young Private O'Neil, [[{{Film/Spider-Man}} Green Goblin]] as the kind-hearted Sergeant Elias and of course [[HotShots Topper Harley]] in the starring role of Private Taylor.