Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

ManBehindTheMask63 "Platoon Leader"...what a generic and terrible name for a fairly emotional and deep war film. I'm sure the film's title, in addition to starring Michael Dudikoff and being released by Cannon, turned a lot of people off from checking this movie out. But Aaron Norris does a superb job of balancing B-movie action with harrowing and emotional drama. Dudikoff is passable (as usual) as the lead platoon leader...but Paul F. Lyons really lends the film it's credibility and gravitas. Lyons' performance is great and one of the many highlights of the film. The budget was surprisingly solid for a B-movie and the supporting cast was great. War movies tend to have a repetitive nature about them...but "Platoon Leader" features some impressive and original moments. Like when one of the soldiers overdoses on drugs or how the Vietcong kill Vietnamese they believe to be aiding soldiers with a death letter stuck to the victims bodies. It has it's B-movie moments but it also has some heart and great human moments. I was surprised to be as invested in the soldiers as I was and "Platoon Leader" was a solid war film that deserves a better known reputation.

xbrad68 Platoon Leader reminds me a lot of the book Sand In the Wind by Robert Roth because there is a body going over a waterfall scene in both. I was just thinking about the character of Chalice Skating away near the thin tripwire of a new day. For the record I am nonviolent although in my ten years three months in the Canadian Forces I led some neat firefights using blank rounds. In one I spotted an ambush but did not break the treeline, had my guys go into the prone (laying down) and had my riflemen and machine gunner open up. Then because it was night time I could tell by the weapons flashes that we were up against a larger force led by a Regular Force Captain who ironicly broke contact and retreated. Low on rounds and outnumbered my force did not pursue. I may have earned Captain Miakowskis respect that night since that was the second of two firefights with his patrol. One night I had a guy in my patrol fall off a bridge into a creek in below zero weather. Luckily we had spare clothes and took him into an abandoned barn out of the wind. I let him use my combat scarf and he was OK for the rest of the weekend training. My French Canadien friends used to talk about the importance of the mish or mission and dream about having beers at the Zanz or Zanzibar Lady stripper club in Toronto where a Van Damme movie was filmed. One night at my Armories I was acting 14 platoon commander and had my troops work the phones notifying people about the next training night. From my Special Service Force Intelligence Course background I have always been obsessed with finding the other guys Orbats or Orders of Battle. This methodology has served me well helping Canada Britain and America. Check out the better Vietnam War film Hamburger Hill.

uncledavey80 I had a lot of fun at uni fast forwarding to the frankly risible lines of dialogue, fantasy-world scenes and other complete bollocks. It is very entertaining because it is so rubbish. MD is terrible in it, the script stinks, the acting is appalling, there's a wafer thin budget, the location could be somebody's back garden. Was there a military adviser on this? If there was he did a bang up job of ballsing it up. It isn't authentic in the slightest.However for all this, it is dreadful example of film making and war film making in particular, one which I would try and make everybody watch at least once all the way through. Then I'd get drunk and fast forward to the funny bits and wooden lines.I'll leave you with this thought: "...some people are in the shoe business..."Check out the bit with the heroin overdose and two sets of overacting, the 'oscar speech' (see above), the bit where he goes "deeeeeeead's gooooooood!!!!", the terrible pyros, just see it!!!!!!!!!! Coz it has to be seen to be believed.Canon you say? I would never have guessed.

capo-4 If you want to see the Vietnam War as it was experienced by a real Platoon Leader, this is it. Authentic, down to the mannerisms, slang, terror and disillusion of it all, this film has none of the wierd phantasms of Apocalypse Now or the left wing political hype of Oliver Stone's Platoon.Richard C. Caporiccio, LTC, US Army, Retired, former Platoon Leader, 3rd Battalion, 503rd Infantry (Airborne), LZ Uplift, Republic of Vietnam from Jan 2 to December 24, 1969.