"Platoon" A masterpiece of war movies created by recreating "self" in Vietnam *Note! Contains spoilers.

A special camp to “reenact” Vietnamese soldiers

Stone asked his actors not to "play soldiers" but to "become soldiers" fighting on the battlefields of Vietnam. ``Platoon'' is not a work of fiction, but a story of reality as experienced by Stone himself. Technical advisor Dale Dye was hired for this purpose (Dye also appears in the film as a commander).

Dai was a former Marine Corps captain who served in the Vietnam War for three years and knew everything about the military. At Stone's request, he conducted a special camp to transform Charlie Sheen, who plays the main character Chris, into real "soldiers."

Just before filming began, the cast was taken to a police training base in the jungles of the Philippines, where the film was filmed. For two weeks, the actors slept and ate together like a Platoon in a movie. The sleeping area is a hole called takotsubo for two people. There were no trays or showers, and the food was two boxes of cold military rations a day. At night, they trained in ambushes, learned how to operate firearms and mines, and went on patrol with full equipment. If he was lucky, he could sleep four or five hours a night.

"Platoon" (C)2014 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC.

Tom Berenger, who played Chris' superior officer Burns, recalls the scene as follows: "That training made me realize just how terrifying war is. ... After the training was over, we were all bleary-eyed and grumpy, and our hands were covered in blisters."

After completing their two-week Inferno camping trip, they were sent directly to the filming location without any rest. Director Stone said he smiled with satisfaction when he saw the actors all wobbly. What he saw then was himself in Vietnam. "Through Charlie, I saw myself when I was younger." This is also written in the production notes.

However, why did Stone have to go so far in recreating himself during the Vietnam War and telling the story? This becomes obvious when you know why he served in Vietnam and the reality he experienced there.

The series of setbacks that brought Oliver Stone to Vietnam