History Film / Platoon

** However, if you pay close attention you will see that the two most experienced men (Barnes and Elias) aren't fooled by Junior for one minute. When Barnes gives his lecture on what he's going to do to the next person who falls asleep on watch, he pauses to give Junior a blistering death glare. In addition, Elias pointedly orders Junior to help carry Gardner's corpse

* JerkAssHasAPoint: Barnes is a tough, brave, skilled Sergeant who cares deeply about his men and essentially leads the unit given Lt Wolfe's inexperience. He risks his life to save his men when Wolfe accidentally calls artillery down on them and he is ultimately proved correct about the village, uncovering a large Vietcong arms cache and undoubtedly saving many lives. For most of the film the platoon (and audience) remain split as to who is right or wrong?

** Junior also, such as when he sprays bugspray on his feet to make it look like he has jungle rot. He also bolts during the final battle, [[spoiler:leaving Bunny to be killed (Though given that Bunny had beaten an elderly Vietnamese villaiger and her disabled son to death, it's [[AssholeVictim hard to feel bad about that.]]) Junior is bayonetted to death not long after.]] His cowardice is so over-the-top that even fellow DirtyCoward O'Neill is disgusted by him.

* UndignifiedDeath: [[spoiler: Junior]] gets bayoneted multiple times while trying to run away from the final battle.

** Sgt. O'Neill, who goes as far as to [[spoiler:hide under the corpse of one of his comrades to avoid fighting in the FinalBattle - understandable in the moment as he was about to be surely killed and had no other way to live, but then we find out he stayed there the entire battle while other soldiers got slaughtered.]].

* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Barnes ''begs'' Taylor to kill him in the [[DeletedScene alternate ending]]. It was such an OutOfCharacter moment that it would've contradicted the closing narration if it was kept in the final cut.]]
-->''[[spoiler:You godless bastard, come back here!]]''
%%* {{Determinator}}: The NVA.

* AuthorAvatar: Basically, Chris ''is'' Oliver Stone. His commentary on the film reveals that just about everything is taken from his time in Vietnam, and he occasionally talks like he really is the character.

Creator/JohnCMcGinley plays O'Neill, another sergeant. Creator/KeithDavid, Creator/ForestWhitaker, Creator/KevinDillon, and a 23-year-old Creator/JohnnyDepp play soldiers in the platoon.

Creator/JohnCMcGinley plays O'Neill, another sergeant. Creator/KeithDavid, Creator/ForestWhitaker, and a 23-year-old Creator/JohnnyDepp play soldiers in the platoon.

* FatalFamilyPhoto: [[spoiler: Gardner]] shows Chris some pictures of his girlfriend before their first night in the bush. He's the first member of the platoon to die.

The film follows a new recruit named Chris Taylor (Creator/CharlieSheen) as he gets thrown into the humid, alien and deadly jungles of war and gives a frank look at the toll the war took on the men that fought, lived and died in the jungle. The main conflict is the murder of innocent civilians causing a rift in the platoon while Chris tries to find the correct thing to do in a war with ambiguous morals.

%%* NewMeat: Chris and Gardner.

* JerkAssHasAPoint: Barnes is a tough, brave, skilled Sergeant who cares deeply about his men and essentially leads the unit given Lt Wolfe's inexperience. He risks his life to save his men when Wolfe accidentally calls artillery down on them and he is ultimately proved correct about the village, uncovering a large Vietcong arms cache and undoubtedly saving many lives. For most of the film the platoon remain split as to who is right or wrong?

Not to be confused with ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''.

[[caption-width-right:300:[-Rejoice O young man in thy youth.]]-]

[[caption-width-right:300:[-Rejoice O young man in thy youth.]]-] ]]

->Somebody once wrote: "Hell is the impossibility of reason". That's what this place feels like. Hell. I hate it already and it's only been a week.

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: Pretty much everything Bunny does, including beating a crippled Vietnamese civilian and his elderly mother to death just for the hell of it, and nearly raping a young girl.

* CassandraTruth: When Junior falls asleep on his watch, blowing an ambush and causing one platoon member to be killed, he immediately tells a bold-faced lie and says it was Chris. The others believe Junior unquestioningly since Chris is the rookie. Chris meekly tries to defend himself ("I didn't fall asleep. It was Junior.") but it falls on deaf ears. "Excuses are like assholes! Everybody has one!"

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: If any non-splatter film deserves a full 10, this one certainly does. Blood, gore, innards and burned bodies ''everywhere''. WarIsHell .

* WarIsHell: This movie does not attempt balance: it is an all-out WarIsHell work. It contains war crimes including murder and attempted rape, graphic imagery of violent death and maiming, PTSD, drug use, mistaken fire on friendly units, and focuses on lethal infighting. [[note]]For the record, the drug use was generally one of the more ''positive'' elements the protagonist encountered.[[/note]]

* RealityEnsues: Despite Barnes' proven marksmanship, [[spoiler:Elias doesn't immediately die after he shoots him, and still manages to make it all the way to the LZ with the NVA shooting him repeatedly before he finally succumbs.]]
** When Chris attacks Barnes in the aftermath of [[spoiler: Elias' death,]] Barnes, the more experienced combatant by far, quickly gains the upper hand. Rhah is able to convince Barnes not to kill Chris by saying that even if Chris attacked him first, he'll likely spend ten years in the stockade for killing another enlisted man while he has him at his mercy in front of a group of witnesses.

* UnfriendlyFire: And more than once.

* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler: For Elias, [[TragicMistake "Nah, I work better on my own."]] For Barnes, [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred "Do it."]]]]