Best. War film. Ever.

Rating: 9/10 (22 September 2003)

When Stanley Kubrick directs a war film, you know not to expect the normal elements that make up the classic war film genre. Full Metal Jacket takes us from Marine boot camp to assignment in Vietnam while exposing the raw nerves and emotions that most war films do not explore.

There really is no typical Kubrick genre  his films span forbidden desire, (Lolita) horror, (The Shining) and farce (Dr. Strangelove) but his films can never be mistaken for anyone else's. It's hard to put a finger on what that style is, but it is clearly present in Full Metal Jacket: The brilliant use of lighting in battle scenes to make what would normally be a horrific scene almost beautiful. The point of view shots of actors addressing the camera directly, not as an aside to the audience, but as more of an intimate gesture to draw the viewer in. The wide range of characters involved  you see the `fighting machines', the conflicted soldiers  both terrified and excited to be involved in the fight.
The most important element to this film is the straight forward method of storytelling and the reality that is brought to the table. While the Drill Sergeant is probably one of the most quoted characters in film history (at least among some of my friends) the reality is that this actor was indeed a drill sergeant and many of his lines were improvised and drawn from his own experience in the marines. The main character of the film (Modine) is a complex and conflicted character, one whom I would imagine was more typical in spirit to some real soldiers in Vietnam than a lot of other roles we have seen in the war genre.
Full Metal Jacket remains my favorite war film because it is one of the few combat films to not only make me cry, but to shock me with images and situations that have nothing to do with actual typical combat. Just one example is the hazing of Pvt. Pyle, which is often construed as funny; it is also incredibly gut wrenching below the surface. While there are war/fighting scenes, this is not a war film that relies solely on battle to tell its story, which is perhaps the best exemplification of its excellence.
--Shelly