Full Metal Jacket

Rating: 9/10 (11 April 2007)

Here we have Stanley Kubrick's contribution to the big complex of Vietnam war movies. The war film genre has always been one that Kubrick was very interested in as his earlier work proves and even some of his unfinished projects dealt with it. The first quarter of an hour in "Full Metal Jacket" consists of the infamous military training camp with the drill instructor, played by Lee Ermey. This first part of the movie is certainly responsible for "Full Metal Jacket" being one of the really big entries in the war genre. Rarely (or never?) was dehumanization put to screen so merciless. The second part plays in Vietnam and it shortly falls behind the beginning. Still, this part is showing very effectively the result of the soldiers' training. In the end they aren't even able to learn from their actions, they're just "glad to be alive." A very fitting image for the whole war. As usual with Kubrick, the camera is always exactly where it has to be and delivers outstanding images.