Platoon vs. Apocalypse Now
Which do you think is the better movie?
sharePlatoon is much better
Apocalypse Now is an incoherent mess of a movie
MovieChat Forums > Platoon (1987) Discussion > Platoon vs. Apocalypse Now
Different movies. Apocalypse stands alone amazing score and cinematography. Platoon is outstanding. Same era for setting but equally demonstrate the madness futility and utter pointlessness of war.
The debate will no doubt be resolved only in the minds of the fan of either. Imo i love them both. Two of the finest. I think thats fair. Stuart B.
It was as if Platoon took that scenes from Apocalypse Now where no one knew who was in charge and made a whole movie based on that confusion, and did a really good job of it. I don't really consider Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket as straight up war movies like Platoon, and they're all superb at what they do.
Style-wise I give it to FMJ with AN a close second. FMJ did a better job with boot camp than anyone could ever hope to do, but for terror in battle, i give it to Platoon. Script-wise I'd say AN as well as the best music. For dramatic scenes, nothing comes close to the 2 Russian Roulette scenes in The Deer Hunter. Platoon had the weakest casting and acting - Depp and Sheen looked way too pretty, but for airtight cohesion in a movie, Platoon stands alone.
Impossible to compare and wrong to do so.
Both great films for different reasons.
Platoon has great characters and I thought the casting was excellent, especially Berenger and Dafoe, and having Charlie Sheen doing his voice over is a really cool nod to Martin Sheen's character in Apocalypse Now. I like to watch them back to back, first Platoon and then AN, and it's almost as if it's the same guy. Think about it, Platoon is his first tour... some sh#t happens there but he makes it back home... he gets married... goes back to the 'nam in some intelligence misson and starts to like it (gotta make a movie about than one)... he returns "home", gets a divorce and goes back to Saigon... Apocalypse Now.
Of course, you gotta be high to get that story line to flow seamlessly, which takes me to the Platoon/AN toking game (like a drinking game only with weed).
THE GAME
You will need:
- AT LEAST 1/8 ounce of quality herb per viewer; roll 2 jays in advance
- 1 copy of both Platoon and Apocalypse (make sure you watch them in that order)
I recommend you start sober and light one up to "White Rabbit" (it's about 1/2 hour into Platoon, but that helps build momentum). Make sure you have it already rolled up so you get the timming right. If it's a fatty I try to stall it a bit so I can still toke to "Tracks of my Tears" 5 minutes later, and if it's not, save a roach for that. That'll give you a good enough buzz to get you through the whole Act 2.
After Elias' death (about 1h20m into Platoon) toke to Rhah's speech of how "Elias is sittin' up there drunk as a f###ing monkey, smoking sh#t". Save the roach.
Toke the roach to the final scene of Platoon, as Taylor is taken away by the choppers.
At this moment you have probably got the munchies, so go get something before you start with Apocalyse.
Roll one at the opening sequence of AN and light it up (the music by The Doors makes a great toke-along).
Toke when the PBR crew tokes (right after Cpt. Willard first comes aboard).
Toke at Kilgore's "beach party".
Toke a roach when the character "The Roach" appears (at the Du Long Bridge sequence).
If your watching the Redux version, toke when Willard smokes pipe with the french babe. This time make sure you get really high and ride it all the way to the end, but save a roach for the last scene.
Toke the last reoach at the very end, as Willard leaves Kurtz's compound.
Hope that adds to the discussion. 😁
Neither is all that good but Platoon is the clear winner.
WE ARE THE BORG. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
Platoon. Platoon makes Apocalypse Now look like a comic book. The villager's scene and Elias' scene got to me. Apocalypse Now has it's moments but really comes across as a ridiculous plot with ridiculous characters. The last thoughtful narrative lines of Sheen's character were a lot better than the lameness of "the horror".
share[deleted]
Apocalypse Now for me.
I find Apocalypse Now more mesmerizing, harrowing, and superior in all aspects.
http://www.imdb.com/list/rJuB9UoASlQ/
Full Metal Jacket
shareApocalypse Now has more depth and therefore is the winner for me.
"Can you fly Bobby?"
Apocalypse Now is a 10/10 film.
Platoon a 8.5/10
Depends on what you are looking for but for me its Platoon and its not even close. Matter of fact its my favorite movie. It was the first Vietnam movie to show what the grunts went through on the ground accurately and showed people that instead of looking down on Vietnam Vets, understand what they went through.
Platoon is the greatest war movie period for me. It really has no central plot, kind of like the war having questions that no one could seem to answer definitively. This movie perfectly illustrated why the war turned out the way it did and why atrocities happened in Vietnam. Fighting any war dehumanizes you, but the effect is two fold when you are fighting an enemy that is everywhere and nowhere. There were no uniforms to distinguish who was friend and who was foe so civilians are treated like the enemy because they have to be. Plus having no real objective or coherent strategy for winning and its effects were shown to people who had NO idea what these vets went through.
Platoon is important, it matters. Apocalypse Now has a mythical quality rooted in fantasy that was not really about the war. Frankly speaking, I think it and Full Metal Jacket are tremendously overrated.
Haters gonna hate
I could never give Platoon more than a 5. because the language was so artificial and stilted, especially Barnes. The first time I saw it on the big screen and Barnes began to speak, I laughed out loud. I have several hundred pages of notes and over a hundred hours of recordings as I intended to write a book some day on GI speech, especially words and phrases which were indigenous to the 'Nam and never heard back in the world.
6th Msl Bn 56th Artillery
Long Binh