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| “ | Everybody gotta die sometime, Red... | „ |
| ~ Bob Barnes giving his life motto to Sgt. O'Neil. |
| “ | Shut up! Shut up and take the pain! Take the pain! | „ |
| ~ Barnes as he gags the agonized Tex, now missing a hand. |
Sgt. Robert "Bob" Barnes is the main antagonist of Oliver Stone’s 1986 Vietnam War film Platoon. He was a Sergeant in a platoon of the 25th Infantry Division, with him taking informal command of it over the inexperienced Lt. Wolfe together with Sergeant Elias.
He was portrayed by Tom Berenger, who also played Jack Landsford in Sliver, and Stan Gursky in Training Day.
Biography[]
Platoon[]
The platoon is situated in the frontlines of the Vietnam War near the Cambodian border. The inexperienced Lt. Wolfe of the 2nd platoon of the 25th Infantry Division has his command replaced informally in favor of the battle-scarred yet stoic Barnes together with Sgt. Elias.
After a brief exchange with Wolfe, Barnes decides the newer recruits, including Taylor, are to be selected for a patrol over the more experienced veterans. On the first night near the ruins of a temple, surrounded by the vast, unforgiving jungles, the platoon is ambushed after Junior falls asleep on his shift. After a brief skirmish, a new recruit, Gardner, is killed, whilst another, Tex, has his hand blown off. Barnes gags the amputated Tex and reprimands him for not "taking his pain" as Taylor is (mistakenly) blamed - and condemned by Barnes.
Taylor is evacuated to a hospital as he was hit during the ambush, though he soon recovers and is introduced to the "heads" by King - an inner circle of close recruits led by Elias, spending their time partying and taking drugs. He quickly befriends most of the "heads". On the contrary, Barnes leads another group of "hardened" recruits whom drink and play cards.
Barnes during the ambush.
"The motherfuckers..."
On New Years Day, 1968, the platoon is sent on another patrol. VC Bunkers are discovered, and two recruits, Sal and Sandy, investigate. However, as the two prepare to leave, the bunker is revealed to be a booby trap and detonates, mutilating and killing them both. Barnes notably appears disturbed by this, being seen curled up sitting atop a rock, smoking a cigarette with a solemn stare. Elias stays to call reinforcements and clear the perimeter. Simultaneously, Specialist Manny goes missing. As the platoon advances down a riverbank, his mutilated corpse is soon discovered, tied to a post, a grisly scene that horrifies the platoon. Barnes displays his iconic thousand-yard-stare in this scene.
The Village[]
Barnes before killing the woman.
The platoon heads uphill to a village, when a VC is spotted downhill attempting to escape. Barnes guns him down with three shots from his carbine in cold blood, then continuing to search the village as if nothing had happened.
One of his followers, "Bunny", kills a pig with his shotgun, much to the horror of the villagers. A cache of weapons is unraveled. Barnes discovers civilians hiding under a hole, and, after failing to evacuate most of them, throws a grenade in it, killing those inside. Bunny kills a disabled boy by bashing his brains out with the stock of his shotgun, bragging about his act. Barnes interrogates the head of the village, an elderly man, with Lerner translating the exchange. Barnes hollers insults and demands to know his affinity with the VC. His wife soon approaches him, where Barnes shoots her dead, as the rest of the platoon watch in horror. This triggers a young girl, presumably the heads' daughter, to begin crying. Barnes drags her out and puts her in a chokehold, holding her at gunpoint in front of her father, whilst still angrily questioning the (now sobbing) heads' status as a VC.
Just as Barnes is about to pull the trigger, Elias discovers him and yells at him, prompting Barnes to release the girl. Elias approaches in disgust, and after seeing the corpse of the woman, he swings at Barnes, and a physical fight breaks out. The fight is broken up by Wolfe, who is criticized for his lack of intervention during the womans murder. Wolfe orders for the village to be scorched. Two of his followers attempt to gang-rape a girl, an atrocity witnessed by Taylor.
Elias reports Barnes' crimes to Captain Harris, but does not remove him considering the lack of personnel, but suggests court-martialing. Two of his followers, the aforementioned Bunny and O'Neil, overhear the exchange and suggests Barnes "frag" him. Barnes takes this personally.
On the next patrol, the platoon is once again ambushed, resulting in the heavy losses. Wolfe orders an airstrike but relays inaccurate coordinates, leading to even more casualties. Elias, Taylor, and a few men detach from the platoon to flank the VC. Barnes walks through the firefight callous and confronts Wolfe, stopping the airstrike and ordering a retreat.
The work of Barnes.
Barnes goes out to look for Elias, and as he aims his carbine down behind a log, Elias appears out of the entourage of tropical foliage, smiling at Barnes. Barnes, however, does not smile back, and Elias realizes. Barnes shoots Elias three times in cold blood, leaving him for the dead. Just then, Taylor appears, asking for Elias and his whereabouts, to which he expressionlessly informs him of his "death" and the presence of VC.
The platoon is evacuated onboard helicopters, and as they take off, they witness a mortally wounded Elias dash out whilst being trailblazed by the VC. His rescue is suggested, but ultimately, Elias is shot many more times and succumbs to the VC, lying on his knees, raising his arms skyward in a final act of defiance. Taylor glances back at Barnes, realizing what he had done...
"Death? What'd y'all know about death?"
Back at the base, Taylor attempts to sway his "heads" towards turning against Barnes, but Barnes overhears Taylors' desperation and taunts him, sipping on alcohol. Taylor lunges at Barnes but is quickly restraint and held at knifepoint by Barnes, where he slashes his cheek.
The next day, the platoon is sent to maintain defensive positions over fears of an upcoming attack. Rhah is promoted to Sergeant and fills in the role of the deceased Elias. King is relieved of his duties and sent home after finishing his tour. O'Neil also attempts to follow King, but is stopped by Barnes. Junior attempts to fake trench foot by spraying mosquito repellent on his foot, an act Barnes recognizes and bullies him for.
The Final Battle[]
I wouldn't want this be the last thing I ever saw...
As dusk sets in, the VC launch an ambitious assault, where RPGs are introduced. The American perimeter is broken through, and Barnes gets lost amidst the mayhem, whilst most his followers, including Bunny and Junior, are killed. An NVA suicide bomber destroys the bases' headquarters, and Wolfe is killed alongside many other recruits. Captain Harris desperately orders an airstrike, just as Taylor goes out to look for Barnes. Barnes kills two VC soldiers, but is shot in the leg and disabled in the process. Taylor eventually discovers Barnes, where he is attacked and pinned down. Barnes' eyes illuminate a demonic red and just as he about to deliver a finishing blow to Taylor with a shovel, an F-4 Phantom releases its' napalm payload nearby, knocking them both out.
Death[]
Barnes' final moments.
The next day, after dawn had set, Barnes regains consciousness and attempts in vain to crawl out of the battlefield. Just as he rolls over on his back behind a tree, a shellshocked Taylor appears - wielding a Type 56 rifle he had captured off of a dead VC soldier. Barnes initially requests for a medic, but after identifying Taylor, requests for him to "do it". Barnes is immediately shot three times and killed on the spot.
Personality[]
| “ | Talking about killing? Y'all experts? Y'all know about killing? I'd like to hear about it, potheads. Why do you smoke this shit? So as to escape from reality? Me, I don't need this shit. I am reality. There's the way it ought to be. And there's the way it is. Elias was full of shit. Elias was a crusader. Now, I got no fight with any man who does what he's told, but when he don't, the machine breaks down. And when the machine breaks down, we break down. And I ain't gonna allow that in any of you. Not one. Y'all love Elias. Oh, you wanna kick ass. Yeah. Well, here I am, all by my lonesome, and ain't nobody gonna know. Six of you boys against me. Kill me. Huh. I shit on all of you...Death? What do you know about death?... | „ |
| ~ Barnes' long speech to Taylor and the others, explaining his actions and expressing his personality. |
Ever since that he was a soldier, Bob Barnes became famously known as an extremely ruthless, sarcastic, uncaring, even cruel, cold and nearly unpredictable individual from the very beginning, which becomes proven the more the film progresses, but he is very sarcastic for most of the times.
His near unimaginable cruelty is shown before the soldiers in the platoon soon as he commands them all to destroy and burn the entire village into which they arrived after an ambush; there, the soldiers go insane on Barnes' command while some of them even attempt raping two little Vietnamese girls (although whether Barnes actually gave them permission to do so or Bunny and Junior simply snuck off with those girls without the sarge knowing is left unclear).
His dark and cold nature is far more shown when he causes a "civil war" within the platoon due to his extremely violent methods of action as a soldier, yet, he is still a war hero, as his most famous signature is his facial disfigurement from surviving 7 shots, however, half of the platoon goes to Barnes' leadership while others, including Taylor, sides with Elias, increasingly enraging Barnes until he succeeds in one intention of his; causing Elias to die when he shoots him nearly to death as the two encountered each other during an ambush battle in the jungle region to which one soldier mistakenly led them.
Despite this, when they fly away with the helicopter and watching Elias truly die at the hands of the Viet Cong, Barnes is showing somewhat signs of humanity, yet returns to his darkly cruel nature when Chris learns of his action, causing the two to fight briefly. Prior to his fight with Taylor at the base camp; he is seeing himself as "the reality" and seems to know about death itself before leaving the room in cold mood. His toughness as a military man is also shown when Taylor becomes stung by red ants and he calls him "a simple son of a bitch", deeming him as not a soldier. At the battle in the camp base itself; Barnes finally unleashes his murderous and wild nature and even attempts killing Chris, until they both faint from the suicide attack of an NVA soldier.
At his very final moments of life, he is accepting his dark fate, knowing he has to die as he told O'Neil that everyone had to die sometime, a point of view which he is known for.
Abilities[]
- High Intelligence: Barnes is known as a wise and smart person, knowing how to act wisely when he gets into situations of fight.
- Exceptional Military Training: Barnes is a gifted military fighter from a presumably very young age, which he uses every single time he or his platoon are in the fire lines at the war, and he is not ashamed of using it against the innocent.
- Marksmanship: Thanks to his gifted military training, Barnes is also a highly experienced and professional marksman.
Reception[]
Tom Berenger's portrayal of Sgt. Barnes received highly positive reviews from the audience and the critics, which praised the psychological portrayal he got into the character.
Quotes[]
| “ | Barnes:You don't tell me how to run my war, Elias! Now you go cryin' and rat-f**ckin' the brigade on your own time, but out here, you belong to me! Now move!
Sgt. Elias: You're an a**hole, Barnes. |
„ |
| ~ Barnes and Elias arguing |
| “ | Lt. Wolf: Excuse me, Sergeant. But in front of the men, I think it's necessary for me to give the orders. Barnes: Yes sir. |
„ |
| ~ Barnes showing his sarcasm to Wolf. |
| “ | The motherfuckers. | „ |
| ~ Barnes showing anger after finding a deceased colleague |
| “ | Martin, get your boots on. And the next time I catch you spraying skeeter repellent on your fucking feet, I'm gonna court-martial your n---er ass. | „ |
| ~ Barnes showing racism against Junior. |
| “ | Barnes: That cocksucker knows what I'm saying! He understands. Don't you, pop? Ace: Goddamn right he does. |
„ |
| “ | Red, your guys stay in, but you go! I need veterans out there. | „ |
| ~ Barnes commands O'Neil to send him veterans. |
| “ | Do it. | „ |
| ~ Barnes' last words before Chris puts him out of his misery |
Trivia[]
- Tom Berenger, Barnes' actor, along with many others, were simulated in boot camp for two weeks to prepare for the role.
- Interestingly, Barnes uses the Colt 653P, an export model not present in the actual Vietnam war. Since filming took place in the Philippines, the 653P was what was available and issued to mimic the identical CAR-15/XM177.
- Barnes' infamous facial disfigurement was made from hours of makeup attachment on Berenger's face.
- Despite being Pure Evil, Dale Dye (who played Captain Harris in the movie and was Oliver Stone's real-life military advisor (and who also appeared in four more of Stone's movies (Born on the Fourth of July (1989), JFK (1991), Heaven & Earth (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994))) said on the DVD commentary that Barnes was something of a tragic character, being so broken by war and understanding that his war crimes were so unforgivable that he ultimately became a death seeker, hence the several battle scars and why he goads Chris and his allies into killing him in the end.
- Berenger also played the non-villainous Gunnery Sergeant Hayes in Born on the Fourth of July.
External Links[]
- Bob Barnes on the Pure Evil Wiki