I didn't think it was very good

Rating: Null/10 (13 September 2001)

I first saw this film when it came out on video. Many years later, I've watched it again on DVD. Both times, I thought that the first half was good, the second half wasn't very good, and that it was disappointing overall. I also found it derivative...
I've read through a fair number of the comments here, many of which make comparisons to other war films, and I am somewhat surprised that I haven't seen anyone mention either "Officer and a Gentleman" (1982) or "The Deer Hunter" (1978), both of which significantly pre-date FMJ.
Why? Officer and a Gentleman featured a "brutal" boot camp sergeant (played by the Oscar winning Louis Gossett Jr) that FMJ is quite reminiscent of, including the steers and queers joke. I haven't seen Officer and a Gentleman for a long time, so I wouldn't like to comment on how good that film is as a whole, but it did get there first. From what I remember, Kubric's version is better, but it isn't original.
The Deer Hunter was split into "before" and "during" Vietnam sections. If this before/after style of making a film is supposed to show the horror of war and its effects on those involved, then FMJ contrasts very badly to Deer Hunter in achieving this goal.
My final thought whilst watching it was "Oh dear, another Vietnam film using sixties music in its soundtrack". I couldn't say if it was already a cliche when FMJ was made, but it is an area where time has been unkind to FMJ.
Final info that you may want to know: apart from most of 2001 (excluding the ending), I haven't been impressed by a Kubric film.