Platoon & Full Metal Jacket

Both Platoon and Full Metal Jacket intensely highlighted strains between US soldiers during the Vietnam War. I believe Platoon gave the best idea of how the war wasn’t just being fought between the US and the North Vietnamese armies, but also being fought between one another.
This was the main idea of the movie from the time Chris Taylor stepped off the helicopter in South Vietnam to his final narration that ended the film. In Taylor’s first note to his Grandmother, he explained that no one in his platoon even cared to know his name because he was the “new guy.” I’m sure this was the case during the Vietnam War, but I believe it’s completely ridiculous to treat someone on your team more like they’re the enemy. As the movie went on Taylor became more accepted by his platoon, which anyone could have predicted. However, the constant tension between Sergeant Elias and Staff Sergeant Barnes provided the best depiction of how US soldiers fought amongst themselves. It began when Taylor’s friend, Gardner, was killed by the NVA during a night watch. The power hungry Sergeant Barnes made a harsh example of Gardner when explaining what would happen if someone fell asleep during their shift on night watch. This made everyone uncomfortable, including Taylor and Sgt. Elias. The tension increased when the platoon raided a Vietnamese village and Barnes shot an innocent woman. After seeing what happened, Elias smacked Barnes on the side of the face with the butt of his gun and a fight ensued.
During this same scene in the Vietnamese Village, another idea of the movie is emphasized. That is the idea that many soldiers lose their sanity if they are in the War too long. Chris Taylor came into Vietnam very educated and level-headed in comparison to his fellow platoon members. However, during this particular scene he loses his self control and severely teases an obviously disabled civilian, telling him to “dance” (he had one good leg) and shooting around his feet. This intensity from Taylor seemed to come out of nowhere, and even he realized that after his rant ended. After this scene Taylor seemed to grow closer to Sgt. Elias after they discussed the War and Elias explained he thought the USA was doomed. While they grew closer, it became more obvious something violent was going to happen between Elias and Barnes. It finally happened when Elias separated himself from a few of his squad members, including Taylor, during a Vietnamese ambush. Barnes ordered the squad members to retreat, and when they did he walked up to Sgt. Elias and shot him to the ground. When Taylor ran into Barnes he was told that Elias was shot and killed by the Vietnamese. As Taylor, Barnes, and other members of the platoon were leaving the scene in a helicopter, Taylor saw Elias running for his life from the enemy. He realized at that moment that Barnes lied to him and was a murderer. From that point on Taylor sought revenge against Barnes for Elias’ death. He finally got it in the aftermath of a heated ambush, when Taylor shot Barnes dead. Taylor closed the movie by explaining that the war was difficult to win when fighting was frequently occurring between fellow members of the United States Army.
Full Metal Jacket seemed like two movies in one. The boot camp chapter could have been one movie, while the actual Vietnam chapter could have been another. Although the boot camp scenes in Full Metal Jacket were more humorous than Platoon overall, the similarities between drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman and Sergeant Barnes were striking. Both men were trying to be a badass and constantly used intense cursing to get people to listen to or respect them. I feel like both movies wanted to get the point across that there would always be a hierarchy in the Army and that soldiers intend to take it seriously. Another ironic similarity is the fact that both these men were murdered…by their own soldiers. In Full Metal Jacket, a young man Sergeant Hartman called “Private Pyle” eventually lost his sanity after being perpetually harassed by the drill instructor and murdered him before taking his own life. This again ties into the idea that the war was not just fought against the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong, it was also being fought in our own barracks. Full Metal Jacket did a better job of explaining some important events during the war, such as the Tet Offensive. Platoon seemed to stick to the original idea of “Us against Us,” but Full Metal Jacket mapped out more of the war itself. Both movies ended with a narration, and this is where they differ. While Chris Taylor talked about the corruption of the War from the US side of things at the end of Platoon, Private Joker focused more on being alive. The Joker seemed to be content with his life, but Taylor seemed more upset than anything. Although Platoon stuck to one story line the entire time and Full Metal Jacket seemed to jump around, I found Full Metal Jacket much more entertaining. Sergeant Hartman’s near 10 minute rant at the beginning of the film was enough to win me over in the humor category. Also, everyone loves a good ending, and Full Metetal Jack has one while Platoon left me feeling depressed.