The master craftsman strikes again!

Rating: Null/10 (11 February 2001)

After watching this film a few years back on TV, then finally managing to get my hands on a copy and watch it again and again, I still firmly believe that FMJ is still the best war film ever made, one of Stanley's masterpieces. A lot of people, including me, say that for all of his films, but why does this one stand out?
For me, the first instance is the fact that here we have a beautiful war film, which is actively anti-war. But what we see on screen, amidst Kubrick's stunning cinematography, is what 'Nam was all about, in my opinion. But then we have the prominent characters; Hartman, who in my view is the stereotypical drill sergeant (superbly played by Lee Ermey) who lives for the Marines. He'll fight anyone, it's in the spirit of the Marine core, the finest killing machines in the world. We have the privates picked on for whatever reason by Hartman whose views on the world are all fascinating.
Pyle is the fat one. The stupid one who everyone picks on (there's always one like him everywhere you go), but someone you get the impression from that there is more there than meets the eye, there's still a spark of mad intelligence in there, which we see when the poor private finally snaps and shoots his tormentor (and ultimately himself). Then there's Cowboy, who is the guy who just gets on with things, just keeps plugging away and does well for himself, and finally Joker, the most intelligent of the three in my opinon, the one who dares answer back to Hartman and express his feelings, shows his morals. What I found quite funny was the fact that Hartman would verbally squash someone, especially Joker for speaking up for himself, but later tells the men that the Marines 'don't want robots, they want killers'.
Another great contradiction I found was Joker's 'Born to Kill' on his helmet, and the peace sign on his lapel, but he beautifully explained this by explaining this is how he felt about the duality of war. Lovely symbolism, very John Lennon :) If you want peace, prepare for war, so true. When the guys are in Vietnam, and you see war at work, you fully understand this statement. Although Joker did get his confirmed kill by shooting the injured female sniper, it was under humanitarian circumstances. But the way the men react to everything, what they tell the camera when being interviewed, to me that's how it really must have been for a lot of young men. Mindless violence, if you like, but can you really see every soldier out there actually enjoying their work? And also, the fact that the Vietnamese didn't appreciate the Americans being there at all.
I really don't want to spoil the film for others, or get right into the whole Vietnam thing, we all know the politics, so I won't go in-depth in regards to the story, but I just really want to stress that through these characters, the action, even the soundtrack, here we have a beautiful portrayal of an ugly war, finally a Vietnam film with morals.