One of the Best War Films Ever

Rating: Null/10 (3 July 2003)

The first ten minutes of "Full Metal Jacket" is a disturbing, yet hilariously funny scene where a DI meets his new recruits. Everything that comes out of his mouth in this scene is quoteable, classic obscenity. What is truly haunting about this, however, is the transformation of the men in the marine corps. Any other film would have followed the "end of innocence" cliche, but Kubrick makes sure that the audience knows there was little innocence to begin with in a confused, immoral war like Vietnam. These boys are transformed into stone cold killers. Robots, working for a cause they didn't care about. In fact, one scene shows the DI instructing them to become as good as marksmen as Oswald! Many of the men encountered in this film want nothing more than to kill as many Vietnameise as possible, horrifyingly enough, even if it means women and children.
There is an unforgettable closing shot where all of the soldiers march on after a gruesome battle proudly chanting the Mickey Mouse theme. In this harrowing, Kubrick-trademark close, Mickey Mouse becomes a metaphor for this sole attitude of Vietnam. The great wars were over and these all-American boys had no intention of making any peace.
Matthew Modine plays the lead, Private Joker. He is brilliant as the faceless everyman of the Marine Corps. Private Joker is to the brutality of vietnam just as Alex Delarge is to a society infatuated with sex in violence. His helmet reads "Born to Kill", yet he wears a peace symbol to display the "duality of man". He is very symbolic of how lost everything seemed to get. We follow him through the three sections of the film, all conveying the horrors of 'nam. The first act is boot camp in an opening that is ultimately unforgettable. Here it is more than clear that there was a reduction in the vulnerable young men entering the corps. Private Gomer Pyle (Vincent D'Nofrio)is a fat, very dumb recruit whose screw-ups make him victim to the DI and his fellow soldiers. The second fearlessly, unflinchingly shows the dehumanization of the Vietnamese people. Private Joker becomes a combat journalist, feeding his fellow soldiers lies so they keep their heads in the game. He is assigned to a platoon where he faces action, which leads into the third act...the reality of combat.
Stanely Kubrick made one of the best way films of all time. His capability to tackle controversial issues made him perfect for a Vietnam story. This is not a film defending the war, it is a film exposing a reality that was lost like the whole purpose of the war was.