JEEP SHOT

“Platoon” launches an attack on the video stores this week--with a hefty (record) $99.95 price tag and an introductory 45-second “tribute” to vets from Chrysler Motors and its Jeep-Eagle Division. Lee Iacocca himself does the talking.

He walks across a golden-hued field and comes across a jeep--”a museum piece, a relic of war.” He adds pensively, “I hope we will never have to build another jeep for war.”

“Platoon” is a “memorial”--not to war,” but to the men and women who served in that war. “They were called and they went . . . that in the truest sense is the spirit of America. The more we understand it, the more we honor those who’ve kept it alive.”

Then he signs off, “I’m Lee Iacocca.”

Of course, talk ain’t cheap. According to a reliable source, the charge for the blurb was $1 million.

John Daly, president of Hemdale Films--which produced “Platoon”--confirmed “approximately that figure.”

Henry McGee, v.p. of home video for HBO (the cassette’s on HBO Video) wasn’t anxious to talk dollars: “This isn’t a commercial advertisement for a particular product--it’s a sponsorship statement. It’s a salute to the people who served and died and Vietnam.”

McGee acknowledged that “there was money paid” for the “sponsorship”--but “HBO will have absolutely no comment about the amount.”

We heard rumbles that Oliver Stone, “Platoon’s” Oscar-winning writer-director, wasn’t thrilled with Iacocca’s appearance.

But through a rep, Stone would only say “No comment.” And, added his rep, “He wonders where you guys hear these things.”