Indeed, in a way, Platoon was seen by many as an attempt to counter The Green Berets portrayal of the Vietnam War. According to Suid (2002), The Green Berets not only had President Johnson's support but also the fool co-operation of the military. This patronage from the key players in the war is essentially an indication of the film's underlying motive. Further, in addition to differing in terms of purpose and motive, the two films also differ in their presentation of reality. It should be noted that unlike The Green Berets, Platoon presents a more accurate picture of the actual happenings on the ground during the Vietnam War. This is more so the case given that Stone, its director, actually served in the Vietnam War as an infantryman. For instance, unlike Stone, Wayne is keen to paint a picture of competent and professional officer corps. In so doing, he completely blacks out incidents of "fragging," which could have cast...
In the final analysis therefore, the Platoon could be regarded a more definitive look into the Vietnam War. While The Green Berets presented a war picture that was comforting, the producers of Platoon chose to confront Americans with the hard reality of America's involvement in the Vietnam War.War has undoubtedly shaped the course of human history. Conflicts, through sheer human nature often arise through disagreement. Occasionally these conflicts end with war as opposing sides believe so vehemently in their respective reasonings and doctrinal views. Oftentimes, these war's end with one "victor" and on defeated party, however, in war everyone losses. The Vietnam War in particular is an example of how war is a zero sum game that only
War Films Taking Jeanine Basinger at her word would leave us with far fewer war films than we think we have. Basinger is a 'strict constructionist,' accepting as war films only those that have actual scenes of warfare (Curley and Wetta, 1992. p. 8; Kinney, 2001, p. 21). That means that the four films that will be considered here, and especially the two World War II films, are not war films.
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