Sgt. Barnes vs. Sgt. Elias

The scene that stands out the most in my mind of the two movies is in Platoon when the soldiers enter the village. This is when the conflicts between each other comes to a climax. Everyone is on edge. First, Chris goes out of control with the mental ill boy and shoots the ground repeatedly, yelling for him to "dance." This was important because it really showed for the first time that the war was getting to Chris. Even though the soldier with him was egging Chris on to kill the boy, he doesn't. Unfortunately, the soldier that was egging him on beats the boy to death. This scene was incredibly violent, I couldn't even watch. It is sad that no one was shocked when he did this and he simply made a joke about beating the brains out of the boy. This was very intense. When Sgt. Barnes makes an illegal killing of the older woman and then almost shoots the little girl, no one stops him, not even the Lieutenant. The Lieutenant does not have any authority throughout the war and I believe this is what causes the majority of the problems within the platoon. Luckily Sgt. Elias appears before anyone else is shot, however, they get in a fight and after this point in the movie, the platoon is divided, half with Barnes and half with Elias. This is the most key scene in the movie because it shows how everyone goes insane and this scene leads to Elias being killed by his own platoon. 

While still in the village, some of the soldiers are gang-raping one of the young girls from the village when Chris walks up and stops them. This is the first time Chris stands up to the others guys about how disgusting they are being. It really showed the courage he had and that no matter how bad things are, there is still a difference in doing what is right or doing something that is wrong. This platoon becomes divided, "good" vs. "evil" and is a huge turning point Oliver Stone made.