The Marine Corps wants killers!

Rating: 9/10 (5 April 2012)

The drill instructor incessantly shouting at his "ladies": commands, obscenities, insults... Again and again and again... A bathroom scene with that special bullet lending the film its name in the lead role... A crazed gunner in a chopper randomly machine-gunning civilians... An open mass grave, reporters swarming about... A photo-op with a dead... A female sniper on the floor pledging to be shot... - All these are scenes that stick with you from Kubrick's venture into Vietnam entitled "Full Metal Jacket", another high quality Kubrick war entry.
"Full Metal Jacket" is not a perfect film, though. The second half, which takes place in Vietnam, is overshadowed by the immensely powerful boot-camp hell of the first hour where Vincent D'Onofrio (as Gomer Pyle) and R. Lee Ermey (the drill instructor) give the performances of their lives. However, this part alone stands head and shoulders above comparable movies of the genre. While the rest is not as spectacularly staged and grabbing as elsewhere, the mentioned moments leave their mark, also thanks to Kubrick's fast pacing and his effective juxtaposing of war-time brutality and carefree music from the Sixties and Seventies. The contrast of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are made for Walking'" against a shocking full stop in the middle of the film alone makes this movie worth the price of admission.