I’m a big fan of war movies, usually World War II, but there are a glut of Vietnam era war films and more often than not, they just have a harder time connecting with me. After Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now, what else needs to be said? If I were to pick a third Vietnam-era film to elevate to the same pedestal as those other two, is Oliver Stone’s Platoon.

Sure, Charlie Sheen has gone off the deep end lately, but Platoon is probably his finest performance. Propped up with a supporting cast of Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, John C. McGinley (as a fantastically gutless character), and even Johnny Depp (briefly) and Forest Whitaker, this film is easily up there as one of Oliver Stone’s best. Telling the story of a rich kid who joins up to find how horrible war is.

It’s a tale of injustice and the indignity of war. It’s heart breaking and thrilling. It’s everything you’d want in a war film.

The Blu-ray is, as most Blu-rays are, is stunning. I’ve been hearing of a backlash by some people that the quality is “too good” on Blu-ray and that’s why they haven’t switched, but I would dare them to watch a movie like Platoon and say that. It has a detail and level of clarity that no one has seen since it played in theatres and this film is so gorgeously shot (even though it’s reasonably gritty) you wouldn’t want it any other way. The night scenes are especially of better visual fidelity than I’d seen and… it really is just like having a movie theatre at home.

The 25th anniversary release of the film comes with a host of special features, a welcome upgrade from my bare bones DVD version. There are two commentaries, one by Oliver Stone and another by a military advisor. Both deserve your attention. There are also more documentaries than I could wrap my head around, both about the making of the film and the war itself.

For anyone interested in both the history of war and great films, this is the perfect mashup.

And I can’t understate how good the movie is. It’s moving and nerve-wracking, thrilling and emotional.

You can get the 25th anniversary Blu-ray of Platoon from Amazon for less than $17. At that price, it’s a steal.