Synopsis
Vietnam can kill me, but it can’t make me care.
A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
Full Metal Jacket
1987 Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Cast
Matthew Modine Adam Baldwin Vincent D'Onofrio R. Lee Ermey Dorian Harewood Arliss Howard Kevyn Major Howard Ed O'Ross John Terry Bruce Boa Kieron Jecchinis Jon Stafford Tim Colceri Peter Edmund Kirk Taylor Ian Tyler Gary Landon Mills Sal Lopez Papillon Soo Ngoc Le Tan Hung Francione Marcus D'Amico Costas Dino Chimona Keith Hodiak Peter Merrill Herbert Norville Leanne Hong Duc Hu Ta Nguyen Hue Phong Show All…
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Alternative Titles
Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Metal Jacket, Pelny magazynek, Olovni kovčeg
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straight line: ____________
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iconic line: YOU'RE SO UGLY YOU COULD BE A MODERN ART MASTERPIECE -
For the full extent of my high school years (1988-92), I was a cadet in the United States Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. My fellow cadets and I worshiped the Boot Camp half of this film. R. Lee Ermey was like a god to us, and we memorized all of his speeches. But because we were so obsessed with the Ermey character, we never seemed to watch the second half. We apparently bought into the myth that it sucked.
Looking back now on that Boot Camp half that looms so large in my memory, I find two truths at work: First, it's been parodied so many times since then, frequently by Ermey himself, that it's initially hard to take…
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Fun Fact: Both halves are great it's just that children lose interest when a man isn't screaming in their face.
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the assembly line of human degradation and absolute cruelty we've constructed to make any sort of sense out of a world of shit. kubrick, in what i can only describe as sardonic hellfire mode, delivers the kind of movie that makes you wonder what exactly is "better" about being alive.
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There's absolutely no one in the entire history of cinema whom can bring to life one of the most monumental and quintessential examples of a drill sergeant than actor R. Lee Ermey! It wasn't an act of god that set loose such a formidable force of nature upon the world! It was the act of director Stanley Kubrick!
Upon leaving theaters audience members rushed home to examine their backsides as they were convinced Sgt. Hartman had torn them a new one! While others couldn't wait to test out some of the best written profanity laced, testosterone fueled one liners known to all mankind!
The film's greatest strength was the boot camp training sequence! It was the epitome of perfection in its examination of the uber masculinization of war!
While the latter parts of the film which took place in Viet Nam showed signs of promise it came no where near the brilliance exhibited earlier in the film!
Naughty Approved!
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This film has always given me a deep sense of unease. This feeling particularly applies to the first part, which takes place at basic training. In fact, I feel that what the recruits are exposed to affect myself directly. The whole film deals with partial degradation of human dignity and the self, but the way Kubrick throws this in our faces already from the beginning grabs me every time.
The haircut-sequence is an important part of this. As before a surgical procedure, the skulls are prepared for the psychological interventions that will follow. Human hair, an important part of who you are, is left behind in a heap on the floor. By completely changing and standardizing appearance this helps alienating… -
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There are only a handful of truly iconic war films and this most definitely belongs among them. It does not merely depict elements of war in a realistic way, it also intelligently critiques and satirizes our species' instinctive tendencies to wage war and the inescapable need for a communal spirit while cyclically purveying an 'us vs them' mentality.
In the first part, perhaps most famous for the foul mouthed genius of Lee Ermy, Kubrick shows us how the cogs are created in the machine that was the Vietnam war. By dehumanizing new recruits, Kubrick shows us the strengths and weaknesses of our race. When pushed, we can achieve anything we want. When thrust together we take care of our own…
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Kubrick creates a masterpiece and confuses a bunch of people who recognize that it is indeed a masterpiece but aren't sure exactly as to why. I know why, of course. But then Stanley and I go way back. He even shot my wedding, getting it just right on the 73rd take.
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