Full metal jacket

Stanley Kubrick directed several movies that deserve that kind of praise, FMJ isn't one. But Gunnery Sergeant Hartman is an amazing character.

"Private Pyle, you had best square your arse away and start shitting me Tiffany cuff links!.." Cracks me up every time.

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Pyle gonna frick u up.

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Doubtful,

That tubby shite took a beating by everyone, didn't retaliate against anyone, then blew his own brains out.

Dude aint fricking anyone up.

i always watch a little longer to catch the prostitute bit. From beginning to there, pure gold!

Two words...Animal Mother

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i always watch a little longer to catch the prostitute bit. From beginning to there, pure gold!

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Essentially....the first part of this movie is absolutely awesome. The second half is just "meh".

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The first part is training. The second part is war. And, for a fictional movie, it does a hell of a job showing that war from a few different perspectives too.

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I would be remiss if I did not recommend to fans of this film a 1970s Vietnam War film called, The Boys in Company C. Another bifurcated film showing USMC recruits going through basic training, then deploying to Vietnam.

Mostly draftees, the squad is full of the usual stereotypes - Stan Shaw plays the tough urban black kid, Washington, Andrew Stevens the southern redneck (nominated for a Golden Globe), Billy Ray, there was a wannabe writer from the upper midwest, Michael Lembeck plays an Italian kid from Brooklyn, Craig Wassen plays the hippie, James Whitmore, Jr. plays the "good" officer (Lieutenant Archer), and Scott Hylands plays the "bad" officer, Captain Collins. But the acting and story are complex and compelling enough to generate interest of fans of such films.

I am not alone in believing that Kubrick used this film as a rough template for FMJ. And, yes, it just so happens that the main drill instructor in the film, Gunnery Sergeant Loyce is played by none other than R. Lee Ermey.

Now, Sidney Furie is no slouch as a filmmaker and he co-wrote the script for this. I highly recommend it to fans of Full Metal Jacket.

Don't be put off by some of the misleading posters out there:



It is NOT a comedy. It has light moments, but it is better classified as war drama.

I'll put it this way - I like the training portion of FMJ better, but I like the Vietnam portion of Boys in Company C better.

6

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didn't retaliate against anyone

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If he could, Hartman would disagree with this statement.

What I appreciate about Full Metal Jacket is that it's essentially agenda-free, which is so uncommon in war movies, even the great ones. Usually war movies boil down to some tidy political message. Kubrick leaves the judgment and conclusions to the audience.