Bring on the tough stuff. There’s not just one right answer.
- How does Platoon rank as far as movies about Vietnam go?
- How do you feel about Chris Taylor's actions at the end of the film? Can you blame him for doing what he does?
- Does Elias really have to die? What dramatic purpose does his death serve, if any?
- Was Platoon a worthy recipient of both Best Picture and Best Director? Why or why not?
- Was Charlie Sheen the right guy to play Chris Taylor?
- Are there ways in which this film is biased, skewed, or unfair to either the Vietnamese enemy or the U.S. soldiers?
- What is the significance of the fact that a lot of the members of the platoon are dead or maimed by the end of the film?
- How do you feel about O'Neill's actions during the final firefight?
- Does Platoon every go too far with the violence and bloodshed it depicts?
- Producer Arnold Kopelson said in his Academy Award acceptance speech that the "film brought to this generation a new perspective of war, that war is not glamorous, that it maims and it kills." Do you agree? Is this perspective actually new?