A Critical Analysis of the Film 'Platoon' and the Vietnam War's Impact

This essay provides a critical analysis of the movie 'Platoon,' a semi-autobiographical film depicting the Vietnam War. It examines the psychological and physical toll on soldiers, the political background, and the experiences of characters like Chris Taylor. The analysis highlights the film's success in portraying the war's brutality, the dehumanizing aspects of conflict, and the futility of war. The essay discusses historical factors, the conflict between capitalism and communism, and the personal experiences of soldiers, emphasizing themes of death, destruction, and the emotional distress caused by the war. The movie is evaluated for its portrayal of leadership, moral aspects, and the overall impact of the Vietnam War on those involved. The essay uses references to support the analysis.

Running head: ENGLISH
English
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENGLISH
The movie Platoon is one of the most brilliant movies created on the basis of the Vietnam
War that shook the world in terms of its destructive extent and how it portrayed the fatalities of
that war. This movie has shown all the things in terms of the psychological and physical toll that
it took on the soldiers (Lighter, 2015). Various movies have been attempted on this topic but this
movie has shown the ultimate success due to its acceptability.
There were major historical factors regarding this war situation between the two countries
United States and Vietnam. Platoon is regarded as a semi-autobiographical movie because of its
varied elements and how it dealt with the theme of the war in many ways. The entire story of the
film has been built on Stone, the infantryman of the United States military forces who was
deployed at Vietnam during the time of the war (Lighter, 2015).
Various experiences of Stone have been detailed in this movie since he was the main
person behind reflecting all the things that went out during the war. This movie is so well
depicted because it has all the elements of personal meaning for Stone by all the means. Some of
the elements in his character of leadership are showing off and over-directing (Freilach, 2016).
Both these things have created many problems and suppressed all the valiant efforts committed
by him in the movie.
The overall background of the film is completely political. Therefore, the political aspects
have been the most influential parts for the film but other moral and realistic aspects have also
been shown in this movie also. The war at Vietnam took the psychological toll of these soldiers
were immense since most of them were counting their days of when their duty period will be
over (Lighter, 2015). Rather, they will be free of their roles and go back to their motherland after
the victory of United States.

2ENGLISH
Those soldiers were completely devastated physically and they had to be very string
mentally because they were staying away from their families for a long period of time. Most of
the times, they were pretty sure that death was closing on them and they did not have any other
option than to collapse into the arms of death. This is the reason they got emotional and home
sick. Many critics have said that the war only brings death and destruction and psychological
distress among the people (Emerson, 2014). This is the reason these people suffered a
tremendous setback and they were losing their confidence slowly.
Eventually all the things related to the right and wrong decisions regarding Vietnam
became secondary and the conditions of the deployed soldiers became the most crucial aspects.
Their lives were at a very bad point and they wanted to survive by the grace of God. The
confrontation between the capitalist United States and communist Vietnam was at full rage The
Vietnamese power was not regarded as the enemies because they were communists but they were
only shooting their bullets to kill the opponent soldiers (Emerson, 2014)
The conflict between capitalists and communists was not a big deal for these soldiers
because it was a political conflicy. Their actual purpose was to provide their country with
security in difficult times. They even knew that they could lose their lives and their families
would be left in deep distress (Langhorst, 2018).
The experiences from the tour of duty from Chris Taylor have also been discussed in this
movie. The dehumanizing power has been shown that the wars provide to the mankind. The
conflicts have led to the foreign relations between the two countries but innocent soldiers began
to lose their lives (Boyle, 2014). The experiences gathered in the battlefield by working with two
of his colleagues like Barnes and Elias have been disclosed in the movie later.

3ENGLISH
Therefore, it is very evident that the soldiers have faced very critical conditions because
of their inability to go back home to their families (Anderson & Ernst, 2014). The human
feelings of Elias have been very catchy for Chris Taylor. This is how the film has portrayed the
impacts of the Vietnam War on the soldiers and how they were completely exposed to the
brutalities of war.
In the concluding part of the paper, it can be said that the war Platoon has showed the
world all the evil aspects of the war and how it brings the psychological distress. The characters
of the movie have shown the brutality of war and death. The futility of war and its uselessness
have been the main themes of this movie.

4ENGLISH
References
Anderson, D. L., & Ernst, J. (Eds.). (2014). The war that never ends: new perspectives on the
Vietnam War. University Press of Kentucky.
Boyle, B. M. (2014). Masculinity in Vietnam War narratives: a critical study of fiction, films and
nonfiction writings. McFarland.
Emerson, G. (2014). Winners & Losers: Battles, Retreats, Gains, Losses, and Ruins from the
Vietnam War. WW Norton & Company.
Freilach, J. (2016). Hollywood’s Vietnam: How Critics and Audiences Responded to the
Vietnam War Genre.
Langhorst, S. A. (2018). Through the Hollywood Lens: The Vietnam War.
Lighter, J. (2015). PLATOON. WLA; War, Literature and the Arts, 27, 1.