We Were Soldiers vs. Platoon Essay

August 8, 2017 General Studies

After watching both of these movies I noticed how combat was portrayed in the film Platoon was different from the film we were soldiers In the film we were soldiers it was portrayed around several different officers it was focused on them and how they carried out their mission and how they took attention of their work forces besides they showed how on a platoon degree and squad degree were able to follow the battalion commanding officer on the battleground some illustration of the officers such as Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore. Sergeant Major Basil L. Plumley EST. However you tend to lose path of the different officers such as Lt. Herrick that charged up the hill and leads his platoon after a lookout and so got himself shoot and his platoon sergeant shoot besides and so it focuses the action around Sergeant Ernie Savage how assumes bid of what’s left of his platoon after about being slaughtered and calls in heavy weapon and uses the screen of dark to maintain the Vietnamese from over-running their little defensive place.

In the film Platoon the film truly centered on the enlisted adult male the officers were non seen in the film a batch like we were soldiers and the officers did non to be take attention of their work forces and in the film every bit much as we were soldiers it chiefly focused on that one platoon or the squad of soldiers. the interaction between the members of the squad. the squad leader and the platoon sergeant within merely that squad I believe that one of the most of import differents I have noticed is the epoch of the films where made in.

The film we were soldiers was made in the epoch of 1965 the Battle of Ia Drang. In 1965 it was the beginning of the war for the United States of America and besides begins in America and lets us see the characters with their households. their married womans and kids. immediately allowing them greater deepness and hence rising the impact when some of them necessarily are killed.

However for the film platoon. the film was made in the epoch of 1967 after the United States of America had been in Vietnam for two twelvemonth and have settled at that place. conducted several operations and you do non see any of their household of any soldier in the we were soldiers it focused on the soldier over all it was all most like a universe war 2 film were it did non concentrate on the single soldier other the battalion commanding officer. the platoon sergeant. newspaper journalist some Lieutenant and they were spread all over the battleground around the set downing zone besides in we were soldiers they were in and out they had a mission to land in the “Valley of Death” with his 400 work forces after the enemy and extinguish the Vietnamese aggressors. so return back excessively base.

However in the film Platoon the focal points on the single soldier We Were Soldiers begins in America and lets us see the characters with their households. their married womans and kids. immediately allowing them greater deepness and hence rising the impact when some of them necessarily are killed. The cardinal character is their commanding officer. Colonel Hal Moore ( Mel Gibson in a solid and important public presentation ) . a knowing. piously spiritual officer who barely bats an oculus as slugs whiz past his caput but cares profoundly for the immature work forces under his bid. Moore. a Korean veteran. has studied the mistakes of the Gallic military which led to their slaughter by the North Vietnamese old ages before. and is determined non to take his soldiers to the same destiny. but is none excessively pleased to larn his regiment has the same name as that of the doomed General Custer.

Besides calculating conspicuously is Moore’s hardened second-in-command Sergeant Plumley ( Sam Elliott ) . veteran of airborne operations in WWII and Korea. immature and idealistic Lieutenant Geoghan ( Chris Klein ) . temerarious chopper pilot Crandall ( Greg Kinnear ) . Vietnamese commanding officer. Colonel Ahn ( Vietnamese histrion Don Duong ) . the same adult male who masterminded the licking of the Gallic a decennary before. Ahn is every spot every bit quick-thinking as Moore and portions his ability to expect the other sides actions. Pepper’s character is peculiarly of import ; he mirrors many of those in the audience as he enters bright-eyed but is rapidly shocked and horrified by the slaughter he witnesses first-hand and finally feels excessively overwhelmed to believe he can of all time make justness to Moore and his work forces. It is besides important that Colonel Ahn is ne’er demonized ; we see both he and Moore praying. we see both murmuring encouragement to their wounded and weary work forces. and in one scene they both gaze thoughtfully up at the Moon.

In the film Platoon there are three chief characters are Chris Taylor ( Charlie Sheen ) . the immature college dropout. who’s the film’s hesitating mouthpiece. and the two sergeants who have efficaciously split the platoon between them. They are Barnes ( Tom Berenger ) . a earnestly out-of-control. lifesize. clay-footed version of the ”fighting machine” Sylvester Stallone glorifies in ”Rambo. ” and Elias ( Willem Dafoe ) . a adult male no less tough than Barnes. but whose Tourss of responsibility have transformed him into a soft-spoken. about abashed prophesier of day of reckoning.

Platoon is semi-autobiographical. Stone. who served as an marcher in Vietnam. has grafted many of his experiences into the movie. and the primary characters are based on persons Stone served with. The lead. Chris Taylor ( Charlie Sheen ) . represents the film maker. One could reasonably reason that the ground Platoon is so good is because it has such a deeply personal significance for Stone. Consequently. his inclinations to over-direct and demo off. which have marred some of his other attempts. are non in grounds here. There’s no razzle-dazzle – merely basic. powerful storytelling. Platoon is non chiefly a political movie. The political relations are all in the background. The film isn’t concerned about the rights or wrongs of being in Vietnam. Those things are abstract. and this is about the concrete: surviving to see another battle. numbering down the yearss until a circuit of responsibility is over. and populating each minute with the Angel of Death vibrating near. The Viet Cong are the enemy – non because they’re Communists. but because they are hiting to kill. Platoon offers the point-of-view of the oink. non of the officer or the strategian or the politician.