Ìý For writer/director Oliver Stone, making Platoon (1986) was a cathartic experience that recalled his days as a soldier in The Vietnam War. It was also his big breakthrough as a filmmaker, showcasing his ability to balance the sheer brutality of war with a moving elegy to the loss of innocence. After scooping four Oscars, including Best Director, it swiftly entered the pop culture canon. For Charlie Sheen, it was the first and last time he'd be taken seriously as an actor.
Waging War
There are few new extras on this two-disc Ultimate Edition. Forming the centrepiece is the 50-minute documentary A Tour Of The Inferno which we've seen in previous releases. However, it is still a compelling look at the making of the film. "I was quite willing to die," says Stone of his tour of duty, "because I had thought of suicide quite a bit and written about it, entertained and fantasised about it." It's this frankness and, some would say perversity, which affords a unique and refreshing insight into the moviemaking process.
Stone barked at his cast like a squad of new recruits, Tom Berenger noting, "Everyone hated him so much, it was embarrassing." Johnny Depp seconds this, recalling a time when he came close to vomiting from the stress - and Stone still called for a second take! Sheen, though, was just happy to be there after a tough audition process. He reveals how he sent a tape to Stone who "thought I was too mannered and predictable in my gestures". Even so, Stone called Sheen back, but just as the cast assembled for boot camp in the Philippines a political revolution threatened to scupper the project. Video footage from the set along with cast and crew interviews tells this harrowing and sometimes funny tale.
Flashbacks
One War, Many Stories is one of two new featurettes that invites Vietnam vets to reflect on the film as it compares to their experiences. Stone also looks back on his days in the battlefield and sometimes contradicts the others, talking about "a lack of camaraderie" when it came to the seasoned soldiers' attitude to new recruits. On many points, however, they agree, most notably on the use of heroin and opium to mitigate the effects of dealing with death on a daily basis.
The vets discuss the culture shock of first arriving in the jungle in Preparation For The ‘Nam. It was a quick and devastating initiation that was designed to "instil a blind obedience to orders". On a lighter note, one of the men confesses that without his army training, he still wouldn't know how to wash and iron his clothes. Meanwhile Hollywood's favourite military advisor Captain Dale Dye reveals how he prepared the likes of Charlie Sheen and Willem Dafoe for action in a commentary on disc one. First he shaved their heads, which he says, "I really enjoyed", and later launched surprise attacks on them - bombs and all! - while they tried to sleep. He also points out his cameo - 'man in a body bag'...
Stone describes the battle of simply trying to get the film funded in his commentary. As with most landmark films in recent history, it was turned down by every major studio and sat on the shelf for ten years before a British company finally stepped up with the cash. It was two years between seeing Charlie Sheen and casting him (and nearly hiring his brother Emilio Estevez), but Stone explains the final decision, saying, "Charlie has an interesting stoicism in his face and at the same time he evokes a boy who comes from the middleclass strata." In addition Stone recollects his own experiences in the 'Nam, like the time he fell asleep while on ambush alert... Altogether this DVD provides a very raw and honest account, not only of warfare, but of the passion and ferocity required to convey it accurately onscreen. A defining film, a must have disc.
EXTRA FEATURES
