Of course, I know all about Oliver Stone and his type of film-making, and I've heard of the majority of his films. However, surprisingly, this is the first full one of his films I've seen. I know, right? And with all the Charlie Sheen craziness going on right now, this was pretty good timing. There's really no story to this film. It's mainly a platoon's journey through the Vietnam War. There's the new guy who actually enlisted, Chris (Charlie Sheen), who narrates the film. Then there are the two alpha males that split the platoon into two ways of thought. There's the weed-smoking nice guy, Elias (Willem Dafoe), and the hot-headed, war-torn crazy guy, Barnes (Tom Berenger). Also part of the platoon are King (Keith David), Big Harold (Forest Whitaker), Bunny (Kevin Dillon), O'Neill (John C. McGinley), Junior (Reggie Johnson), Wolfe (Mark Moses), Lerner (Johnny Depp), Warren (Tony Todd), among others.

This movie really ticked me off, probably in the ways Stone meant. I know Vietnam was an 'everybody loses' war that drove a lot of people crazy and do inhuman things. In that trail of thought, this movie captured the war very well. When the movie got to the village scene, I was intense, brutal and insane.

I'm starting to wonder if war movies get some of the best ensemble casts, because practically every one I've watched so far has such a great group of actors. My favorite of this bunch were definitely Willem Dafoe and John C. McGinley. Dafoe was just awesome (and he gives the famous on-the-knees-arms-up shot from the film (which is on the poster/cover, as well). I always enjoy seeing McGinley in things outside of Scrubs, too. And I felt really bad for his character. He probably had one of the more tragic characters, but not for the reason you might think (if you haven't seen the film). Then, of course, you have crazy Mr. Berenger with his scarred-up face... a pretty terrifying villain. And then, yes, Charlie Sheen. Even he goes a little crazy during the village sequence, which feels almost out of character for the rest of the film--before and after (even immediately after). A lapse in sanity, perhaps?

My conclusion being; I enjoyed it, It showed not only the gruesome aspects of war, but also how they survived in the "war zone" and what It takes to get the job done. I recommend it to any and all film lovers of War, History and Action. 7/10