One of the most realistic war films ever produced

Rating: Null/10 (5 August 2004)

SPOILERS
I bought this movie a while ago knowing it was a really great movie and I had some money to burn. After I watched it I just thought, "Wow...this is one hell of an original war movie." I was blown away at how well it depicted boot camp and the war. Boot camp I especially enjoyed because it was so fierce. It's not like Stripes or anything where it's comical and people have a good time, it drives people insane!
The film is broken up into two different parts. It starts out in a montage of new jarheads (some of which are later revealed as main characters) getting their heads shaved coming into Paris Island. It then flashes to their new drill sargent, Lee Ermey, greeting the new troops. From there they are spiraled into a veritable hell as they are abused, physically and verbally, and whipped into shape for the Marines. The major character here is Private Joker (Matthew Modine) who is a bit of a smartass but kind none-the-less and is forced to help out Pvt. Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio) who is drowning in the pressure of the camp. Pyle still can't improve so the sargent decides to punish everyone else when he screws up. This turns into a backlash from the rest of the recruits which changes him. Pyle becomes more reclusive, learning every single rule and becoming a machine. He is finally driven over the edge one night before they are shipped out and commits suicide and kills the sargent in front of Pvt. Joker.
The next part is the recruits we've met in Vietnam. After about a 10 or 15 minute period in their base they are sent out to fight. A few minor things happen, they are filmed, a friend of theirs dies, but not anything groundbreaking. Then they are given orders to go to a city to clear it. There the film culminates in an extremely well done and shot sniper attack where most of our soldiers we have met die including one of Joker's best friends, Pvt. Cowboy. This triggers a huge scene where men run in to kill this sniper who they find out is a little girl demanding to be shot to be put out of her misery. The next scene is a recap of events from Joker as they are marching away in the night. THe Micky Mouse Club theme they are singing adds a little bit of humor to it.
The movie is R for language, sexuality, and war violence. Most of the language is in the boot camp scene and comes from the sargent's mouth. All of the sexuality is from Vietnamese prostitutes that come on two occasions. The latter of which is more in-depth when they talk about the one's penis being too large and he takes it out to show, we don't see it however. Of course, the war violence comes in the second part, most of which is in the final scene. It nothing too graphic but may disturb some.
Overall this movie is a masterpiece. Some parts lag a little but they are compensated in the rest of the film. Final Grade: 9/10