1980s War Movies. “Platoon.” “Hamburger Hill.” “Full Metal Jacket.”

“Platoon” (1986, Tubi) written and directed by Oliver Stone. Willem Dafoe was good, Tom Berenger was bad, and Charlie Sheen before he turned ugly. Johnny Depp was here, too, but more like a bit role or cameo.

       The film, based on Mr Stone's experience from the war, follows a new U.S. Army volunteer (Mr Sheen) serving in Vietnam while his Platoon Sergeant and his Squad Leader (Mr Berenger and Mr Dafoe) argue over the morality in the platoon and of the war itself.

Oliver wrote the screenplay based upon his experiences as a U.S. infantryman in Vietnam, to counter the vision of the war portrayed in John Wayne's “The Green Berets.”

       That time, we were used to watching U.S. soldiers as mostly heroic saviors of the universe. This movie shattered that overblown myth. Yet Oliver Stone wasn't finished piercing America's military ego. He followed this up with 1989's “Born on the Fourth of July” and 1993's “Heaven & Earth.” 

       I believe “Platoon” was the best of the three and could be the best war movie, probably in competition with Francis Ford Coppola's “Apocalypse Now” (1979). 🎥👍📽

“Hamburger Hill” (1987, Paramount+), written by Jim Carabatsos and directed by John Irvin. Set during the Battle of Hamburger Hill, a May 1969 assault during the Vietnam War by the U.S. Army's 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, on a ridge of Dong Ap Bia near the Laotian border in central Vietnam. The battle refers to the 3,074 ft high elevation mountain as "Hill 937” a.k.a. hamburger hill.

       Similar with “Platoon,” HH zooms in on its characters’ backstories to show us or let us feel the horrors of war but the real highlight of the movie is the battle up Hill 937. Remarkably shot and staged. 🎥👍📽

(Aside: “Platoon” and “Hamburger Hill,” along with “Apocalypse Now,” were filmed in the Philippines.)

“Full Metal Jacket” (1987, Tubi), directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Gustav Hasford's 1979 autobiographical novel “The Short-Timers.” 

       The storyline follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their boot camp training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. Of course, an unforgettable limelight is foul-mouthed drill instructor Sgt. Hartman, played with sinister glee and dirt-road mischief by R. Lee Ermey. He is also well-remembered as the dumpster wicked Sheriff Hoyt in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003) and its prequel “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” (2006). 

       This movie is vintage Kubrick. Intense, powerful, magnificently vulgar but nevertheless, tightly crafted. 🎥👍📽