9 Violent Mainstream Movie Scenes That Went Too Far

6. Bunny Bludgeons A Prisoner To Death - Platoon

When talking about war movies that went overboard with the violence, the first example to come up is always Saving Private Ryan. The opening scenes at Omaha Beach are top-to-bottom carnage, with limbs flying off and thousands of bodies getting shredded by bullets. And yet, somehow, those scenes don't seem as infuriatingly excessive as this one from Platoon.

And it's because Saving Private Ryan had a clear intent with its violence (it's f*cking war), whereas Platoon just wanted the audience to hate one character as much as possible. So the mission is much less noble (and much less subtle). After finding a couple of Vietnamese villagers in hiding, Charlie Sheen's character goes off on them. He shoots at the feet of a physically (and seemingly mentally) disabled man, commanding the one-legged villager to "dance, motherf*cker!"

He then breaks down into hysterics, because his very humanity has just been shaken. It was an oddly beautiful moment of recognition from the character. The scene should have ended there. Unfortunately, the postscript to that moment is much, much worse. Sheen's comrade Bunny, a sadistic meathead played to the hilt by Kevin Dillon, proceeds to beat the villager to death with the butt of his rifle.

Though we only see the weapon strike the man's head once, the ensuing shots of Bunny relishing the beating are even more difficult to take. The fact that no one else steps in to stop it is even more sickening.