in slight disagreement

Rating: Null/10 (28 July 1999)

I absolutely agree with the majority of the critics that say the first half of FMJ is brilliant and the second half is a let down. The first half of the film is probably one of the most intelligent, well acted and horrifying war dramas as we get an inside look at the hell of Paris Island. Then we move to the hell of Vietnam for the second half which is far bleaker and less excessable. Here is where the film begins to stall for most people.
However, to me, this film really begins to complete itself in the second half. Instead, we begin to learn how the affects of rigorous training (to become a killing machine) has affected characters we've known from the first half and characters we meet in the second. Each of these characters has been affected in one way or another by their experiences in the jungle but Kubrick has allowed us a look into the days before the jungle to see the seed that was planted. Most Vietnam films have focused on the insanity that was brought about from the war itself but never focused on the characters pasts. Here is where we get to see what kind of soldier Joker has become. Here is where we get to the see madness of war and the desensitization of violence.
The movie would have always remained incomplete if we didn't see the characters "survive" and move onward. In a strange way, you were rooting for the privates to make it out of Paris Island - but for what? To go to Vietnam?
As with all of Kubrick's films, the messages are never easily summed up in three or four paragraphs; but the notion of showing two seperate wars that when combined became one very complicated one was a bold statement.