re: Was Full Metal Jacket a great movie or just a great first half of a movie?

prepping a vietnam era movie currently and rewatched it for inspiration ... you can certainly tell a good portion of it was shot on a backlot in London, which for some of it took me out of the moment (as chronicled by the great book by Matthew Modine "Full Metal Jacket Diaries"). A must for any fan by the way.

Since Michael Herr helped with the script ... you feel the reality of war through the dialogue and moments he captured in "Dispatches".