Asbury Park Press du lieu suivant : Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 41

twyJari PraUSi today, Dccerotyy 1986 1 nm 3 MOVIES 3 'Platoon is remarkable journey into war Movie Review By ELEANOR O'SULLIVAN Press Movie Writer I LOS ANGELES 8757 KM HQtm CDf AT1VE HtLLSBOftO CINEMA LOfWS'UUSCMMtBS ABBY QUAD WSIMILKWO 73S-MH AMBOY MULTIPUX SWMVILli TJI 3400 BELLEVUE TRIPLEX UPPfR MOMTCLAW 1U V45S BEftOENHHD K(KttflEU)3)e00 LW5'HUSCIUI(FM CINEMA CENTER RYE RICK TOWN 4 77 -MS I LOfWS MUSIC HAKFRS CINEMA CENTRE 4 H0MU3H-45M CIMfMA SERVICf CINEMA 10 SIXPLEX SUCCASUNNA 54 H0 CINEMA TOIOWA 296-M24 NATMAN CINEMA PLAZA HEMIN6IQN 7 2777 NATHAN CUFTON QUAD CLIFTON 366-2C COLONIAL TWIN HOBOKEN CINEMA LOEWS MUSK MAKERS INTERSTATE TWIN RAMSEY 327-0153 LINCOLN TRIPLEX ARLMGIONM7-6873 LINDEN QUAD ItNOtN 925-97 LOEWS MEADOW SIX stuwcusiety! RKO CENTURY RKO MILLBURN TWIN MUBURN 37-OBOD GRANT MOVIE CITY RRUNSWICK 257-9B08 OR Art! MOVIE CITY 9 WOOOWtOOE 382-9806 UA MOVIES AT MIDDLETOWN MIOOLETOMM 671 1020 NATHAN NEWTON TWIN NEWTON 38 2380 UA 1 SI Ulftfti J- it nm -i TOHPraN LAKES i UA PASCACK westwood 884-3200 Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) steps into the beginning of his Odyssey of darkness during the Vietnam War. L0CW5 MUSIC MAKCRS COMMUNITY TWIN EAfONILKMt 543 4300 tOf W5 MLCIC MAKERS DOVER TWIN DM5 RIVER 244-MM TMA FABIAN RVEPLEX MTtRSON 743-4K0 FRANKLIN TRIPLEX HUIlfVK7-l777 10FWS' MUSIC MAKFffS REEHOLD CINEMA 6 FREEHOLD 462-0100 CM HAWTHORNE QUAD HAWTHOME 427 2828 AMC ROCKAWAY 12 ROCUMAf lOWNSHIf 3280601 RKO CENTURY RKO ROUTE T7 TRIPLEX MAAMUS 843-3830 OENETUI WF MA RUTOERS PLAZA SIXPLEX FRANK LM TOWNSHIP 828-8787 SHARON CINEMA FORT LEE 224-0202 UA STATE Jersey cmr asa-sjoo WESTFIELD TWIN WESIHELO 164-4720 It's clear from "Platoon" that everything Oliver Stone has done up till now directing and co-writing "Salvador," writing "Midnight Express," "Scarface" and "Year of the Dragon" has been, in effect, a way of killing time until he faced his personal heart of darkness, the Vietnam War. After seeing "Platoon," a triumphant film and a remarkable personal journey into the pitch-black hell of that war, it's understandable why Stone put his energies into other projects. He must have needed time and distance to re-enter the tragic waste of "fighting ourselves, not the enemy" that was his experience in Bravo Company, 25th Infantry, Vietnam War in 1967 and 1968. Stone, who wrote and directed "Platoon," won a Bronze Star for valor and was decorated with the Purple Heart "Platoon," as told through the eyes of middle-class, college dropout Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), surpasses every other Vietnam film because it dumps you into Taylor's heart of darkness, and there is no escape.

It is a relentlessly immediate movie. And Stone is frightfully precise about recapturing the strain, filth, horror and hopelessness of that time. He created his own hell by shooting the movie in the Philippine jungle in 34 days. The pressure was awesome on the actors and crew. Stone says there were fist fights, breakdowns, firings, accidents and near deaths during shooting.

PRESENTED IN Ddl PQiSTiRiol BE A STEP AHEAD with Sylvia Porter, Monday through Friday in The Press. an obligation to build again, to find a goodness and meaning to this life." "Platoon" is a disturbing movie that will outrage viewers who find Stone's account either unbelievable or unfair. It is a terrifying movie, one that will shatter illusions. But that is the heart of Stone's message. The men who fought the Vietnam War, Stone says, can't go back to the same smug attitudes.

He chose to go to Vietnam and he doesn't regret it, but he regrets what happened. There is a great sadness in the film's opening quote from the Bible: "Rejoice oh young man in thy youth." And there is beauty in Stone's memory of the men who fought to stay alive and hold on to their souls: "A grunt can take anything; maybe that's why they call them grunts. They're the best." Rated R. Perhaps that's why the movie has the integrity of a documentary along with the richness and artistry of feature film making. And it contains the ultimate portrait of men at war Manny, a black man, who marvels at Taylor's sympathy for them, "What we got here is a crusader.

You got to be rich to think that way in the first the blue-collar white who wants to waste the whole village of Vietnamese peasants; the ineffectual lieutenant who is what Taylor yearns to avoid, a fake human being. But the ultimate portraits are provided by Willem Dafoe as Elias, the idealist who burns out and by Tom Berenger as Barnes, the overzealous soldier who knows no boundaries in war. Together, Elias and Barnes constitute the Marlon Brando role in "Apoca lypse Now," the wise and legendary leader and the pathetic crackpot who drops out. Taylor is pushed to the breaking point by Barnes and Elias: "It was a struggle to maintain my strength and sanity; I was fighting Barnes and Elias for my soul." His horror at what the men do when their souls are ravaged by war raping children, burning villages, bashing the brains out of a one-legged Vietnamese, shooting a woman in the head as her husband watches is what saves him in the end. "This is out of control; it's not Christian," a soldier says.

Yes, Stone is saying, it was out of control and he wants us to see that. In the end, Taylor says, "We have 1 iMil ftp ISfiEfc'S CLASSIC "A FIRST CLASS WITH TWO OF THIS YEAR'S MOST MEMORABLE SCREEN CHARACTERS. THE MORNING AFTER' GIVES JANE FONDA HER BEST ROLE IN YEARS AND PROVES ONCE AGAIN THAT JEFF BRIDGES IS ONE OF TODAY'S FINEST SNEAK PflEVEWS. UCNM MMMd 1lflA 1 and MM AHitAJuous New comedy thei XTliVi.X WW PG-I3lt AUNrVtattMFKTWE 19S5IhtaDInCompony NOW PLAYING LOEWS MEADOW EIGHT ROCKAWAY TWELVE SE CAUCUS 666-6161 i mm am.i v-f MEAOTOWN KINNELON 936-7900 MIOOLEBROOK TWIN mmm COLONIAL POURTON LAKES 635-8760 RKO CRANFORD TWIN CRANFORO 276 8120 ROBERTS DUNELLEN OUNELLEN 966 2565 FRANKLIN TRIPLEX NUTLET 667 1777 FREEHOLO SIXPLEX FREEHOLD 462-0600 RUTGERS PLAZA SIXPLEX 826 6767 FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP LOEWS SHOWBOAT OUAO EDGE WATER 941 3660 SPARTA TWIN SPARTA 729 5710 STRATHMORE TWIN ABERDEEN TNSHP 563-4141 OAKHURST 493-2277 MORRIS COUNTY MALL TWIN HANOVER TOWNSHIP 539 7966 MOVIE CENTER BRKXTOWN 47T-666I MOVIE CITY FIVE AMBOY MULTIPLEX SAVFICVIUE 7313400 BERKLEY TWIN BERKLEY HTS 464 MM eERNW)SVILLE CINEMA 766 OK- BERNAROSV.LLE CHATHAM CHATHAM 622 CINEMA ALLEY TWIN TOMS RIVER 2T0 6BM CINEMA CENTRE HOWELL 364 4544 CINEMA PLAZA FLEMINGTOh CINEMA tO SIXPLEX SUCCASUNNA M4 666C CINEMA 35 W. CLIFTON QUAD CLiFTO 165 2C2C REDSTONE MieoTiiuumi SATREVILLE 72I-J400 CINEMA SERVICES CmttU ALLEY TOMS RIVER 270 6699 10EWSMUSIC MAKERS CUflU CTK flVEPtU BRICHTOWN 477 6661 NATHAN CIKM PIA2A FIVEPia FIEMINGTON 782 2777 CINEMA SERVICES ClAIMDU TBIFtO CINEMA MONTCLAIR 76 5564 RKO CENTURY RKO CRANFORO TWIN CRANFORD 2769120 LOEWS'MUSIC MAKERS FREEHOLD CINEMA SIX FREEHOLD 462 0600 TRIANGLE HAWTHORNE QUAD HAWTHORNE 427 2828 LOEWS MUSIC MAKERS INTERSTATE TWIN RAMSEY 327 0153 LOEWS MEADOW PLAZA 1 SE CAUCUS 902-9200 LOEWS MUSIC MAKERS MIOLXEBWM TWIN OWHURST 493 2277 RKO CENTURY RKO MILLBURN TWIN MILLBURN 376-OBOO MOVIE CITY FIVEPLEI EAST BRUNSWICK 257 5555 loewsmusk makers THE MOVIES TWIN RED BANK 747-0333 ROCKAWAY 12 ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP 3260666 RKO CENTURY RKO ROUTE 4 TENPLQ PARAMUS 48 7 7909 lOEvrs SHOWBOAT OUAO EDCEWATER 941 3660 GENERAL CINEMA SOMIRVILLE CIRCLE CINEMA TRIPLE! RARITAN 526 0101 CINEMA SERVICES WASHINGTON TRIPIEI WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP 666 8020 LOEWS WAYNE SIXPLEX WAYNE 890 0SO5 THEATRE MANAGEMENT WILLIAMS CENTER TWIN RUTHERFORD 933 3700 HAWTHORNE OUAO HAWTHORNE 427 2626 HYWAY TWIN FAIR LAWN TU 1717 LINDEN OUAO LINOtN 925 6767 ROBERTS MANVILLE CINEMA MANVILLE 526 6999 MAPLEWOOO MAPLEWOOO 763 3100 CAbl ni 5353 MOVIE CITY FIVE WOOOeRIDOE 362 5555 MOVIE CITY TRIPLEX TEANECK 636-3334 UA PASCACK WESTVJOOO 664 3200 RAMSEY CINEMA RAMSEY 625 2090 UA WAYNE WAYNE 694-4136 LOEWS WAYNE SIX WAYNE 890-0505 ROBERTS WELLMONT TRIPLEX MONTCLAIR 763-9500 WILLIAMS TWIN RUTHERFORD 933 3700 WMEfUI ONCftM WO CfMTIMT CCAN COUNTY MAIL MO LOEWS MfAMW Kazai TOTOWA CINEMA TOMt MVin 14-! Ml MDtQl WIMAN AMMV MKTmH CWf MA PLAZA tEVUt1'MI FlVEPUX HNffULOHHM NJ1TM WWWWtCI SQQftlK 1 wkmwcjc iim SSEX 6MEJ tot wtmmc ium mi omnoi ni-rm CMfMA CCNTER cm mcoTowNtM-MT UNOfNTWMnMW CINEMA UNWOOO CIDAH ONOWI 1H-14U FCt M4-MM AMCMWU PASCACK vtiTwoootMnn MALTf TMPIEX flTFCU)IM I1M ROCKAWAT It mom MfKtOML ONE MA DOOM S4HW THE MOVIES AT MIOOUTOWN (NOfMETOWN Ti 'ON OIHCni.CM(liU tHMWSWRT PLAZA tMHWiiumwim UlaltEJisneHlUortd 1.