re: Watching full metal jacket for the first time

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The first half was sustained greatness. The second half had occasional moments of fleeting OK-ness.

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I get the bifurcated nature of the film is, somewhat ironically, polarizing. My initial take (as a stupid kid) was not too far from this.

However, as with all Kubrick's movies, upon deeper analysis there is a lot going on in Vietnam. Recruit training isn't where you prove yourself - it's where you prepare. Vietnam was where they had the opportunity to prove themselves.

Animal Mother was Hartman's idealized version of Pyle. The physical resemblance between D'Onofrio and Baldwin was not coincidental. The sniper being a 12-year old girl was the brutal reality of what war really is slapping you in the face (pardon the pun). The Mickey Mouse song was a reminder that most of those boys were 1 or 2 years removed from high school, at most - almost children, themselves.

It's a brilliant, brilliant film - one of Kubrick's best, one of the best of the era, one of (if not THE) best Vietnam films and one of the best war films, generally.

It's better than Platoon and on par with Apocalypse Now! There, I said it.

It's better than Platoon and on par with Apocalypse Now! There, I said it.

I'd agree with it being roughly on par with Apocalypse. But it's magnitudes better than Platoon because, well, Platoon was hackneyed garbage.

Reason # 2346 that the Oscars are bullshite:

Ermey NOT EVEN NOMINATED for Best Supporting Actor.

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Eh, AN has moments of greatness, but it's an overall mess to me.

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I have found it better on rewatch, when I can focus on details and layers, particularly the nuanced performances of Sheen, Duvall and Brando.

I believe I'm in the minority, but I prefer the Redux with the extended Bunny scene and French Plantation scenes (as well as more scenes in Cambodia) as they add context and make the trip upriver seem less jarring. However, some fans of the theatrical release criticize the somewhat more deliberate pace of the Redux.

If you haven't watched the Redux version, I can recommend that if you find certain elements of the theatrical release (and I'm mainly talking about the final act) a little too jarrying.

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Holy shite this is an awesome movie

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How the frick have you gone this far in life without ever watching that movie?

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Watching full metal jacket for the first timeHoly shite this is an awesome movie

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Yes, it is.

lot of people don't care for the 2nd half as much as the first half, which is fine, but the 2nd half had some great moments

the sniper scene , and Joker sitting next to the dead VC talking about "today is his birthday" stand out in my memory

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while Great, is barely a top 5 Kubrick movie

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The first half is a incredible, but it can't hold a candle to Apocalypse Now as a whole

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"You look like a fricking modern art masterpiece".

Gets me every time.

And while I was never in the military, every time I do cardio, or have in the past, "I will PT you until you fricking DIE!!!" Enters my head and makes me chuckle.

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Ermey plays the same character several years earlier in The Boys in Company C. More realistic, less over the top, but the same character.

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That's one of my "Big 4" Vietnam movies - Boys in Company C, Apocalypse Now!, Platoon and FMJ. Boys in Company C is a criminally underrated film. Ermey and Stan Shaw were fantastic, and the rest of the squad were all really good. James Whitmore, Jr. was excellent as the "good officer" as well.

(We Were Soldiers came too late to be considered.)