You people have got to be kidding...

Rating: 1/10 (10 December 2000)

Sorry, guys, but this is numero uno for the single worst war flick ever made. Based on Gustav Hasford's classic semi-autobiographical novel The Short Timers, Kubrick's film version fails to get half the detail on screen. In spite of the fact that the novel is about 180 pages in length and mostly consists of expletives. The entire third act of the novel is missing, as are the death of Rafter Man (probably one of the most gruesome parts of the novel) and Joker's promotion to Sergeant.
The fact that this abortion of a film has been voted into the top 250, and is being described as "the best" by so many IMDB users pretty much invalidates the entire concept of the IMDB. If you want a great film about war, go and see The Bridge On The River Kwai or Three Kings instead. This film is a sad joke that insults everyone who has read its source material. The greatest trick Kubrick ever pulled was convincing anyone that he had directed a masterpiece here.
On a positive note, however, Lee Ermey puts in a great performance with the material he had to work with. Even though the best sequence of the book that involved his character was, not surprisingly, left out of this film, he grabs hold of the role and rides it like there's no tomorrow. Such a pity that the rest of the cast have no idea what to do with their lines, and the director couldn't make a decent film out of his source material if he even tried. This is easily the single most overrated blot on the history of Hollywood to date, although The Matrix gives it a good run for its money.