Platoon (film)

Oliver Stone on Filmmaking, Platoon, Vietnam, Nicaragua & El Salvador (1987)

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• published: 30 Aug 2014
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Salvador is a 1986 war drama film written by Oliver Stone and Richard Boyle, and directed by Stone. It stars James Woods, James Belushi, and Michael Murphy, with John Savage, Elpidia Carrillo, and Cynthia Gibb in supporting roles. The film tells the story of an American journalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War who becomes entangled with both leftist guerrillas and the right wing military. The film is sympathetic towards the left wing revolutionaries and strongly critical of the U.S.-supported death squads, focusing on their murder of four American churchwomen, including Jean Donovan, and their assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Woods) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Stone and Boyle). Veteran photojournalist Richard Boyle has been taking his camera to the world's trouble spots for over 20 years; while he does good work, Boyle's fondness for booze and drugs, and his colossal arrogance, have given him a reputation that's left him practically unemployable. Broke and with no immediate prospects, Boyle and his buddy Doctor Rock, an out-of-work disc jockey, head to El Salvador, where Boyle is convinced that he can scare up some lucrative freelance work amidst the nation's political turmoil. However, when Boyle and Rock witness the execution of a student by government troops just as they enter the country, it becomes clear that this war is more serious than they were expecting. Increasingly convinced that El Salvador is a disaster starting to happen, Boyle eventually decides that it's time to get out; but he has fallen in love with a woman named Maria, and he doesn't want to leave her behind. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_%28film%29 William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and military veteran. Stone came to public prominence between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s for writing and directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, in which he had participated as an infantry soldier. Many of Stone's films focus on contemporary and controversial American political and cultural issues during the late 20th century. Stone's films often combine different camera and film formats within a single scene as evidenced in JFK, Natural Born Killers, and Nixon.[2] British newspaper The Guardian has described Stone as "one of the few committed men of the left working in mainstream American cinema."[3] Stone has received three Academy Awards for his work on the films Midnight Express, Platoon, and Born on the Fourth of July. He was presented with the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award at the 2007 Austin Film Festival. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Stone Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone and starring Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe and Charlie Sheen. It is the first film of a trilogy of Vietnam War films by Stone (followed by 1989's Born on the Fourth of July and 1993's Heaven & Earth). Stone wrote the story based upon his experiences as a U.S. infantryman in Vietnam to counter the vision of the war portrayed in John Wayne's The Green Berets. It was the first Hollywood film to be written and directed by a veteran of the Vietnam War.[2] The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1986. It also won Best Director for Oliver Stone, as well as Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing. In 1998, the American Film Institute placed Platoon at #83 in their "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies" poll. Music used in the film includes Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane and "Okie From Muskogee" by Merle Haggard. During a scene in the "Underworld" the soldiers sing along to "The Tracks of My Tears" by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, which also featured in the film's trailer. The soundtrack also includes "Ride of the Valkyries" (in reference to Apocalypse Now, an earlier Vietnam War film that starred Charlie Sheen's father, Martin Sheen, in a leading role); "Groovin'" by The Rascals and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platoon_%28film%29