Full Metal Jacket

Plot synopsis:
It's the late 1960s at Parris Island, South Carolina, the U.S. Marine Corps Training Camp, where a group of young Marine recruits, after having their heads shaved, are being prepped for basic training by the brutal Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey), whose orders are to "weed out all non-hackers". Hartman gives each of the Marines nicknames; one pragmatic recruit who talks behind his back becomes "Joker" (Matthew Modine); a Texas recruit becomes "Cowboy" (Arliss Howard). And finally Leonard Lawrence, a 6-foot 3-inch, 280 pound, slow-witted recruit with low intelligence and ambition becomes "Gomer Pyle" (Vincent D'Onofrio), and the focus of Hartman's brutality, because the overweight boy cannot keep up with the other more physically fit recruits in the grueling obstacle courses.One morning during muster, Hartman asks Joker if he believes in the Virgin Mary. Joker responds that he doesn't, angering the Catholic drill instructor. The clearly religious Hartman continues to ask Joker if he believes in the Virgin Mary, and Joker continues to resist, confirming that he doesn't because he's an atheist. Despite Hartman's slapping him in the face, Joker stubbornly refuses to change his answer, stating that he belives that Hartman will only "beat him harder if he reverses himself." Hartman immediately promotes Joker to squad leader for having the courage to stand up to his drill instructor. However, Hartman also gives Joker the difficult job of being Pyle's personal instructor. Off on the sidelines over the next few days, Joker helps Pyle through the obstacle courses, shows him how to operate and clean a rifle, and how to make his bed. But all of this effort is later proven to be a waste.One evening during a routine inspection, Hartman, noticing that Pyle's foot locker is unlocked, searches it and finds a jelly doughnut; food is strictly forbidden in the barracks (and Pyle is not permitted to eat donuts because he's overweight). Enraged, Hartman decides that from then on instead of punishing Pyle, he'll punish all the other recruits in the platoon. A few nights later, the angry recruits attack Pyle with soap bars wrapped in towels while Cowboy gags him and a few others hold him down on his bed. At first, Joker is reluctant to attack his friend, but after Cowboy persuades him, Joker hits Pyle longer and harder than most of the others. In his bunk, Joker covers his ears, ashamed at himself for his actions, while Pyle howls in pain.After the traumatic experience, Pyle slowly begins to go insane but also shapes up and becomes the fastest and best rifleman of the entire platoon, impressing Hartman. When Joker sees Pyle talking to his rifle and staring off into space blankly, and not responding to interaction, he realizes that Pyle is losing his mind ("Section 8"), and confides in Cowboy about Pyle's growing mental breakdown. By the end of basic training, Pyle clearly has been completely dehumanized by its rigors.After graduation, Hartman assigns each recruit a MOS (Military Occupational Specialty), most of them as 0300 (Infantry). One exception is Joker who is assigned as a 4212 (Basic Military Journalism). On the platoon's last night on Parris Island, Joker draws fire watch (guard patrol), during which he discovers Pyle in the bathroom loading his M-14 rifle with live ammunition. Frightened, Joker attempts to calm the insane Pyle, who begins shouting, executing drill commands, and reciting the Rifleman's Creed. The noise awakens Hartman, who confronts Pyle and demands that he drop the rifle. When Pyle refuses and does not respond, Hartman hurls further insults at him. Pyle responds by shooting Hartman dead, and then aims the rifle at Joker. Joker pleads with Pyle, who lowers the rifle and nods, possibly in recognition of Joker as a friend. Pyle sits down on a toilet, places the muzzle of the weapon in his mouth and pulls the trigger, killing himself.One year later, Joker is in Da Nang, reporting on the Vietnam War for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. He and his partner, combat photographer Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard), meet a prostitute (Leanne Hong) in the streets and encounter a thief (Nguyen Hue Phong) who steals Rafterman's camera. When they return to their base, they are given new assignments, but Joker wants to go to the front lines to get a good story.That evening in the barracks, Rafterman talks with the others GIs about wanting to go into combat, as Joker claims he has done. One of the other GIs mocks Joker, saying he knows Joker has never been in combat because he doesn't have the "thousand-yard stare." The sound of nearby gunfire interrupts their argument. The North Vietnamese Army is attacking and attempting to overrun the base in what turns out to be the beginning of the Tet Offensive. Joker's unit returns fire but the base is not attacked as heavily as other locations.The next day, the staff learns about enemy attacks throughout South Vietnam. Joker's commander, Lt. Lockhart (John Terry), assigns Joker to Phu Bai, a Marine forward operating-base near the ancient Vietnamese city of Hue, to cover the combat taking place in the area. Rafterman accompanies him, hoping to get some combat experience. During the helicopter ride, Joker and Rafterman encounter an insane door gunner who shoots indiscriminately at unarmed Vietnamese civilians on the ground, boasting about his ability to kill.When they land outside Hue, Joker and Rafterman meet and talk to a lieutenant, Touchdown (Ed O'Ross). He tells Joker, who is looking for his old friend Cowboy, that he's Cowboy's commanding officer. However, before Joker and Rafterman meet the squad, they follow up a rumor about Vietnamese civilians who are reported to have been executed by the Viet Cong. They go to the mass grave and find over 20 bodies in a mass grave that have been covered with lime. Joker talks to a lieutenant who confirms that the dead people were told by the Viet Cong they'd be "re-educated" at a public meeting and were killed when they arrived. As they wrap up their coverage, Joker is approached and lectured by a belligerent colonel (Bruce Boa) who demands to know why Joker wears a peace symbol on his body armor when he also has the words 'Born to Kill' written on his helmet. Joker suggests it has to do with the "duality of Man" according to Jung. The cynical colonel doesn't believe him and tells him to "get with the program".They later meet Cowboy's unit, the Lusthog Squad, and Joker is finally reunited with Cowboy, who has been promoted to sergeant and is second-in-command. Joker accompanies the squad during the Battle of Hue. During the battle the enemy kills their commanding officer, Lt. Touchdown. Another Marine nicknamed Crazy Earl (Kieron Jecchinis) takes command of the squad. The group goes into battle and quickly comes under enemy fire from a nearby building (which appears to be a building containing a blast-furnace among a ruined factory). Afterward, the squad is interviewed by a touring combat news team, and they share their experiences and opinion of the war. A little while later a South Vietnamese Army soldier and pimp (Tan Hung Francione) with a prostitute (Leanne Hong) visit the resting Marines to offer her services to them.A few days later, the squad goes out on patrol again, this time in the factory-ruins north of the Perfume River which divides the city of Hue, where the Americans believe enemy forces have hidden themselves. Crazy Earl comes across a toy rabbit in a ruined building and picks it up, triggering an explosive booby trap that kills him, leaving Cowboy as the reluctant squad leader. The squad becomes lost in more ruined buildings, and a unseen sniper (Ngoc Le) pins them down wounding two of their comrades, first Eightball (Dorian Harewood), and then Doc Jay (Jon Stafford) when he tries to drag Eightball to safety. The sniper refrains from killing the wounded men, with the apparent intention to draw more of the squad into range. The M-60 machine gunner, Animal Mother (Adam Baldwin) disregards Cowboy's orders to withdraw, charges into the clump of warehouse buildings, and locates the sniper. As the squad maneuvers to try to locate the sniper's position, Cowboy is shot. He is rushed behind one of the blown-out buildings where the squad tries to keep him alive; they fail and Cowboy dies in Joker's arms.Animal Mother assumes command of the remaining Marines and angrily declares, "Let's go get some payback." Using smoke grenades to conceal their advance, the squad enters the building and searches for the sniper. Joker finds the sniper on an upper floor, but his rifle jams as he tries to shoot. The enemy sniper, a teenage girl, spins around, opening fire with her AK-47 automatic rifle, pinning him behind a column. Panicked, Joker drops his rifle and draws his sidearm, however he is unable to shoot back. Rafterman arrives and shoots the sniper, saving Joker. As Animal Mother and other Marines of the squad converge, she begins to pray in her native language, then repeatedly begs (in English) "shoot me", prompting an argument about whether to leave her to die from her wounds or to put her out of her misery. Animal Mother decides to allow a mercy killing only if Joker performs it. After some hesitation, Joker shoots her with his sidearm. The Marines sarcastically congratulate him on his first kill as Joker stares into the distance, having finally gotten his dehumanized "thousand yard stare".The film concludes with a night time shot of Joker, Rafterman, Animal Mother, and all the other Marines marching through the burning ruins of Hue toward their bivouac for the night, singing the 'Mickey Mouse March'. Joker states that despite being "in a world of shit", he is glad to be alive, and is no longer afraid.

Tags: dark, murder, dramatic, violence, anti war, action, brainwashing

Review:
SPOILER: Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 realistic Vietnam war film and is one of the best films of the 80's ever made, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick.
A superb ensemble falls in for for Stanley Kubrick's brilliant saga about the Vietnam War and the dehumanizing process that turns people into trained killers.
From Basic training rigors to Hue City combat nightmare, Full Metal Jacket scores a cinematic direct hit.The film focus on a two-segment look at the effect of the military mindset and war itself on Vietnam era Marines.
"Joker" Davis (Matthew Modine) and about torture physics of a young men who is a marine recruit in the platoon lead by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman his Parris Island drill instructor who tortures him by punish his whole squad for his mistakes.
The film now more focus on one of those recruits Private Joker (Matthew Moddine) from the boot camp Parris Island, who is in Da Nang Vietnam, reporting on the Vietnam War for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.
Joker and Rafterman are assigned to Phu Bai, a Marine forward operating-base near the ancient Vietnamese city of Hue, Joker is reunited with his team recruit from his training boot camp Paris Island, Cowboy and his unit, the Lusthog Squad, before they met Cowboy's Unit they are go trough They go to the mass grave and find over 20 bodies in a mass grave that have been covered with lime.The film is Staney Kubrick's best realistic Vietnam War film of all time.
I don't know if that's good or bad for training (I had my face slapped hard my first day of boot camp and that was just for openers), but then all of us old-timers like to brag about how tough it useta be!A final note: It's interesting to compare "Full Metal Jacket" to another attempt at a portrayal of Parris Island, Jack Webb's "The DI," made around '55 or '56.
`Full Metal Jacket' is very much a movie of two halves - the first half dealing with a group of conscripts in training at military camp and the hardships they endure under their `hard-as-nails' instructor.
'Full Metal Jacket' was a film that I had been meaning to watch for a while after all the good stuff I had heard about it.It really is a film of two halves, unfortunately I didn't like the 2nd half.The 1st half at boot camp was excellent, we saw a lot of character development and emotion as well as a lot of humour and really serious issues.
R. Lee Ermey and Vincent D'Onofrio were just brilliant.The 2nd half I didn't enjoy as much, it looked great and there was a lot of action but it was just a bit boring and felt really dragged out, whereas the 1st part just had everything that you wanted.Glad I got round to seeing it but wouldn't watch it again, slightly disappointed after a really good start to the film.6/10..
Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket seems like an uncompleted film, but to me that's poetic justice to one of America's uncompleted wars.
This is the journey undertaken by Private "Joker" J.T. Davis, from brutal training camp to Vietnam itself.As most people know by now, Full Metal Jacket is divided very much into two different halves, halves that to me show the best and worst of the talented director, Stanley Kubrick.
For the first part we are subjected to the training regime inflicted on wet behind the ears boys, boys soon to become Marines out in the harshness of the Vietnam War. This is real dehumanising stuff, frighteningly essayed by the brilliance of drill instructor R Lee Ermey's performance.
A preliminary note: anyone who liked this movie well enough to read comments should know that a considerable amount of detail in both it and _Apocalypse Now_ had origins in a 1968 Japanese novel called Into a Black Sun, by a Japanese war correspondent working in Vietnam at the time.
The plot is about a group of soldiers who are turned into killers in marine training, and are then sent off to the Vietnam War.Kubrick once again does a great job at directing.
They may be fighting for freedom, but the soldiers are motivated by other things - camaraderie, macho posturing and the urge to kill instilled in them at boot camp.I cannot understand those who criticise this Kubrick film above others for consisting of multiple episodes with very different feel and setting.
Animal Mother may indeed be an Animal Mother, but when it comes to the crunch he is clear-headed, effective and fiercely loyal to his comrades, and even musters a grudging sympathy for the dying sniper in acceding to Joker's humane despatching of her.All in all, an unforgettable film, totally different in feel to any other war movie I have seen.
The unifying theme of Stanley Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket' is that Vietnam put American in the toilet; each of the film's three parts, or "Acts", has characters in what is repeatedly described as "a world of s--t." The men are successful trained to kill - but, they do not know when to kill, who to kill, or why anyone should die.
The reason for the war is explained, "We are here to help the Vietnamese because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out." Probably, the film's strongest "story" is told in the first "Act"; it features drill sergeant R.
Some of the material in the rest of the film becomes very weak, in comparison; especially disappointing are some mid-movie scenes "staged" for the camera of "Stars and Stripes" photographer "Rafterman" (Kevyn Major Howard) - the characters all say silly things for the camera.
Modine's Pvt. Joker is especially interesting, dying to get into action one minute, but once the bullets start whizzing, scared out of his wits.Bottom Line: an excellent war film, and should be considered one of the best of all time.
The film's strength is it's wonderful streak of black comedy that runs right the way through  it is the reason for watching and makes it feel a little different from other hardcore war movies of this ilk.Kubrick is always going to be watchable but this is not one of his best.
Only D'Onofrio (Pyle) came out of this as a real person.Overall this is a good anti-war film but not a great one.
This is an excellent film that shows that film maker Stanley Kubrick has lost none of his skill despite a 7 year break between projects.The film is plotted in two distinct parts, the first half, which is the stronger part is concerned with the impact of brutal training on the wannabe soldiers, with the second part focusing on the story told from the central character, Private Joker, played by an effective Matthew Modine in a deliberate low key and understated manner.
After a several year absence, Stanley Kubrick returned to the screen with the hard-hitting "Full Metal Jacket", about an American platoon going to Vietnam.
"Full Metal Jacket" follows a single Marine-nicknamed Joker(Mathew Modine)-through boot camp and a portion of his time in Vietnam.
Kubrick/Herr/Hasford`s razor sharp script takes us on a blackly comical tour of the horrors of basic training with Sergeant Hartman , private Joker and Leonard Lawrence being the central characters , but then the film cuts to the battlefields of `Nam with only a couple of characters like Joker and Cowboy linking the two segments .
It's odd that they chose Joker, a war correspondant (journalist), for a main character ; I guess they wanted to show the hardening of a pretty normal guy instead of just jumping in the action with a testosterone/adrenaline junkie lusting for a kill seen in countless movies, it's more human that way..
Kubrick, as always, shows the audience events and then allows them their own conclusions (sort of like real life, huh?)I served in the Army and like most veterans, the boot camp sequence (the first film) is funny, scary, informative and exhausting, just like basic training.
R. Lee Ermey dominates this Stanley Kubrick directed Vietnam War drama, as he plays profane, no-nonsense, ultra tough Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, who belittles, browbeats, and insults the marine recruits in brutal boot camp training.
In fact, years of movie-watching just enhanced my dislike for what looks more than ever like an half-baked, over simplistic war movie.As everybody knows, FMJ is basically two movies stuck together, with little relation to each other.
Same scene some 15 minutes later, only this time the prostitute is pimped out by a local guy.I could ask many questions about this movie For instance if Kubrick was supposed to be over-meticulous and detail crazy how did he missed the fact that the UK does not look like Vietnam?
"Full Metal Jacket" is a kind of disjointed film told through a boot camp setting in the first half and a war setting in second half.
This is "Full Metal Jacket'" strongest element as we see some great film-making of things we've seen done numerous times before, but here; Kubrick brings us one of the most memorable characters in film history with Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R.
Pyle becomes the second best character, only to Hartman, but once we leave the basic training scenes we're thrown into a war we've seen before and a war we've seen captured on film much better.
"Full Metal Jacket" offers a lot of laughs in the first half of the film and actually goes for too many laughs with Hartman in the opening scene as Kubrick and company just go for the next joke about their sexual orientation.
After so much it got the point where I was thinking, "When is he going to get back to his speech and stop calling these guys fags and queers 15,000 different ways?" "Full Metal Jacket" shows how dehumanizing war can be as we see "born to kill" written on the helmet of Joker (Mathew Modine) with a peace sign on his chest that represent the "duality of man" (as we're told).
These characters in "Full Metal Jacket" seem hardly likable, and they are very rarely put through any type of emotional anguish, which is the key to all great war films--even "Forrest Gump" had some.I enjoyed the first half of the movie, which is basically the training period.
Yes, if my ears can stand the assault, Ermey can be fun to hear, and young, fat Vincent D'Onofrio as "Pvt. Pyle," the victim of the sergeant's rage, terminates his boss in a memorable scene, the main character of the film is "Pvt. Joker," played by Matthew Modine, and I didn't like the guy.
It made a star of Lee Ermey, whose Drill Sergeant was terrifyingly real, primarily because that is what he was in reality.Like all of Kubrick's work, this film contains iconic imagery that sears into your mind's eye and becomes very hard to erase; the final scenes, and the film's closing, with its perfect marriage of image, sound, and music, haunt you and leave you reflecting on the last 2 two hours..
Lee Ermey,by the way).Not only is war hell,preparing for it can be just as bad,if you don't have a healthy state of mind to begin with.This is the case for Pvt. Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio,who really packed on the pounds for this role).You can almost feel him cracking throughout the first portion of the film,leading to a violent showdown with his tormenting commanding officer.The second half of the film is a basic display of the horrors of war itself,and very well done.Excellent direction by Stanley Kubrick,who always seemed to have a knack for not repeating himself a director,in terms of the types of films he directed.This was his "war" film,and it's an absolute masterpiece.Must see film..
Though Drill Instructors are not allowed to cuss or hit recruits anymore the details of training that have been shown are a great reminder of what a person has signed up for.The Vietnam War description could hold true for many Marines, but in the end this is just a movie.
Stanley Kubrick was already a legend when he made Full Metal Jacket- a war movie.
Stanley Kubrick was already a legend when he made Full Metal Jacket- a war movie.
Many people seem to think it gets weaker after the boot camp and the second part isn't as good, I like the whole movie, the second half has at least the same amount of memorable scenes if not more!.
"Full Metal Jacket" (1987) is a war drama that accurately displays the hardship of the military, in this case the Marine Corps, during the Vietnam War. The film is through the perspective of Private Joker, played by Matthew Modine, as he navigates basic training and the war.
I feel the point of this film was to shed light on the actualities of the military during training and war time, which have been improved since Vietnam.
I think Matthew Modine and Vincent D'Onofrio deserve special mentions too for coming up with contrasting, yet equally compelling performances respectively.In conclusion, I'll say 'Full Metal Jacket' doesn't quite achieve greatness due to the flawed second half of the film.
In the same way that "Trainspotting" was an anti-drug film that did not gloss over anything, "Full Metal Jacket" is (for me) an anti-war film that stares straight at the ugliness of war and the potential for violence within almost all people, especially those trained, conditioned, even twisted, into military roles, without preaching even a single time.
I felt like I was walking through the movie with the Marines, from the barracks to the battlefield scenes.I have seen others criticize this film for the voice over, but I felt that it was used sparingly, and was helpful, not overdone.
I felt like I was walking through the movie with the Marines, from the barracks to the battlefield scenes.I have seen others criticize this film for the voice over, but I felt that it was used sparingly, and was helpful, not overdone.
The narrator doesn't say anything that seems out-of-place.Others have commented on the music, the acting, and so on, so I won't add my repetitive comments, except that the drill sergeant is perfect!The combination of the demented treatment the recruits receive in boot camp with the combined "hours of boredom, seconds of terror" feel of the Vietnam scenes is intense and not for everyone, but feels REAL.10 out of 10, perfect..
The narrator doesn't say anything that seems out-of-place.Others have commented on the music, the acting, and so on, so I won't add my repetitive comments, except that the drill sergeant is perfect!The combination of the demented treatment the recruits receive in boot camp with the combined "hours of boredom, seconds of terror" feel of the Vietnam scenes is intense and not for everyone, but feels REAL.10 out of 10, perfect..
Stanley Kubrick takes us back to a squad of U.S. Marines through their United States Marine Corps Recruit Training and depicts some of the experiences of two of them in the Tet Offensive (1968) during the Vietnam War.
The first third of Stanley Kubrick's take on the Vietnam War is as powerful and shocking as any film ever made about the military In the film's opening shots, we see close-ups of new Marine recruits getting their heads shaved at a military training post The next shot follows Hartman (R.
Lee Ermey) as he strides through a barracks and completes the first stage of the young men's intimidating indoctrination into the Marine Corps The scene also establishes the measured pace that Kubrick maintains throughout Booming, gloriously profane, and imaginative, Sgt. Hartman is a force of nature that will mold these boys into killing machines At that point, most war films would turn to the young men, sketch out their pasts and then show their transformation into a cohesive unit These kids are names and archetypes who will react differently to Hartman's approachKubrick makes Ermey such a mesmerizing force that one key early element is easy to overlook From the first moment we see him in the barber's chair, before we even know his name, it is abundantly clear that Leonard is mad He has that familiar vacant, smiling, dull-eyed expression of evil that Kubrick also uses to define Little Alex in "A Clockwork Orange" and Jack Torrance in "The Shining." The other characters do not see it, and so the inevitable confrontation between Hartman and Leonard is all the more horrifyingThe middle section of the film establishes Joker's role as a war reporter, working behind the lines during the Tet Offensive of 1968, and his desire for some "trigger time" with his old pals from basic That's where Kubrick shapes his view of the Vietnam war In the third part, a new sociopath named Animal Mother (Adam Baldwin) is introduced, and the focus shifts to a patrol searching through the bombed out city of Hue to root out a sniper That is where the filmmakers comment most pointedly on the war itself They see it as a dead-end that serve no purpose That's certainly a valid artistic interpretation of history Many other films have made the same points, often more eloquently But Kubrick isn't interested in eloquence, eitherThe three sections are unmistakably separated from each other The first stands on its own though key elements are stated again at the endFor the viewer expecting a "traditional" war film, the result is disconcerting, frustrating, and somehow unfinished Most Kubrick fans will admit that "Paths of Glory" and "Dr. Strangelove" are more enjoyable, but even if their man is not in top form, "Full Metal Jacket" is challenging, and repeated viewings reveal more details and connections.
I was very surprised to learn recently, from Matthew Modine's newly published "Full Metal Jacket Diary," that Kubrick shot the Vietnam portion of the movie (or most of it, anyway) first, and the Parris Island portion second.
just watch this film and you will see why its the best war movie ever!