According to Oliver Stone, he intentionally cast Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe against type (Berenger, who played the ruthless, sadistic Sgt. Barnes, was mostly famous at that point for playing good guys, while Dafoe, who had primarily played villains up until then, played the heroic, compassionate Sgt. Elias). The casting worked, and both men received Oscar nominations for their work.
On the Jay Mohr podcast Charlie Sheen said that the intensity Tom Berenger brought to his role of Sgt. Barnes was the result of a recent divorce.

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It was a very powerful performance. I completely agree that he should have won the Oscar. Michael Caine was good in "Hannah and Her Sisters" but not better than Berenger IMO. I think Willem Dafoe gave a better performance too.

Tom Berenger is the kind of beep you admire in that movie, ttal badass and well acted.

He was a soldier in
Platoon
in the army, not a Marine. He played a Marine in the
Sniper
series.
There are no more friendly civilians, sir.

He owns in that movie, indeed. One of the most realistic characters I've ever seen. He can behave so evil and realistic. Movies like Sniper and that kind a movies weren't that good, in fact, I believe Oliver Stone had bring him to that level of Platoon.
Platoon, The Thing, Devil's Rejects

I think all the marines films fits him. PLatoon, Sniper etc.
He has a hel l of a face And great actor not un Rambotito like Stallone

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Yes, indeed he was fantastic in this role sadly i havent really seen him in anything else. If anyone could make some suggestions with some of his other good films/tv shows i would be most appreciative. Thank you.

haha totally
"Cause I felt like it!"

I thought he was sexy in platoon what a badass.

I take this back now that I have seen "The Field"
The Day Of The Dead

this guy was very believable as a sargeant. I could just sense that he was that sargeant who is a real SOB. the oscar was robbed from him.

Perhaps this point could be taken more seriously if there weren't scattered capital letters interspersed throughout. It's a movie thread, not a ransom note

Ooooooookkkkkkkaaaaaay can we concentrate on Tom. He didnt play on Platoon Only. This Film was really Cool. The Whole Crew played Fantastic. And somany Actors got Famous through this Film. But when we talk about Tom, then how comes, always Mentioned the one and Only Film Platoon. There are others where he played. Dig?

You seriously need to get off of Tom Berenger. You Dyck ridin him a little bit too much.
All I have in this world is my balls and my word and I don't break them for no one

Hes good in everything and he is one fine man
Ashley~
http://www.myspace.com/39022256

That is my #1 war movie but also sad. I thought those scars on his face was real.

No, not only "good" role. It may well be his only brilliant role, but he has other good ones as well. My favorites are Betrayed, Someone To Look Over Me, The Big Chill, Major League and One Man's Hero, to name a few.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

Platoon is his only good role
The Day Of The Dead

Yeah, he is brilliant; however, in the DVD-interviews on Platoon, Oliver Stone described Berenger as having had the image of a rather 'bland, sentimental TV-hero; I really hope he doesn't return to that; saw him in a relatively recent Hallmark production with an amazingly tired-looking Sibyll Shepherd; it was horrible beyond words. I hope he'll never do that again, he's far too good to be doing such 'dime a dozen' parts

Yes, do, they are extremely interesting and I love all the interviews. The cast is so awesome. Even Charlie Sheen whom I do not like usually was very good. I don't know whose idea it was to cast Tom in the sgt Barnes role but it was a brilliant piece of casting! Another great example of finding an exact match for the role is Vinnie Jones in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. Guy Ritchie was originally thinking of "an actor who is like Vinnie Jones" and somebody suggested him they should ask Vinnie first
. They did and Vinnie accepted the role. Awesome!
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

i havent seen the extras yet im gonna have to check that out,
and as for johnny depp he does look like a little teen in that movie

Have you seen any extras on the Platoon DVD? They interview many of the cast members. Johnny Depp is sooooooooooo darn young, he looks about 14 in this movie. Tom is very nice and warm and Willem Dafoe is just great. "The next morning I opened the curtains in my hotel room and I saw the revolution had started!"
They had to change the location.
Oh yes, I would love to see more of sgt Barnes, too
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing