FORMAT: DVD
There was a time when the DTV action market was filled with low budget Nam actioners in the wake of Rambo and Platoon. With Platoon Leader, you can relive that short, but memorable era of home video entertainment.
As far as Namsploitation flicks go, this one is OK. It was produced by Cannon and stars Michael (American Ninja) Dudikoff as a green lieutenant who is sent to Nam to whip a platoon of soldiers into shape. The disillusioned, weary grunts have been in the shit for months and resent their wet behind the ears superior who’s never seen combat. He eventually learns what his men know all too well: War is hell.
Aaron Norris directs (in a rare outing in which his brother Chuck isn’t the star) with a workmanlike competence. He does a better job directing the various gunfire battles and explosions than he does with the drama, but I guess that’s to be expected. While Platoon Leader is certainly watchable, it’s honestly nothing we haven’t seen before, and done better I might add.
At least the performances are pretty good. Dudikoff is fine in the lead, even if his major character trait is to be constantly wrong about everything. William Smith shows up for a little bit as his superior who sends him into battle without sufficient firepower or man support. Robert F. Lyons is also solid as Dudikoff’s second in command who dutifully follows him into battle. The rest of the grunts are the usual assortment of cliches and interchangeable soldier characters that are usually found in these sorts of things.
If you’re a war movie buff, you probably won’t mind the cliched plot and characters, so you’ll probably enjoy it more than I did. As a Dudikoff fan, I’d say it makes for an evening of perfectly agreeable entertainment. It’s just that it’s more than a tad generic and nearly just as forgettable.
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