Apocalypse Now.

AN films a real life slaughter of an animal taking place which is why it is one of the worst movies of all time.
Fact and not opinion.
Fuck Frank.
He is an asshole.
So if I had to choose, Platoon is the better one since there are no scenes of animal cruelty or at least real life ones that I know of or remember.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

Then you're not really in the right place, are you?
Personally, I never cared for Apocalypse Now. So for me it's Platoon all the way, above FMJ and
way
above AN.

Neither one.
I ****ing hate war movies.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

Platoon, hands down.

Apocalypse Now easily, as said it stands the test of time way better. It's also not a pure war movie but more a movie that happens to be set during the Vietnam war.
Having seen war movies like Black Hawk down Platoon just didn't stand the test of time as well.
I can imagine that at the time it was highly regarded though.

They are two different movies and both stand on their own merits. Platoon is more of a realistic remembrance of someone who actually served in 'nam as a grunt; while AN is based on Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' and is a little bit on the artistic side. I'm sure most already know the Heart of Darkness connection, but for those that don't - AN makes much more sense, especially regarding imperialism and a defacto enslavement of an entire people. Not that I fully agree with that, but I can see some similarities with the two.

Apocalypse Now is MUCH better. I gave AN an 8 and was almost tempted to give a 9. This I gave a 6. Also, it was funny/dumb to use Charlie to narrate, as his dad did so much better.

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I like Platoon, a lot. I must, I've watched it a bunch of times over the last 30 years and enjoyed it every time. But compared to Apocalypse Now, it's simplistic and pedestrian. It's not even a contest, AN destroys Platoon.

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I guess on the Platoon message board most people will favor Platoon over Apocalypse now, but AN wins for me for the sheer experience of watching it, like no other film I know. Platoon is just a very good war movie but AN is a level or two above it.

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Uh Platoon would be my guess. But Apocalypse is pretty close. I mentioned in other thread that I see Platton as definitive Vietnam war film.

Apocalypse Now; Redux
Apples & Oranges though.

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One of the greatest villains in cinema history (Col. Kurtz) and was really the first Vietnam moviehell, the first war movie period to really portray the extreme psychological horrors of war with such gritty realism.
"The Green Berets" was the first Vietnam War film and it was made while the war was still going on.
Platoon is almost cartoonish in comparison.
You obviously weren't alive in the 80's if you think that.
Platoon was by far the better film and for once I agreed with the Academy Awards which named Platoon best picture of 1986 and didn't do the same for Apocalypse Now in 1979 which lost to Kramer vs Kramer.

Apocalypse Now, hands down.
One of the greatest villains in cinema history (Col. Kurtz) and was really the first Vietnam moviehell, the first war movie period to really portray the extreme psychological horrors of war with such gritty realism.
Platoon is almost cartoonish in comparison.

why don't YOU tell us what YOU think? huh?
suzycreamcheese RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008

..and we see an America that has no camaraderie.

This was an important and major theme of PLATOON. Since Vietnam was a war being fought by men, who really had no solid compounded reasoning as to why they were fighting and what they were doing over thereunlike WWII.

APOCALYPSE NOW is pure Hollywood, and thus purely topical for the time

APOCALYPSE NOW impresses me more with it's technical qualities, rather than any real profound message that it has to deliver about the Vietnam War..other than that it can make you crazy. Plays out more like an adventure film down a mysterious river. The setting for the story was changed from the Congo, so Vietman was just really a topical backdrop as you have mentioned.

PLATOON in a landslide.
It is basically a modern version of the timeless classic ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. The chief difference is that they battle more among themselves, and we see an America that has no camaraderie.
This is not the fault of the Peace lovers, but of the Barnes and his ilk. Their insistence on spreading terror for which they could see coming, having been in one part of it, enabled them to always stay safe, while their comrades were massacred. There were enemy troopers of the same ilk, who engaged in the same circle, always knowing when "not to be in the village".
APOCALYPSE NOW is pure Hollywood, and thus purely topical for the time. It has no chance of passing the test of time. Once its fans hit old age, it will wear away like a bad stench everyone shoos away.
I fart in your general direction

It is very tough to compare. Platoon is more based on the experience of Vietnam. Apocalypse Now Is almost like a bad dream meets Alice in Wonderland. They are both excellent movies.

I'd rank AN ahead of FMJ, but otherwise I'd agree with you.
But to me, Kubrick and Coppola are making these sort of surreal, grander, theological statements with their films. Whereas platoon is a very heartfelt drama. Different kinds of war films really.
Greatest Films Not in the IMDB Top 250
http://www.imdb.com/list/bc9x1QAFat0/

This is the case, no question. I like both FMJ and AN, but they don't portray war as thoroughly as Platoon. This is also the opinion of any war veteran I've talked about these movies with. FMJ focuses on the training and part in Vietnam is too weird. AN is a story of one guy traveling down a river with not much actual war action. The villain is a ex-soldier who now think he's god, what the beep? The only battle scene is when a comical cavalry(I'm figuring from the stupid hat) is leading soldiers to fight on a beach because it's good to surf there. What the beep, seriously? AN narrating, music and visuals are awesome but the main plot is pretty stupid and has nothing to do with real war. My list is: P>FMJ>AN. It's very hard to convince Coppola fanboys who won't accept that newer movies are sometimes better than old ones