Platoon (1986) | The Cutting Room

Before a single scene was shot, Oliver Stone marched his cast into the jungle for two weeks of brutal military training. He wanted them exhausted, and as a Vietnam veteran himself, he knew exactly what that felt like.

Stone's searing, semi-autobiographical war drama gets pulled apart in full: the direction, the writing drawn from his own tour of duty, and a cast led by Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe as the two sergeants at war with one another. There's the punishing Philippines shoot, the real soldiers behind the characters, and that unforgettable death scene, before Luke, Westy and Matt each hand Platoon (1986) a score out of 10. Does the Best Picture winner still hit as hard?

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