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Full Metal Jacket Customer Reviews (4 - 6 of 66 Reviews)

The Lessons of War
Stanley Kubrick has track record that stands alone amongst film makers.His hand has guided some of the best films in history (his last film Eyes Wide Shut was not that great,unfortunately) and what makes FMJ just a little more interesting is that in it,the character Joker is the audience and his reactions to what he sees are also ones we could have had in the same situation.a And as the follies of life are laid out in front of us,all we can do is watch.The story is about Vietnam for a recent recruit,from his first steps on to Parris Island to the conflict and brutality of war in SE Asia.With scences that could (and indeed did) silence a theater full of people,Kubrick made it clear that the long waits between films was not down time but gestation time for the next project.
The film is beautifully shot and the attention to detail is almost perfect and as always,Kubrick never left England but did manage to make you think that you ARE in Vietnam.
And last but not least is R Lee Ermey as the frightening Marine drill sargent Sgt.Hartman.....one of the most vivid and intense portrayals in film history.To say that this film is one of the most thought provoking and intense films ever made and directed by one of the most courageous and taleted men ever in this medium is really just not strong enough.Full Metal Jacket is a must have.Period.


Entertaining, yet frightening
Full Metal Jacket has become a classic Vietnam film, usually ranked alongside Platoon and Apocalypse Now. What makes this film unique is how the director used it to portray human nature. The story begins at marine corps boot camp on Parris Island, where the new recruits come under the hellish direction of their drill instructor, gunnery sergeant Hartman. His commands and ranting bring humor to the story, but the recruits suffer trough basic training. This accounts for the first half of the movie, and the end of the first half is very shocking. The second half involves the recruits in Vietnam. This occurs before and during the Tet Offensive of 1968, and follows the marines in combat as they try to retake Hue City. Overall, the film can be said to describe the transformation of ordinary men into pure killers. This transformation is realized throughout the movie to the very last scene, making the film very dark, but extremely worthwile.

kubrick gives us half of a great film
once again i find myself at odds with most people(even close friends) over another kubrick movie. unlike "the shining" which i found boring(read my review),full metal jacket is half of a great movie,by which i mean that the first half at paris island and the training of marine recruts is in your face movie making at its best. lee ermey(a real life drill instructer) gives the acting job of a lifetime as the brutel d.i. in charge of whiping boys into marines. he is scary and in your face and you have to watch him. he really moves the movie onto another level and brings the words "break them" to a whole new level! just as good is vincent d'onofrio as a sad sack who just can't get it right. funny at first you see how his gental nature begins to warp as he is beat down mind and body by ermey and the other recruts as they start to get punnished for his failers. nothing is more heart breaking(or mind breaking) as his beating with soap wraped in towels by the other recruts. after this d'onofrio goes off the deep end and the end of the training part of the movie goes out with a bang!
this is where the movie really should end because we now go to nam and this movie never recovers the ground it had at first. it becomes a grade z war movie and you can tell what's going to happen well before it does. this part of the movie is so bad that it looks like a different movie and director. and the fact that it was shot in england also shows and drags the film down the drain.
matthew modine is the "star" here and he does a very nice job,but as said the first half is so good that the second half just really lets you down. 5 stars for the first half,-2 stars for the sad second half = 3 stars

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