Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is an American college student during the Vietnam War. He went to the front line in Vietnam to serve in the army and was assigned to an infantry unit. There are two people in the unit who have always had a great influence on him - Elias (Willem Dafoe) and Barnes (Tom Berenger). They have completely different views on war. The former can't bear to kill innocent people, while the latter kills people without hesitation. Taylor is very confused about who has the right view on war. Barnes launched a brutal massacre, and the whole village in Vietnam was bleeding. Elias urged his friend not to be so cruel, but it caused a rift in their relationship. Barnes even suspected that Elias had reported to his superiors, and friendship turned into jealousy. So, in a jungle war, he pulled the trigger on Elias without telling anyone. Taylor saw through all this, and he finally had the answer in his heart.