Directed by Oliver Stone • 1986 • United States
Starring Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger
Director Oliver Stone drew from his own experiences for this searing antiwar epic, one of the most brutally realistic Hollywood films made about the horrors of the Vietnam War. Alongside an impressive cast that includes Willem Dafoe and Forest Whitaker, Charlie Sheen delivers an intense performance as Chris Taylor, a teenage Army recruit who is deployed to Vietnam, where he witnesses firsthand the atrocities of war—many of which are carried out by his own comrades—forcing him to confront the morality of America’s military involvement. Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director, PLATOON remains an overwhelming experience thanks to its stunningly raw, visceral imagery.
Up Next in Legacies of War: Vietnam Across the Divides
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Full Metal Jacket
Directed by Stanley Kubrick • 1987 • United Kingdom, United States
Starring Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D’OnofrioDirector Stanley Kubrick rips the skin from the face of war to expose the dehumanizing effect of the military on the people fed into its meat grinder in this lacerating and...
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Three Seasons
Directed by Tony Bui • 1999 • Vietnam, United States
Starring Đơn Dương, Nguyễn Ngọc Hiệp, Harvey KeitelThe first American feature to be filmed in Vietnam in the aftermath of the war, Tony Bui’s gorgeous, richly textured portrait of everyday life in a rapidly changing, increasingly westernized ...
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Casualties of War
Directed by Brian De Palma • 1989 • United States
Starring Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Don HarveyOne of the most harrowing Hollywood films to confront the legacy of the Vietnam War, CASUALTIES OF WAR is based on the true story of a squad of soldiers caught in a moral quagmire. Witness to a vile ...
