Brilliant first half, not so great second half.

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 1999)

The first half of this film was absolutely brilliant. It was an honest view of life in the core. The characters were great. The drill instructor unleashed many vulgar, memorable quotes that I will never forget. He also showed how life in the core is REALLY like (though I wouldn't know myself, I could tell that this was it.) Private Pyle was a very interesting character. In the beginning I thought that he was simply not cut out to be a marine, but as the film went on I became very interested in his transformation to mental case. The first half of the film is #1 on my top 10 list, even though I saw the movie on a small TV with bad sound.
The second half of the movie, after the group "graduates" from Paris Island, is not nearly as good, and I didn't see a good deal of it because I stopped watching after a while. It focused on a character from the first part of the movie, Joker, who often makes wisecracks that get him in trouble. I didn't like this character. I think that the most dominant characters in this movie were killed at the end of the first half of the movie, and that the second half was not needed. I did catch the last scene of the movie. After many have been killed the group marches away chanting: "M-I-C K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E Mickey mouse (mickey mouse) Mickey Mouse" and a few other lines added. I thought that this was both a brilliant ending and simply a cheap ending. Perhaps if I saw all of the second half i would understand it better.
In conclusion, When Pyle goes psycho (i'll never forget the look on that face of his), and shoots the drill instructor and then himself, is where the movie should have ended. If you see this movie, stop watching when this happens. The movie will be a lot more meaningful to you.
I give this movie a 10 for the first half, and a 5 for the second. Yet the first half is so powerful, I still give this movie as a whole a 10.