Perhaps the most accurate film ever made about Vietnam, or any war

Rating: 9/10 (7 December 2014)

Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket is one of the greatest and most honest films about war ever made. Descending neither to the level of gung-ho shoot-'em-up or self righteous anti-war screed, it instead earnestly tells the unflinching truth about the hell that is war, and how men deal with it. In following one James T. "Joker" Davis (Matthew Modine) on his journey from wide-eyed recruit on Parris Island to battle hardened veteran in the battlefields of Vietnam, it shows us what it means to be an American soldier in wartime.
The first thing you should understand about this movie is that Kubrick does nothing halfway. Instead of a half-baked montage of training scenes as music blares, we spend nearly half the movie on watching the characters go through the Corps' basic training beginning to end. The drill sergeant (real life Marine Corps drill instructor R. Lee Emery) uses language that will make polite company spontaneously burst into flames. When a man is hit by bullets, red sprays in every direction. And when someone takes a life for the first time, you will see their face harden as a part of them changes forever.
The second thing to understand is that Kubrick is not interested in protesting our involvement in Vietnam, demonizing our leaders a la Oliver Stone, or making our soldiers into traumatized, debauched frat-boys a la Jarhead, but neither does he have any intention of shying away from hard truths. Full Metal Jacket is completely open about the fact that a large part of military training is taking away any qualms you have about killing, including making you see the enemy as less than human. It frankly acknowledges that when one of our boys got a come-on from a whore, his first response was most likely "How much?" And it does not try to make combat look glorious, heroic, or anything else but terrifying and bloody.
Thirdly, this movie wants you to understand that despite the dehumanizing effects of what they go through, our troops are still thinking, feeling human beings. They understand that they are in hell, and that every day could be their last. They turn to humor, nihilism, false bravado, or their fellow soldiers. Some men find ways to distance themselves from the insanity of their situations. Others, like Joker, embrace the contradictions of their existence. And at the end of the day, each man is just glad to be alive.
Some have complained that the second half of the film is shapeless, and lacks an overarching narrative. And they're right. Except for the presence of Joker, and the setting in Vietnam, there is no common thread holding these scenes together. But that's the point. The second half isn't about a battle, or how America lost the war. It is simply a record of one man's experiences in Vietnam. Real life doesn't follow a set plot line, with rising action, false crisis, false dawn, real crisis, resolution, and maybe a twist or two that no-one saw coming. A combat tour is not always a journey of personal development and self discovery, and it is rarely a series of ever more dangerous missions culminating in an explosive climax.
There have also been complaints that the film's message was 'muddled' or that its message was too little too late. Some of this criticism comes from critics I greatly respect. But once again, they are missing the point. Full Metal Jacket is not an 'issue' movie, or a 'message' movie. It is not for or against the Vietnam War. It seeks neither to glorify war and justify our actions in Vietnam, or to preach about the evils of war and why it must be avoided at all costs. It only seeks to show the reality of combat.
And I suspect that for some critics, this is the sticking point. They want a clear stand on the morality of the war, preferably against it. I can understand this. Many of them were proud participants in the anti-war movement. They want to hear Kubrick, who for many of them is practically an idol, agree with their views. Or like a college professor grading a student's essay, they want to know "Just what is your position on the subject?" But part of the beauty of Full Metal Jacket is that it doesn't take a side or tell us what to think. It doesn't want to advocate a position or alter our opinion on the war. It only wants to show us the reality of it.
So if you watch this movie, do not expect nonstop action and heroics, discussions about the wisdom of American foreign policy in Southeast Asia, or even a unifying plot line for much of the film. But expect to gain a greater appreciation for those who have been through the hell that is war. And expect to be impressed.