"Five-foot-nine, I didn't know they stacked sh*t that high. " - Gunnery Sergeant Hartman

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2005)

There seem to be a handful of War flicks made, but most of them aren't that great. I didn't much care for Hamburger Hill, The Big Red One, We Were Soldier, Windtalkers and 1941 with a passion, but loved Saving Private Ryan, Platoon and Apocalypse Now. The last four are probably the only war films made I'd praise as brilliant, but the rest are filled to the brim with tired clichés. 'Full Metal Jacket' was the most recent war film I've seen, and I really didn't know what to expect. Coming from the extraordinarily talented Stanley Kubrick I felt it would be engrossing and captivating as his other masterworks, but I wasn't entirely sure. You see, critics really rammed 'Full Metal Jacket' as being nothing more then mediocre. The critics praised all of Kubrick's other films, even 'Eyes Wide Shut' which I found to be so devastatingly average, uninventive and in poor taste. I felt if film critics dare to put down the man himself, the film has got to be terrible. Well, when those end credits started to energetically roll to The Rolling Stones' 'Painted Black' I realized I had witnessed one of the finest war movies ever created, and definitely the funniest. 'Full Metal Jacket' is a well-written, nicely acted and superbly directed electrifying jolt of energy that will wake you up and get your attention like a soldering iron to the head!
'Full Metal Jacket' follows Private J.T. 'Joker' Davis (Mathew Modine - Pacific Heights) and his journey through the long, tough and harsh conditions the Vietnam war had to offer. The first half of the film deals with him in military boot camp, under the supervision of perhaps cinema's most and biggest loud mouth army guy, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey - Mississippi Burning). He and the other soldiers in training, including Private Cowboy (Arliss Howard - Tequila Sunrise) and the fat, silly and certifiably violently insane Private Leonard Lawrence, or how Sergeant Hartman calls him - Private Gomer Pyle. For the first half of the two hour film, the story follows the soldiers as the try to survive both psychically and mentally through the harsh and merciless training of Sergeant Hartman. The film then transitions to about a year later, where we find Private Joker working as a war photographer along side his close friend Private Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard - Alien Nation). As a war photographer, Joker and Rafterman experience hardships when they get caught in the middle of a dangerous series of battles involving cadets such as the smart-ass Private Eightball (Dorian Harewood - Sudden ) and the tough and bigoted 'Animal Mother' played by 'The Inside''s Adam Baldwin (who by the way is of no relation to Alec, Stephen, Daniel or Billy).
'Full Metal Jacket' is blackly funny, philosophical and heart-breaking all at the same time, a task that really couldn't be done by anyone else besides the incredible Stanley Kubrick. This is Kubrick's war film and although it isn't his best work, it was definitely good enough for me. Stanley Kubrick deserved an Academy Award for his powerful, effective and uncompromising vision molding this short story into a stunning and impassioned motion picture that will be remembered as one of the great war films. Don't get me wrong, 'Full Metal Jacket' isn't nearly as consequential or remarkable as say 'Clockwork Orange', '2001' or 'Dr. Strangelove', the movie, although brilliant, has it's number of flaws. The first half of the film is near-perfect, but the second half drags significantly until the final vigorous, aggressive and powerful fifteen minutes. The acting is strong for the most part, with a satisfying lead performance by Mathew Modine. Dorian Harewood, Adam Baldwin and Arliss Howard are solid in all their parts, but the two stand-outs are Vincent D'Onofrio and the gnarly R. Lee Ermey. D'Onofrio is outstanding in providing us with his character's transformation from fat, silly hick farm boy to hardened and ultimately cold-blooded sociopath hungry for war . R. Lee Ermey is as hysterical as he is brilliant as the tough-as-nails foul-mouthed boot camp Sergeant from hell (the most memorably character of the film). Both Ermey and D'Onofrio deserved Academy Award nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, but unfortunately and predictably didn't get it (the Academy has always been short-sighted when it comes to Kubrick's talent and genius.) 'Full Metal Jacket' includes amazing film editing from Martin Hunter and an excellent soundtrack capturing the spirit of music of the time period.
While 'Full Metal Jacket' isn't Stanley Kubrick's finest production, it is certainly his most action-packed. War movie fans among Kubrick fans will enjoy this darkly funny and shockingly realistic motion picture that faultlessly paints a portrait of what the experience of fighting in Vietnam was actually like. I recommend 'Full Metal Jacket' despite it's shortcomings to anyone who doesn't mind harsh and harsh language (which especially comes spewing out of the mouth of R. Lee Ermey's crude and malicious Gunnery Sergeant Hartman). Grade: B+
MADE MY TOP 300 LIST AT # 174