Another masterpiece from Legend Stanley Kubrick.........

Rating: 8/10 (2 December 2009)

Another masterwork from Legend Stanley Kubrick
This is a must for any War Movie Fans.
Till date some of the accomplished Movies on Vietnam War include:  Platoon  Apocalypse Now  Full Metal Jacket
This is not the first time I have seen this movie and will also not be my last one... :) I think there will be very few members in this Community who have not seen FMJ.
Full Metal Jacket is hard hitting with intense dialogue. I think Kubrick was well versed with what he was planning to do at the time of making this movie. There is hardly any place where I can point out flaws.
For those who have not yet seen (which I doubt..) this movie takes us to the time of on going Vietnam War. We are introduced to a company of rookies who joins the boot camp (USMC) Parris Island, South Carolina. Soon we are introduced to the unforgettable drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman brilliantly performed by Ronald Lee Ermey. First half of the movie deals with the dehumanizing process. On the way we are introduced to some the central characters. To me the most memorable character will be Pvt. Pyle. I think Vincent D'Onofrio had immortalized this character just like Heath had done for Joker in 'The Dark Knight'. Matthew Modine as Pvt. Joker was also very impressive.
Second half of the movie deals with the experience of these characters' Tet Offensive during 1968. We are not given a clear cut ending to this movie and I guess Kubrick left that part to the viewer's imagination.
This movie definitely falls under the category, which never ages. As far as I know this was the only War movie Stanley had ever directed. In my opinion, if some more action was included in the second half it would have been fine just like 'Platoon' still I would not complain, its still a great Movie. We do get some taste of some of the Classic Rock Songs which includes two of my favorites Johnny Wright's "Hello Vietnam" & Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black".
Closing note will be, if any one is really interested to watch a movie with intense acting along with rich narrative script then FMJ delivers as it promises, without any degree of doubt. This is certainly thought provoking movie and should be with every collector. I think I am the lucky few who owns the Deluxe Edition (Widescreen) of Full Metal Jacket DVD which I got from Amazon UK.