Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
..I'm reading Born on the Fourth of July--again...and that's what Kovic thought of war from watching John Wayne/etc......I joined the USMC not to be a hero/not to be John Wayne/patriotic/etc like Kovic said he did......I joined because I like weapons/etc..I liked to exercise and keep in shape, and I wanted something different.....the way Kovic puts it, he never thought about war being what it is:killing/horror/wounded/maiming/etcAgain, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.Everybody's experience is different.......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before thatPlatoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.
But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.
To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.
Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.
Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.
The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.
To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.
.....he did not one but two tours--the 2nd he had to put in for many times before he was accepted----so!! = interesting how his first tour was.....he was in Recon I think .....he saw the war differently after his second tour.....he was still super pro-war before his second tour.....
well, this should have it's own thread
...my dad was at the Chosin...3 uncles also in Korea....2 more in WW2
Oh hell I know that.Again, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.Everybody's experience is different.......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before thatPlatoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.
But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.
To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.
Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.
Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.
The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.
To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.
What you should know is that the movie was an exaggeration and had a despicable Liberal Hollywood Left agenda to it. It was designed make things look bad.
The war was brutal and Vietnam was mostly a shithole for Americans. However, not all the troops were in combat. A lot of the troops were in some kind of support and maybe only occasionally experienced a mortar or perimeter attack.
In the 2.5 years I was there I never saw or heard of anything close to the brutality shown in the movie scenes with the village.
The movie tried to mimic John Kerry saying:
" They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country."
However that was a lie for the most part.
There were conflicts between soldiers like all human beings but nothing like the conflict depicted in the movie between the two sergeants. Most troops looked after one another.
Don't look to Hollywood to teach you history. They will fail you most of the time.
...he did a great job in BOTFOJ.....excellent .....I like him..he's a very good actor......better than some like Patrick Swayze/etcBorn on the 4th of July was a film that showed Tom Cruise could rival the acting chops of Tim Hanks...I'm reading Born on the Fourth of July--again...and that's what Kovic thought of war from watching John Wayne/etc......I joined the USMC not to be a hero/not to be John Wayne/patriotic/etc like Kovic said he did......I joined because I like weapons/etc..I liked to exercise and keep in shape, and I wanted something different.....the way Kovic puts it, he never thought about war being what it is:killing/horror/wounded/maiming/etcAgain, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.Everybody's experience is different.......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before thatPlatoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.
But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.
To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.
Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.
Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.
The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.
To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.
.....he did not one but two tours--the 2nd he had to put in for many times before he was accepted----so!! = interesting how his first tour was.....he was in Recon I think .....he saw the war differently after his second tour.....he was still super pro-war before his second tour.....
well, this should have it's own thread
...my dad was at the Chosin...3 uncles also in Korea....2 more in WW2
But instead, decided feeding his ego and narcissism was what he wanted, so he instead chose to star in a long-long series of brain dead - regurgitated cracker jack hero who gets the girl.
Cruise could have been legendary. But in another 20 years... 95% of the population will have never heard of him. Tim Hanks will be remembered for another couple generations.
...my dad wanted me to go to college, so I did for 2 years..I'm reading Born on the Fourth of July--again...and that's what Kovic thought of war from watching John Wayne/etc......I joined the USMC not to be a hero/not to be John Wayne/patriotic/etc like Kovic said he did......I joined because I like weapons/etc..I liked to exercise and keep in shape, and I wanted something different.....the way Kovic puts it, he never thought about war being what it is:killing/horror/wounded/maiming/etcAgain, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.Everybody's experience is different.......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before thatPlatoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.
But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.
To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.
Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.
Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.
The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.
To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.
.....he did not one but two tours--the 2nd he had to put in for many times before he was accepted----so!! = interesting how his first tour was.....he was in Recon I think .....he saw the war differently after his second tour.....he was still super pro-war before his second tour.....
well, this should have it's own thread
...my dad was at the Chosin...3 uncles also in Korea....2 more in WW2
I joined the Army in the summer of 1966 because I wanted adventure. My parents wanted me to go to college but I wanted to do more adventurous things first. My WWII vet dad was very upset when I came home and told him I had seen a recruiter. My mother who had lost a brother and cousin in WWII was very pissed.
I would not do it over for ten million dollars but I would not take ten million dollars for the experience.
80% of Cruise films were the same movie: Cracker Jack, super talented dude who attracts a girl who has turned down every other guy in the film, circumstances arise where he gives up on his talents.... but wait... the world needs him!! And the girl talks him into going back in just in time - and he pulls off unbelievable superman moves and saves the day....he did a great job in BOTFOJ.....excellent .....I like him..he's a very good actor......better than some like Patrick Swayze/etcBorn on the 4th of July was a film that showed Tom Cruise could rival the acting chops of Tim Hanks...I'm reading Born on the Fourth of July--again...and that's what Kovic thought of war from watching John Wayne/etc......I joined the USMC not to be a hero/not to be John Wayne/patriotic/etc like Kovic said he did......I joined because I like weapons/etc..I liked to exercise and keep in shape, and I wanted something different.....the way Kovic puts it, he never thought about war being what it is:killing/horror/wounded/maiming/etcAgain, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.Everybody's experience is different.......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before thatPlatoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.
But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.
To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.
Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.
Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.
The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.
To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.
.....he did not one but two tours--the 2nd he had to put in for many times before he was accepted----so!! = interesting how his first tour was.....he was in Recon I think .....he saw the war differently after his second tour.....he was still super pro-war before his second tour.....
well, this should have it's own thread
...my dad was at the Chosin...3 uncles also in Korea....2 more in WW2
But instead, decided feeding his ego and narcissism was what he wanted, so he instead chose to star in a long-long series of brain dead - regurgitated cracker jack hero who gets the girl.
Cruise could have been legendary. But in another 20 years... 95% of the population will have never heard of him. Tim Hanks will be remembered for another couple generations.
...I don't know = Tom Cruise has done a lot more movies
??--you sure about that?
...my dad wanted me to go to college, so I did for 2 years..I'm reading Born on the Fourth of July--again...and that's what Kovic thought of war from watching John Wayne/etc......I joined the USMC not to be a hero/not to be John Wayne/patriotic/etc like Kovic said he did......I joined because I like weapons/etc..I liked to exercise and keep in shape, and I wanted something different.....the way Kovic puts it, he never thought about war being what it is:killing/horror/wounded/maiming/etcAgain, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.Everybody's experience is different.......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before thatPlatoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.
But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.
To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.
Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.
Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.
The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.
To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.
.....he did not one but two tours--the 2nd he had to put in for many times before he was accepted----so!! = interesting how his first tour was.....he was in Recon I think .....he saw the war differently after his second tour.....he was still super pro-war before his second tour.....
well, this should have it's own thread
...my dad was at the Chosin...3 uncles also in Korea....2 more in WW2
I joined the Army in the summer of 1966 because I wanted adventure. My parents wanted me to go to college but I wanted to do more adventurous things first. My WWII vet dad was very upset when I came home and told him I had seen a recruiter. My mother who had lost a brother and cousin in WWII was very pissed.
I would not do it over for ten million dollars but I would not take ten million dollars for the experience.
..probably attracted because you were ''different''/did something ''different''--??...my dad wanted me to go to college, so I did for 2 years..I'm reading Born on the Fourth of July--again...and that's what Kovic thought of war from watching John Wayne/etc......I joined the USMC not to be a hero/not to be John Wayne/patriotic/etc like Kovic said he did......I joined because I like weapons/etc..I liked to exercise and keep in shape, and I wanted something different.....the way Kovic puts it, he never thought about war being what it is:killing/horror/wounded/maiming/etcAgain, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.Everybody's experience is different.......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before thatPlatoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.
But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.
To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.
Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.
Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.
The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.
To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.
.....he did not one but two tours--the 2nd he had to put in for many times before he was accepted----so!! = interesting how his first tour was.....he was in Recon I think .....he saw the war differently after his second tour.....he was still super pro-war before his second tour.....
well, this should have it's own thread
...my dad was at the Chosin...3 uncles also in Korea....2 more in WW2
I joined the Army in the summer of 1966 because I wanted adventure. My parents wanted me to go to college but I wanted to do more adventurous things first. My WWII vet dad was very upset when I came home and told him I had seen a recruiter. My mother who had lost a brother and cousin in WWII was very pissed.
I would not do it over for ten million dollars but I would not take ten million dollars for the experience.
I did college after the Army when I came home in 1970.
I was a "Stranger in a Strange Land" being a Vietnam vet on campus at that time. Even at a Conservative Florida university.
I mostly hung out with other vets and we spent our time telling and retelling war stories to one another and ridiculing the hippies on campus.
The chicks were attracted to the vets for some reason.
..my sister-in-law's uncle died in a big ambush in Nam...USMC Bravo 1-9 --decimated/wiped out [ Walking Dead ]...my dad wanted me to go to college, so I did for 2 years..I'm reading Born on the Fourth of July--again...and that's what Kovic thought of war from watching John Wayne/etc......I joined the USMC not to be a hero/not to be John Wayne/patriotic/etc like Kovic said he did......I joined because I like weapons/etc..I liked to exercise and keep in shape, and I wanted something different.....the way Kovic puts it, he never thought about war being what it is:killing/horror/wounded/maiming/etcAgain, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.Everybody's experience is different.......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before thatPlatoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.
But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.
To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.
Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.
Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.
The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.
To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.
.....he did not one but two tours--the 2nd he had to put in for many times before he was accepted----so!! = interesting how his first tour was.....he was in Recon I think .....he saw the war differently after his second tour.....he was still super pro-war before his second tour.....
well, this should have it's own thread
...my dad was at the Chosin...3 uncles also in Korea....2 more in WW2
I joined the Army in the summer of 1966 because I wanted adventure. My parents wanted me to go to college but I wanted to do more adventurous things first. My WWII vet dad was very upset when I came home and told him I had seen a recruiter. My mother who had lost a brother and cousin in WWII was very pissed.
I would not do it over for ten million dollars but I would not take ten million dollars for the experience.
I did college after the Army when I came home in 1970.
I was a "Stranger in a Strange Land" being a Vietnam vet on campus at that time. Even at a Conservative Florida university.
I mostly hung out with other vets and we spent our time telling and retelling war stories to one another and ridiculing the hippies on campus.
The chicks were attracted to the vets for some reason.
