Kubrick's genius shines through again with this film about the atrocities of war

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 2000)

Vietnam was a life changing place. Many veterans have come back mentally scarred and completely different people. I think part of this is because of the army training they receive. Kubrick's directing helps me to see that. In the army, you are taught to lose yourself to orders, to follow primitive survival instincts, and to shut out your conscience. The soldiers in Full Metal Jacket go through changes like that. One of them can't handle the changes and commits murder, then suicide after his graduation from the Marine Corps, before he even leaves the U.S. This film is hard to truly understand, and I doubt that many people who see it do understand it. But then again, war doesn't make a lot of sense either. The movie may seem unfinished at the end, but then again, didn't Vietnam?