The film won four Oscars, including Best Picture.

Set during the Vietnam War, the story follows a young, naive American man named Chris (Charlie Sheen) who enlists in the US Army.

Once he is on the ground in Vietnam in the middle of battle, however, his idealism fades.

Chris comes to find himself caught in a battle of wills between two superiors - Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), who believes nearby villagers are harbouring Viet Cong soldiers, and Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe), who has a more sympathetic view of the locals.

This infighting "ends up pitting the soldiers against each other as well as against the enemy".

Based on the movie's writer-director Oliver Stone's own experience serving in Vietnam, Platoon's stunning central performances, enhanced realism, and tense-as-hell battle sequences led to it winning four Oscars, including Best Picture.

Platoon is airing on TV tonight on BBC Four at 9pm. It's also available to rent Apple TV, Prime Video, Rakuten TV and the Sky Store.

Here are the other movies on TV tonight:

Honest Thief - Film4 - 9pm

Liam Neeson is... an honest thief.

R.I.P.D. - Comedy Central - 9pm

Jeff Bridges as an Old West lawman working for an "afterlife law enforcement department" is the best part of this action-comedy comic book adaptation that was a flop with critics and at the box office.

Donnie Brasco - Legend - 9pm

Johnny Depp and Al Pacino star in this great crime thriller about an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates the mob.

The Wild Geese - Legend Xtra - 9pm

A ’70s action war film in which mercenaries (played by Richard Burton, Roger Moore and Richard Harris) working for a London banker parachute into Africa to put a useful president back in power.

The Taking of Pelham 123 - ITV4 - 9.30pm

John Travolta takes a NYC subway car hostage, and Denzel Washington is the train dispatcher who must negotiate with him. A tense, underrated thriller remake.

The Manchurian Candidate - Sky Arts - 10pm

The classic '60s conspiracy thriller about a soldier (Frank Sinatra) who starts to suspect that one of his comrades (Laurence Harvey), who is also part of a major political family, has been brainwashed by the enemy.

The Manchurian Candidate later received a solid remake, starring Denzel Washington in the Sinatra role, which JOE recommended recently.

The Killing Fields - Film4 - 11.05pm

This ’80s Oscar Best Picture nominee tells the true story of a journalist’s struggle for survival amid the ravages of war in Cambodia.

The Bridge at Remagen - BBC Four - 11.30pm

A '60s WWII film starring George Segal, Robert Vaughn and Ben Gazzara.

Drop Zone - Legend - 11.35pm

Wesley Snipes stars in this ’90s action thriller as a U.S. Marshal who, to break up a drug smuggling gang, must take to the skies.

Split Second - Legend Xtra - 11.35pm

Rutger Hauer and Kim Cattrall star in this 1992 sci-fi action horror about a burnt-out detective in a future flooded London on the hunt for who murdered his partner.

Pig - Film4 - 1.55am

This stunning drama sees Nicolas Cage play a former chef living a reclusive existence deep in the Oregon wilderness, who supports himself by foraging for truffles with the help of his beloved pig.

One night, however, he is attacked by assailants who steal the animal, leading the recluse to return to the city he once called home in an effort to get the pig back.