This bit of wisdom is the source of extreme tension between Chris and Barnes. Progress for the platoon is in a very grim state. The last we see of him he is alive and in critical condition being placed aboard a Huey. Even though he didnt see Barnes actually shoot Elias, or has any physical proof of the crime, Chris still knows Barnes murdered Elias. Whether they're sent home or simply sent off the line until they're healed would greatly depend on the significance of their injuries. That day we loved him(Stone, p. 45) Sgt. Both the main character and the obstacle character see each other as the cause of the problems they are experiencing in their relationship. The U.S. forces are so overwhelmed, they order an air strike on their own compound. Remington 870 shotgun.Pvt Junior (KIA): Tries to run knocks himself out against a tree, then is bayoneted by NVA soldier.Pvt Parker (KIA): Dragged into CP bunker by Doc, who confirms he is dead. "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane.at the end of the movie? Chris experiences in the war do not lead him to find something to be proud of, instead, he has become a cold-blooded murderer, and kills his nemesis, Sgt. From there, the narration becomes more complex and gives a deeper meaning to Platoon: "There are times since, I've felt like the child born of those two fathers. Stone's message suggests that for goodness to prevail, darkness must be overcome. The ending of Platoonsuggeststhat Elias and Barnes are symbolic of good and evil forces that fight for the soul of Taylor. Barnes leadership, committing war crimes against the villagers. Elias, who has learned from experience, knows what to do when his platoon is about to be set up in an ambush. Sgt. KING: How the fuck you get over here man, you look like you educated Sgt. One of the most memorable scenes in Platoon was the death of main character Sgt Elias, portrayed by Willem Dafoe. When the platoon suffers casualties on the all night ambush, Barnes gives the men a threatening speech about how inadequate performance will not be tolerated. Among his followers were Sgt. Platoon is one among a great many Hollywood movies set in Vietnam which were instead shot in the jungles of the Philippines. BARNES: (soft) Talking bout killing? Barnes lost control of his emotions and men at the worst possible moment, which had he not murdered Elias would've taken him and several of his platoon out of the fight. Hes willing to kill civilians, and even his own men, to support his immoral beliefs. From none of you. Everybody knows whos really in charge of the platoon. Hes definitely obligated to his country, but theres nothing moral about his obligation. Barnes. Political unrest in the Philippines almost shut down production. He has attained the combat skills and control over his fear necessary to perform competently during combat. This also means it has been incorporated into the Dramatica Story Expert application itself as an easily referenced contextual example. Effect will end the source of Sgt. Chris understanding of the war increases as he engages in combat activities: hiking through the jungle from sun up to sun down, digging foxholes, going on point, participating in 3-man listing posts and all night ambushes, etc. The problem is Barnes's fist quite obviously clears the front of Elias's face by at least 5-6 inches. They have to be like Barnes or be like Elias or be loners, but there are definitely many aspects of their lives they have to give up and a way they must be in order to survive in the war. Chris drops out of college, enlists in the military, and asks for combat duty in Vietnam. As an example, he is able to home in on who it is that is called to war, and who is excused: From none of you. Edit, For two reasons:1) He didn't think Chris had it in him to kill his own comrade in cold blood, and it was his way of taunting him2) If it turned out that Chris did actually have it in him to kill Barnes then Chris will have become just as ruthless and evil of a person as Barnes was. One of his hunches is responsible for bringing him to Vietnam, where he develops a theory about finding what he can be proud of: While the platoon is extracting via helicopter, they glimpse Elias, mortally wounded, emerging . Barnes has engaged in. Oliver Stone set up several cameras to capture the drama of the moment that gives you chills. When you know you know. Elias. Bunny refers to himself as "Audie Murphy". I shit you not! Barnes in an act of revenge for Elias and for himself. Sergeant Barnes is the first sergeant in Chris platoon. Oliver Stone's Platoon is actually about the conflict between two Sergeants in a typical Nam platoon.One is a bloody, axe-murdering evil bastard (Tom Berenger) named Barnes.The other is an opium-smoking, moral man (Willem Dafoe) who cares for each one of his subordinates, named Elias.Stuck in the middle is the clueless Platoon Lieutenant "Sergeant Barnes I would appreciate it if in front of . Lurking in the town in the disguise of a day laborer, Elas . Barnes course of action, but is in no position to prevent the horrible events he witnesses. Dafoe played Elias, a soldier that was set in sharp contrast to Berenger's character, Sgt. Does Johnny Depp speak Vietnamese? KING: Way out of anything, man. A man who felt he was doing what was necessary. Copyright 1994-2023 Write Brothers, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Barnes tells Elias he is moving out, and then he tells O'Neill his short termers can stay in; but he is going out because he needs veterans out there. Now (pause) No. For example,look at how Taylor reacts when Berenger says "Go on, boy" - it's like he'sreceived all the confirmation he needs toget payback for Elias. Early on, it's revealed thatBarnes actually has more internal power than Lieutenant Wolfe (Mark Moses), whichestablishes Berenger's facially-scarred character as theAlpha Male. Barnes senses his chance to kill Elias when the two are alone in the jungle, their eyes meet with Sgt. Bunny refers to himself as "Audie Murphy". Taylor is using "fathers" as an allegory to describe the darkness and light we all posses. Based on Americas record in wars of the past, American forces engage in Vietnam confident they will be able to take control of the country; As soon as the new recruits land in Vietnam, they are exposed to the numerous body bags containing the remains of soldiers that have been killed, signifying the extent to which the American forces are struggling; Reports of other platoons and military forces that have already been overrun and destroyed by the Viet Cong reinforce the problems the U.S. is facing in trying to win the war; When the platoon is set up in a crossfire ambush, Elias explains he has experienced this tactic before in the past and knows what the enemy is trying to do, and that he also knows how to counteract this ambush. Barnes focuses on others inadequacies, and this in particular makes problems for Chris. Upon leaving the bunker en route to a nearby village, the platoon discovers the mutilated remains of one of its soldiers who was just abducted by the Viet Cong. CHRIS: Not just me its the way the whole thing works. Back at the base, Taylor suggests that Barnes should be fragged, or killed by his own men, for his despicable actions on the battlefield. However, soldiers were strictly forbidden to touch any objects they found in the field that seemed out of place or important. Fresh off the plane, new U.S. recruits are greeted by body bags slung onto another plane going home; the platoon takes out its frustrations on a defenseless village; a civil war breaks out between members within the platoon. This supports Sgt. The cost of being relates to the men in the platoon losing their identities and having to behave in a certain way. The fact that the men in the platoon, as well as the enemys lives, are not given much value, slows the progress of the objective story. KING: You what? Excluding the WIA's, who is left behind to fight from the platoon? CHRIS: Yever get caught in a mistake, King, and you just cant get out of it? Barnes orders the rest of the platoon to retreat and goes back into the jungle to find Elias's group. People like Elias get wasted and people like Barnes just go on making up rules any way they want and what do we do, we just sit around in the middle and suck on it! As Taylor departs the battlefield in a helicopter in Platoon, voiceover narration suggests that he is now speaking in the present rather than writing a letter to his grandmother (a recurring theme in the movie). Recollections are the standard by which growth is measured in the subjective story. Only thing can get Barnes is Barnes! A similar character in Barnes being the leader of a Platoon in the Vietnam war. And we are finally left with not only the platoon, but almost the entire 25th infantry, overrun by the enemy sustaining enormous loss of lives. O'Neil's grenade.Pvt Gardner (KIA): Killed by NVA soldier.NVA Bunker:Pvt Sal (KIA): Killed by booby trap.Pvt Sanderson (KIA): Killed by booby trap, staggers around with no arms before dropping dead. The FAQ items below may give away important plot points. Bunny and Junior share a pithole as he savagely shoots oncoming NVA soldiers with his rifle but is soon outnumbered and shot to death when an NVA soldier shoots him down and finishes him off with a shot to his mouth as Junior retreats. A requirement of the Past also applies to the cherries, or newly arriving infantry men who must deal with the unfortunate circumstance of having no past combat experiences in the jungles of Vietnam. KING: Way out of anything, man. He shoots Elias three times in the upper body. Barnes, who drives Chris and the platoon hard throughout the jungle hikes. In the aftermath, Barnes sees Taylor aiming a gun at him. Barnes attempts to kill him, he finds Barnes crawling on the jungle floor. Shot in the lung by NVA soldier. He is on a quest to find something of which to be proud. Sgt. He was also awarded France's and England's version of the Medal of Honor. And the next son of a bitch I catch coppin Z in the bush, Im personally going to take an interest in seein suffer. Dafoe was aware of the location of the explosive devices. Why? Barnes is obviously affected by the deaths of more of his men, enough so to make him momentarily lose his tough, military sergeant facade and expose a slight vulnerability. I have no energy to write. . Why does Barnes kill Elias? Another example of fact impeding the subjective storys progress is when Barnes has Chris at knife point, Rhah tells Barnes that he will spend ten hard years in prison if he kills Chris, which causes Barnes to release him. That didn't make much sense to most of his fellow soldiers, frankly . Elias' decision to report Barnes' criminal conduct at the village precipitates a rift between the members in the platoon (some siding with Barnes and others siding with Elias), and ultimately causes Barnes to kill Elias. If the U.S. military would have proven to be a more effective adversary in the jungle style warfare waged against the Viet Cong, the U.S. would have probably won the war; If Lt. Wolfe had been a proven combat soldier, many situations the platoon faced wouldnt have resulted with such ill consequences; If Sgt. Kill me. ELIAS: Lieutenant, lemme take some men out on the right flank, theres spiderholes back there Barnes is the antithesis of Hamlet. Maybe from down here I can start up again, be something I can be proud of and not have to fake itbe a fake human being. One needs to learn from the past to do well in war. Unproven is also illustrated in the conflict between Elias and Barnes that arises over the crimes that Barnes commits in the village. You got no proof man. The platoon becomes very upset with this recent discovery, but none seem to be as mentally and emotionally afflicted as Sgt. Elias argument to Sgt. And the next son of a bitch I catch coppin Z in the bush, Im personally going to take an interest in seein suffer. This moment is Taylor reclaiming his own identity and removing Barnes' insidious influence. ELIAS: Sir, I saw it happen in 66 at Ia Drang. How big is a platoon? Oh, you wanna kick ass. Elias, and the other half with Sgt. Barnes becomes irritated with Chris when Chris throws up and faints after he discovers the rotting corpse of a Viet Cong soldier: Suspicion and hate cause them to turn on each other. They all look at each other. Barnes eyes: Barnes challenges Chris to, Do it!to shoot him while Chris has a rifle trained on him and his finger on the trigger. You are one simple son-of-a-bitch! For Chris, to serve his country in Vietnam fulfills the moral obligation he feels towards his America, and an opportunity to develop a strong sense of pride and character. Barnes as the leading commander in the platoon instead of the inexperienced Lt. Wolfe; he doesnt do anything when Barnes and others in the platoon commit war crimes against the Vietnamese villagers; he also doesnt realize that the platoon is about to be caught in a crossfire trap by the Viet Cong. He overpacks his back pack, has difficulty climbing, drinks too much water and cramps up, doesnt yet know how to conserve his energy, and ends up passing out. Barnes and Sgt. While the platoon is being extracted via helicopter, they glimpse Elias, mortally wounded, emerging from the treeline and being chased by a group of North Vietnamese soldiers, who kill him. But in actuality, he doesnt know for sure that Sgt. He is a naive and overly idealistic infantry enlistee that has dropped out of school and joined the war in order to gain a sense of pride about himself; to do his share for the U.S., and to become anonymous like the rest of the men in his platoon. This is what has brought him to Vietnam. Barnes approaches what he sees as the problem of inadequacies, by taking the direction of letting everyone know what is acceptable. Performing a patriotic service for your country, the chance to take rage and frustration out on the enemy that has caused it, doing drugsthese are types of dividends the men can reap in the platoon. I have mixed feelings about the movie Platoon. CHRIS: Not just me its the way the whole thing works. Grabbing a loose stick, crudely drawing out their position in the dirt and tracing it out for the Lieutenant. How does bunny die in Platoon? Barnes, who he sees as a worthless human being. There are so many war movies out there to choose from, yet not many come from the perspectiveof a man who personally lived through the hell that was the Vietnam War. Just keep your pecker up and your powder dry, things change. ONEILL: Fuck you Elias. Next:Platoon True Story: How Accurate Is The Vietnam War Movie. Understanding how networked the entire area has become and how hidden and well stocked the Viet Cong are serve as forewarnings that support the consequence. Barnes sees Chris as a liability to the platoon: Chris Taylor didn't much like the Ivory Tower, so he decided to jump ship and try life in the jungle. Barnes as a role model and leader makes a significant impact on the men in the platoon, including Chris. Extreme tension and frustration has overcome the men. We just dont add up to a rats ass. All the men in the platoon, including Chris, are functioning on raw emotions and follow Sgt. 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