Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Another movie in the IMDB top 250 I’ve hadn’t watched yet and it was time I did. I’m now slowly getting to my goal of having seen 200 out of 250 movies by the end of the year (currently only 9 to go so I’m sure I’ll be able to make it).

Knowing this is a Stanley Kubrick movie I had high expectations of it, have seen several of his other ones (most of them I loved), so was looking forward to it. The only scene I had ever seen was the iconic opening scene where the drill instructor (R. Lee Ermey) is screaming against all the new recruits. It’s such an amazing scene to watch, especially knowing that a lot of it was improvised. When watching it you can’t help but laugh.

Full Metal Jacket basically consists of two shorter movies which are kind of linked together, but could also be watched separately without missing too much. The first part is about a group of young men that are trained to be soldiers. It quickly becomes clear that this takes a lot of rigorous training where anyone who dares to stand out or think differently is verbally punished. It’s about breaking the spirit and have these men follow orders without questioning it. There are some characters which also play parts in the second part, but besides that and understanding how these men are trained it’s something completely different. It focuses on the war in Vietnam and how a couple of men experience it.

Full Metal Jacket is a movie which I really enjoyed watching. Wasn’t expecting to laugh out loud a couple of times, but the dark tone of it later also is wonderfully shot. I felt like the characters did, not having control of a situation. The final battlefield scene is downright scary to experience. You really get a feeling how dangerous and terrifying it can be. I was surprised to find out that all the Vietnam shots were actually shot in the UK. I loved the shots where there were helicopters flying around as these days you are used to those being CGI. Full Metal Jacket is a great movie well worth watching with some very memorable characters.

Score: 9

32 thoughts on “Full Metal Jacket (1987)

  1. I was actually thinking about this film this morning at work and how much I want to rewatch it. I was reminded of that chilling line when the soldier is asked how he can kill women and children and he replies “It’s easy. Don’t lead em so much.” Chilling stuff. Also the usage of the Mickey Mouse song at the end. The dialogue is definitely the best part of that movie.

    • What a coincedence. It’s a movie which I will probably rewatch in a couple of years time. Yeah, the appearance of Mickey Mouse several times was interesting.

  2. Hi, Nostra, Scott, Tyler and company:

    I read Gus Hasford’s ‘The Short Timers’ long before Kubrick got to work on this masterpiece. Was surprised and impressed with how closely the film follows the novel’s depiction of Basic Training at Parris Island and battles on the outskirts of Hue City during the NVA’s Tet Offensive,

    R. Lee Ermey carried the Stateside part of the film and was robbed of an Oscar Nomination for his role as DI, Gunny Hartman. Matthew Modine and Arliss Howard were great as Joker and Cowboy, but Adam Baldwin rocked as Animal Mother!

    Kudos to Kubrick for making parts of the UK look like ‘The Island’, bombed out Hue and for sticking, near verbatim to Hasford’s original dialogue.

    • Hi Jack, welcome to the blog and thanks for commenting. Haven’t heard of that book, but amazing to hear that it’s so close to reality. Of course it helped that Ermey was an actual drill sergeant who impressed Kubrick so much that he gave him the role.

  3. Fortunately, I don’t think a movie will ever fully capture what war is really like, but there are some that come closer to the mark. This is certainly one of them. Kubrick was a gifted director(one of my personal favorites)and it’s great to see people appreciate his talent. Have fun with the Princess Bride. There will be quite a few obscure pop-culture refernces that will suddenly make sense to you afterward. Happy film-watching.

  4. A tale of two movies, to be sure. It’s been years since I have seen this, but I remember liking it a lot. It’s about time for a rewatch.

    Glad you enjoyed it.

    • Really great movie and reading all the comments I know I’m late to the party, but it’s always nice to watch these type of movies for the first time 🙂

  5. Great movie although I think the first half is definitely more memorable than the second half. The whole bootcamp part is etched into American pop culture by now.

    • Yes, I agree on that. It’s not surprising as that opening scene must be one of the most memorable ever made. After the shock of the ending of the first half it’s pretty hard to top it…

  6. This is in a few lists for me to watch, but I haven’t gotten around to it. Actually it is in my plans to watch all of Stanley Kubrick’s films eventually since I’ve liked the others I’ve seen so much (2001, Clockwork Orange, and The Killing). I’m sure I’ll get to this one sooner than later, but glad to hear you liked it.

    • I still have a couple of his movies to go (haven’t seen Clockwork Orange and The Killing (amongst others)) as well. He did make some amazing movies.

  7. This is imo one of Kubricks best, although i must agree with Castor that the first half is more memorable than the second. The only real flaw i see with this movie is that the transition between the first and second half is very abrupt

    I myself am planning to do a series of posts on my fav Kubricks movies…although i prbably won’t get to this one for a while, as it generally takes me longer than i would like to write my posts and i plan to cover Eyes Wide Shut first

  8. One of the best anti-war films ever made. Like Castor, I still feel the first half is more powerful than the second but the sheer icy coldness that permeates through the film from start to finish is tangible. A super piece of work.

  9. again, I must also reiterate that the 1st half is far more memorable than the second. I like this film alot. Did you realize that Vincent D’onofrio holds the record for the most weight gain for a part with his role in this film? He even tops DeNiro who previously held the record!

    Good pick and good write up. PLUS, good use of photos here.

    • Yeah, I read about that. Only later I found out that Vincent D’onofrio was the guy that is in those cop shows (which I really don’t watch), he really transformed himself for that role.

      Thanks!

  10. I’m approaching this very shortly on my IMDb 250 quest to and even though I’ve seen it a couple of times before I’m immensely looking forward to watching it again and agree that opening shout-a-thon scene is fantastic.

    Its nice to see your progressing superbly on your IMDb 250 goal and only 9 away means – good times!

    • Yeah, that shout-a-thon is fantastic and one I probably will rewatch!

      I’m really pushing to make it to the 200 now, as you see I’m currently already at 195 (it helped that before sunset entered the top 250). I’ll probably will reach my goal this month!

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