Watch the ‘greatest war movie ever made’ this weekend before it leaves Netflix

In the age of streaming, we’re spoiled with both brand-new releases and established classics when it comes to choosing which films to pick from.

But if putting a deadline on availability helps then a title dubbed ‘excellent beyond words’ and possibly the ‘best war movie ever made’ is to leave Netflix in a matter of days.

So if you’ve not seen it before then this weekend is the perfect time to sit down and fill that gap in your cinematic knowledge by watching Platoon.

From filmmaker Oliver Stone, the 1986 movie is famous for its anti-war message, inspired by Stone’s own experiences as a US soldier who had served in Vietnam.

Platoon follows idealistic student Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), who volunteers for combat duty in Vietnam in 1967 only to find the reality of a war zone far tougher and more brutal than he could ever even have imagined.

Infighting between the unit’s two wilful sergeants, who hold opposing views of local villagers and approaches to the conflict, ultimately ends up pitting the American soldiers against each other as well as their enemy.

Platoon also starred Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger as Sgt Elias and Staff Sgt Barnes respectively, as well as Keith David, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Dillon, Scrubs star John C. McGinley and a young Johnny Depp.

Multiple audience members have taken to Rotten Tomatoes to celebrate Platoon as the greatest war film in cinema history, giving it a towering 93% score 40 years after its release, with Jack F adding: ‘When you think “war movie”, you think either Full Metal Jacket or Platoon.’

‘An absolute tour de force in cinema. We become fully invested in each character and find ourselves immersed in their world as if we were drafted as well,’ praised another fan, while Lobo T called it ‘a powerful, painful, must-see film’

‘I watched this as a teenager and it had a huge impact on me. Watching it again, almost 40 years later, it still delivers,’ insisted Kenneth L, while Shane O called it ‘a harrowing watch from beginning to end’.

‘Some scenes in this film will haunt me for life. It’s what I feel realistic depictions of the horrors of war are,’ they added, while another audience member announced: ‘Best war film ever made in my opinion. Excellent beyond words!’

Esteemed critic Roger Ebert called Platoon the best film of 1986 in a full-mark review and later included it in his top 10 list of the best films from the decade.

‘Platoon is filled with one fine performance after another, and one can only wish that every person who saw the cartoonish war fantasy that was Rambo would buy a ticket to Platoon and bear witness to something closer to the truth,’ wrote the Chicago Tribune’s critic Gene Siskel at the time of its release.

‘Stone’s eye-blistering images possess an awesome power, which sets the senses reeling and leaves the mind disturbed,’ read Time Out’s retrospective review while Total Film called it ‘a still-resonant classic’.

If this has whetted your appetite, you need to be quick about it as Platoon’s final day on Netflix in the UK is March 3.

Stone initially faced great difficulty in getting Platoon made as it was about a now deeply unpopular conflict among Americans, with studios also then arguing that the success of other films about Vietnam, The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now, represented a pinnacle of the genre that couldn’t be topped.

However, it went on to be a major box office hit, earning $137.9million (£109.6m) on a budget of just $6m (£4.5m) which made it one of the highest-grossing films of the year in the US.

Platoon was also nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning four, which included best film and best director for Stone; it has also been preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in America for being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’.

The film did receive backlash alongside the praise though, with some Vietnam veterans taking exception to the film showing drug use among soldiers, the killing of civilians and portraying officers as ineffectual, which they saw as misrepresentative and trading on stereotypes.

There was also criticism of its depiction of African-American troops due to Platoon’s lack of Black officers and three key Black soldiers being portrayed as cowards.

Platoon is streaming in the UK on Netflix until March 3, 2026.

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