Platoon (film)

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.

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.

Plot

In 1967, Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) has dropped out of college, enlisted in the U.S. Army and volunteered for combat duty in Vietnam. Assigned to a Bravo Company in the 25th Infantry Division near the Cambodian border, he is quickly disillusioned by the difficult environment, and his enthusiasm for the war declines. One night his unit is set upon by a group of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers, who retreat after a brief confrontation. New recruit Gardner is killed while another soldier, Tex, is maimed by friendly fire. Taylor is scorned by the cruel Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger) for falling asleep during watch, after being implicated by one of the veterans. Taylor eventually gains acceptance from a tight-knit group in his unit who socialize and use drugs in a bunker clubhouse at their base. He finds mentors in King (Keith David) and the loyal Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe) and becomes close friends with other soldiers, including Lerner (Johnny Depp), Rhah (Francesco Quinn), and Manny (Cokey Ford).

Oliver Stone

William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. 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 primarily focus on controversial American political issues during the late 20th century, and as such that they were considered dangerous at the times of their releases.

Stone's films often combine different camera and film formats within a single scene as evidenced in JFK, Natural Born Killers, and Nixon. 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.

Early life

Willem Dafoe

William J. "Willem" Dafoe (born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. A member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Platoon (1986) and Shadow of the Vampire (2000). His other film appearances include The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), The English Patient (1996) and the Spider-Man trilogy (2002–07). He has also had voice-roles in Finding Nemo (2003) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), as well as two episodes of The Simpsons.

Early life

Dafoe was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. One of seven children of Muriel Isabel (née Sprissler) and Dr. William Alfred Dafoe, he recalled in 2009: "My five sisters raised me because my father was a surgeon, my mother was a nurse and they worked together, so I didn't see either of them much." In high school, he acquired the nickname Willem. His father's ancestry is French-Canadian, Swiss, and English, and his mother's ancestry is German, Irish, and Scottish.

He was once expelled from high school for shooting a pornographic film.

Charlie Sheen

Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), best known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. Sheen rose to fame after a series of successful films such as Platoon (1986), Wall Street (1987), Young Guns (1988), Eight Men Out (1988), Major League (1989), Hot Shots! (1991), and The Three Musketeers (1993).

In the 2000s, Sheen became best known for his television roles. He replaced Michael J. Fox in Spin City and his performance earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy and then starred in Two and a Half Men which earned him several Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations. He most recently starred in the FX comedy series Anger Management, which concluded its 100-episode run in 2014. In 2010, Sheen was the highest paid actor on television and earned US$1.8 million per episode of Two and a Half Men.

Sheen's personal life has made headlines, including reports of alcohol and drug abuse and marital problems, as well as allegations of domestic violence. His contract for Two and a Half Men was terminated by CBS and Warner Bros. in March 2011. Sheen subsequently went on tour. On November 17, 2015, Sheen publicly revealed that he was HIV positive, having been diagnosed about four years earlier.

Tom Berenger

Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American television and motion picture actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Platoon (1986).

Early life

Berenger was born as Thomas Michael Moore in Chicago, to a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent. He has a sister, Susan. His father was a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times, and also a traveling salesman. Moore selected "Berenger" as his professional name after he was forced to change his surname professionally as there was already a "Tom Moore" in the Actors' Equity Association. He graduated in 1967 from Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois.

He studied journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri but decided to seek an acting career following his graduation. He established the Tom Berenger Acting Scholarship Fund in 1988 to award theatre students for excellence in performance. In 1972, he worked as a flight attendant with Eastern Airlines, based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He transferred to New York in 1973. He worked in regional theatre before relocating to New York City in the 1970s.