War is hell...

Rating: Null/10 (17 June 2002)

The big difference between the Final Fantasy:The Spirits Within DVD and the Full Metal Jacket DVD is that the former contains tons of bonuses to mask the fact that it's a poor film while Full Metal Jacket has just a trailer as a bonus but it's infinitely better.
One of the best films about the horrors of Vietnam and probably one of the finest anti-war films ever made, Full Metal Jacket (a term for a fully loaded gun) is the story of Private Joker (Matthew Modine), a budding journalist who enlists and goes to Vietnam to fight the most hellish war American soldiers ever dealt with.
The film is split into three acts. First comes Marine Boot Camp at Parris Island, N.C. , where Lee Ermey delivers a superb performance as Sgt. Gunnery Hartman, a poetically profane Drill Sgt. who is abusive to all in his corp, especially on the nicknamed Pvt. Gomer Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio) who slowly goes insane from all the abuse. Act two is Vietnam action, showing in non-sensationalistic form the horrors and strife. Act three is where a squad with Joker is faced with an ambush caused by a nasty sniper, and the decisions made by the squad to get revenge for the deaths of several soldiers due to the sniper.
Superbly acted by a fine cast and produced and directed by the fine director Stanley Kubrick, Full Metal Jacket delivers in spades the horrors of war. There's no doubt that this movie, alongside Apocalypse Now, shows the hellish nature of Vietnam than any other, including Platoon. There are many memorable bits, such as seeing the corp singing the Mickey Mouse song while walking through an area with buildings on fire, Ermey's profane rants, and Joker's impersonation of John Wayne. Yet, there is much that is disturbing to watch. You wish that mankind didn't need to resort to war; our men and women don't need to risk their lives to cover up the mistakes that our stay-at-home politicians make with too much frequency.

All and all, a terrific film, one that certainly shows what a genius director Stanley Kubrick was. No sugarcoating; just the truth.