One of the Greatest Vietnam War Films

Rating: 9/10 (8 February 2011)

The Vietnam War is one of my favorite topics to see in film, as each director seems to have a different vision on the horrors and mental scarring encountered by the soldiers. Francis Ford Coppola's APOCALYPSE NOW will forever by my favorite, but Stanley Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET is a close second. Kubrick's focus in this film appears to be the soldiers themselves, as they're transformed from your average all-American youth into cold-blooded killers gunning for the enemy. The film is divided into two portions. The first introduces us to a group of fresh recruits who are assigned to a volatile drill sergeant determined to turn these maggots into the hardest of Marines. The bulk of his ire falls on a hapless recruit he dubs Gomer Pyle, who's mind is slowly warped by his hostile training environment until it reaches it's limit. The second half of the film follows another of the recruits, Joker, who has become a reporter for Stars & Stripes embedded in Vietnam. Joker is assigned to follow the "Lusthog Squad" to Phu Bai and experiences his first real encounter under fire when the squad is pinned down by a sniper.
The first half of this film is fantastic and I became so enthralled with the story of these boot camp recruits that I was shaken when the story suddenly shifted to Vietnam for the final half. The first time I'd seen the film, I was confused. I honestly thought the movie was ending with the conclusion of the Parris Island segment. Instead, the audience is whisked halfway around the world for further exploration into the dehumanization of the soldiers when Joker and his photographer Rafterman are sent into the field where they encounter their first major combat experiences. From the start, Joker's retained his sarcastic cynicism throughout the trials of boot camp until his arrival in Vietnam, but we watch as that naivety is ripped away when he sees the violent horrors of his fellow soldiers are gunned down and he comes face to face with a Vietnamese sniper. Kubrick's movie is about, from what I can gather, the dehumanization required for war and slaps us in the face with the effects it has on a man. It's a powerful film and a glimpse into what soldiers experience in their time serving their nation.
Some of the dialogue doesn't quite sit well (the one instance that stands out in my mind is the banter between Joker and Animal Mother in their first meeting) but a great deal of it is saved by the actors. There is some great talent here on display early in their careers including Matthew Modine (Joker), Adam Baldwin (Animal Mother), Arliss Howard (Cowboy), and a great performance by Vincent D'Onofrio in his first major role as Gomer Pyle. Strangely enough, the best performance in the entire film isn't even from an actor. Lee Ermey as the drill instructor, Hartman, is the most memorable character in the film. He brings his real military experience to the character and explodes in every scene. His obscene motivation has become so embedded in public consciousness that it has been spoofed and referenced everywhere. Ermey and FULL METAL JACKET single-handedly turned me off of ever considering military service as a career, and it's a great film to bring the viewer into the world of a a grunt.