Perhaps Stanley Kubrick's Best Movie

Rating: 9/10 (12 July 2009)

I'm a fan of Stanley Kubrick's movies, and "Full Metal Jacket" has to rank among his very best - if it's not the best, period. From the very first moment, the viewer is drawn into the film, as we watch young Marine recruits having their heads shaved in preparation for basic training. Then comes - basic training! What a horrific and yet at the same time hilarious thing to watch, as Drill Instructor Sgt. Hartman (played by R. Lee Emery, who was in fact a Gunnery Sargeant in the Marines who served in Vietnam and was told by Kubrick to "make it real") hurls ongoing and unrelenting abuse at the men as he prepares them to go to Vietnam. This first half of the movie gives us the character of "Private Pyle" (perhaps the most memorable character in the entire movie) - a clumsy Marine recruit at best, who becomes the target of special abuse from both Hartman and his fellow Marines. His "evolution" is the most frightening thing in the movie, as he progresses from a kid who obviously shouldn't have been a Marine in the first place to a literal cold-blooded killer. Vincent D'Onofrio was perfect in this part.
The second half of the movie shifts abruptly to Vietnam. The movie seems to weaken a little bit in this second half, maybe because it seems that we've seen this before. Movies about combat in Vietnam are hardly rare. Still, there's a great climax revolving around the fate of Eightball (Dorian Harewood) and the final demonstration that Joker (Matthew Modine) - although generally a non-combatant military reporter - has learned his killing lessons well.
The odd time, Kubrick (or the writers) throw in what I thought were unnecessary scenes (I think here of the scene in 'Nam where the guys share the prostitute - that's not depicted, but we know what's happening!) That served no purpose in my opinion. The movie also lacks any really organized and consistent plot or story. It's just the experiences of these Marines. Still, it's brilliantly told. 9/10