A More Facinating Look At The Vietnam War In Terms of Training and Action

Rating: 9/10 (6 November 2018)

Even though most of the cast are not really household names, there is one major star featured here, the direction from the legendary Stanley Kubrick. After being off the spotlight for several years, Kubrick sought inspiration from Coppola, Cimino and Stone and give his perspective on the deadliest wars in the 20th century. In reality, 'Full Metal Jacket" has a more fabricated perspective of the Vietnam War to date. The scriptwriters for this movie were novelists Gustav Hasford and Michael Herr based off of Hasford's novella "The Short Timers" while Kubrick had to depend on archives like videos and books in preparation for his project. It may be heavily borrowed, but the take on the Vietnam War is quite original.
The locations to where this movie was being filmed was actually in Britain at the famous Pinewood Studios. Kubrick did everything to make his movie feel American and look American, but his creation is as Britain as fish n chips. The scene of the actual Vietnam War is situated near an abandoned gas-works area around the Thames. The training camp that's set in South Carolina is really filmed at England's Bassingbourn's military barracks. Though this film may lack in historical accuracy, the set pieces and the artistic merit is very provocative. Aside from the self-built war zone, Kubrick added layers of sounds and effects to make the scenery more effective in its storytelling. When it comes to set-building Kubrick is his own Frankenstein.
The story centres on Marine Pvt. Joker (Matthew Modine) is sent to Parris Island where his under severe training from the no-nonsense Gunnery Sgt. Hartman (R. Lee Ermey in an Oscar-nominated performance) transforms these boys into stone cold killers. The second half takes them out of the training camp and into centre of the action where he now becomes a journalist for Stars and Stripes that prides itself on boosting morale while reporting news in relation to the war. From there Joker befriends Pvt. Rafterman (Kevyn Major-Howard) where they assign themselves to meet with the deadly military group in Vietnam, the Tet Offensive.
Always the punster, Joker can succeed in keeping his character in tact while the other Marines have to kiss the dirt and eat it afterwards. Joker can still deliver dark humour even in the face of danger and succeeds in doing John Wayne impersonations as well. But still his icy morals are put to the test and learns that he can't escape from his situations or discover that life's not always a joke and that danger can laugh back at you which he discovers in a final climax.
The film is divided into two principals acts. The first is where Joker and other recruits are under intense training from a tyrannical Gunnery Sgt. Hartman. One notable recruit is a rotund simpleton named Leonard Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio) whom Hartman refers to as Gomer Pyle. Hartman takes a likeness in verbally belittling Pyle daring him to strike at him though Pyle resists. While Pyle' s struggling, Joker is assigned to tutor him so he can be more better at following protocol and becoming less of a bumbling idiot. We discover Pyle has a knack of shooting firearms with exact precision and that Pyle is not stupid, but actually psychotic. The term "full metal jacket" derives from the bullet casings he possesses and discusses that before he meets his ugly demise.
The second act takes place at the battle field where Joker is joined by camp mates Eightball, Cowboy, Lt. Touchdown and an equally unstable Animal Mother (Adam Baldwin) who's willing to kill anyone who's eyes are slanted. Like Pyle he also kind of has a rotund figure and also has equal levels of insanity like Pyle. Once his insanity is in full swing, Joker must confront Animal Mother much the same as he did with Pyle.
Sure the story is met with simplicity and purpose, it still very dreamlike and fatal in its quality. Many of the characters are fleshed out really well while others are just set pieces put together like board game ready to strike. The finale has a cat-and-mouse feeling as the Marines give chase to a sniper set in an eternally flaming building that has the feeling lie a satanic temple. The soundtrack is rather interesting in one cheeky humour moments as the men are lacing the boots while Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walking" can be heard. the constant fire crackles of burning buildings can be heard while a prolonged bass line is very effective in these scenes. Rather than depending on historical accuracy, Kubrick depends on more technical features that are effective and not overkill.