Kubrick pulls you in like no one else.

Rating: 9/10 (3 April 2000)

'Full Metal Jacket', like most Kubrick films, is about emotions more than anything else. The experiences of the characters are so well sculpted that you become almost another character. Their fear, panic, anger, and sorrow are conveyed to the audience. Kubrick manages to accomplish this through several techniques. Often in the film, characters look directly into the camera when they speak. They're not addressing the audience, but you get the sense that you're being addressed as one of the characters. Secondly, Kubrick keeps his camera down to earth. There are no sweeping panoramas of battlefields such as are found in other war pictures. The film is shot almost entirely at eye level, down with the grunts. This film is an emotional journey that is both painful and thought-provoking.