<< Prev | Page 1 | Page 2

And the Extras Are?
Audio commentary with Director Oliver Stone –
Audio commentary with Military Advisor/Actor Dale Dye – Oliver Stone, love him or hate him, is passionate about filmmaking, and doubly so of his own films. While critics may love to tear him apart for poorly received recent films such as Alexander, few will negatively discuss Platoon. Good reason for this, too. It’s pretty much as authentic as war films get. Oliver was in Vietnam, so he certainly had some experience going in, and he wrote it based on this own experiences. In his commentary, you get a much deeper perspective of this. He freely discusses events that happened, how vets are perceived, how alliances were formed within the platoons, and just how much of it is autobiographical. Dale Dye’s track is absolutely just as valuable a listen. While Stone spends most of his time on personal experience and the details of the shoot, Dye is able to shift focus to the intense training that the cast went through. How he contributed both on and off the screen (he played Captain Harris) makes for a large part of the discussion. Mostly though, his anecdotes are about what happened on the set and every little thing he did to add realism. A great commentary track is a rare treat. Two on the same disc is amazing.

The remainder of the extras are on disc 2

Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by Oliver Stone – This collection of 11 deleted scenes is a huge treat for Platoon fans, and probably the biggest selling feature to people looking to upgrade. Most of them aren’t anything special though. Here’s a look at a few of the key deleted scenes:

“Chris’ First Time” – The first scene is an extended version of the scene where Taylor talks to King when they are back at camp following the ambush. This was originally where Taylor first smoked weed.

“Love and Hate” – This sequence, which has the whole scene discussing the polar opposites that are Elias and Barnes (love and hate, Yin and Yang). This entire sequence is brilliant as you get to see the outlook of the grunts towards their sergeants, as well as each other. This should have been left in the movie.

“No Regrets” – A short sequence that was removed from Chris’ discussion with Elias. It could only have been removed for time reasoning. It isn’t bad, but it doesn’t add much we don’t already understand about Elias.

“Barnes Lives” – It is an alternate ending and probably the most important clip here. It changes the feel of the final sequence, and Oliver’s thoughts on it are especially intriguing because he thinks he should have used it.

Speaking of that, Oliver’s thoughts on these are really the reason to watch most of them. The commentary he provides on these scenes is just as insightful as his commentary for the film. Next up are the featurettes, divided into two sections.

Flashback to Platoon: Snapshot in Time: 1967-1968 – (19:13). This featurette deals less with the film and more with the Vietnam conflict. Specifically, it focused on the years that Platoon took place. Special mention is made to the Tet Offensive, how we reacted to it and how it changed the tides of the war. It’s a fantastic historical look back with many historians speculating on what happened, as well as the should-of/could-ofs that might have been.

Creating the ‘Nam - (12:02). The behind-the-scenes crew from the film discusses in detail the things that they did to replicate Vietnam in the Philippines during the shooting of this film. It’s absolutely amazing the attention to detail that went into it. People actually attempted to move into the villages they built for the film. The stories the crew have show the grueling conditions everyone had to work under. You can’t walk away from this feature unimpressed.

Raw Wounds: The Legacy of Platoon - (17:17). Again, the cast and crew take a look back at the reception that Platoon received after it was released. From the critics to the mixed reactions from the vets, this documentary covers it all. It is interesting hearing the vets' reactions, especially since every platoon had different experiences. There is a lot of high-fiving mentality, but I think it is deserved. Platoon has had a huge impact on our perception of war and it has impacted the realism with which war is depicted in almost every war film made since.

The second section is simply labeled “Documentaries.”

One War, Many Stories - (25:30). This is absolutely my favorite of all the documentaries. It’s an open interview with a selection of Vietnam veterans after a screening of Platoon. In many cases, this is the first time that these veterans reveal their own personal stories. They admit that they haven’t even told their families and only felt compelled to in the presence of fellow vets. Stone is also on hand to talk about some of his own personal stories. It really drives home that this is real, and this did happen. The movie, as difficult as it was to watch, was a movie. The reality was just as cruel, and often times much, much worse. If you only have time to watch one feature amongst all of the great features on this set – please – make it this one.

A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting Platoon - (53:02). This documentary was on the previous MGM Special Edition (and the Artisan release, I believe), and while it is a solid documentary, it is somewhat redundant at this point. Still, it is nice to see this included for completist purposes. Basically it is all encompassing. Casting and other aspects of production are discussed, but there isn’t much info not already covered elsewhere.

Preparing for ‘Nam - (6:35). Much shorter than the other documentaries on this disc, this is basically vets talking about what it took to prepare for Vietnam, Boot Camp, military training, etc. Definitely interesting, but there isn’t much to do with the film at all.

Photo Galleries - There are two photo galleries included with this set. The first is labeled “Behind the Scenes” and has 28 photos from the set. The second, labeled “Poster Gallery” has four posters. They can be viewed together.

TV Spots - Three TV spots are included here. They are… “Action” (0:32), “Critical Acclaim” (0:32), and “The Director” (0:31). You can probably figure out what demographic each of these is marketing to.

Theatrical Trailer – (1:50). I’ve always loved the Platoon trailer. It, and for some reason the one for Rocky IV, are the first trailers I actually remember seeing on the big screen. Twenty years later, and having seen the film many more times than that, I still respect the trailer. It seems to perfectly capture the good and bad of war in under two minutes.

Trailer Gallery - Rounding out Disc 2 is a trailer gallery of other Sony DVDs. The James Bond Ultimate Collection, The Great Escape (Special Edition), Windtalkers (Director’s Edition), The Best of World War II Movies, The Patriot (Extended Cut), Raging Bull (Collector’s Edition) and Black Hawk Down (Extended Cut). Yay for promos! Considering the impressive amount of work that has gone into this release, I will let the self-promotion slide.

Finally, there is a very cool booklet/insert. It isn’t the same as the old MGM release’s either. It more production notes – quite a bit more - with some of the same material ported over. Which brings me to this: For anyone who owns the MGM Special Edition and doesn’t want to bother checking, everything has been moved over. There is nothing left on the old DVD that isn’t here, and there is a hell of a lot more. Studios take note: This is double-dipping (or quadruple-dipping) done right.

Easter Egg Note: I found three Easter Eggs. I will post the info on how to retrieve them in the Holla thread, which you can view by clicking the button below.

The Bottom Line
Platoon is probably my favorite serious movie of all time. I’ve never been in the military, and I wasn’t alive during the Vietnam conflict. In fact, it wasn’t until my 20s that I spent any considerable amount of time with a veteran. Still, the film really stands out to me as what war is all about; hard reality, strong emotions, and a huge amount of misunderstanding. Films that personally affect and strike a chord with me are few and far between. Platoon is one of those films. I tear up every time I see it, and I never tire of it.

<< Prev | Page 1 | Page 2