Full Metal Jacket Reviews

I like Stanley Kubrick, and I love his films, especially 2001, Barry Lyndon, Paths of Glory, Dr Strangelove and this, his penultimate film. Full Metal Jacket is a harrowing, violent and foul-mouthed film, yet it is superbly done. True, one or two parts may lack tropical realism, but the atmosphere the film creates is extraordinary. The film looks excellent with skillful cinematography. The script is very well crafted and does have a sense of realism, while the story is compelling with the transition from the training at the camp to the bombed Vietamnesse city smoothly done. I am with those who thinks the first half is better than the second, but that is not to say the second half isn't good, it is more than good, but the first half really was outstanding. Kubrick's direction as always is superb, as is the acting especially Lee Ermey and Vincent D'Onofrio. All in all, one of Kubrick's best and one of the best war movies you will see. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Yo soy partidario de que se utilice el arte como un recurso para mostrarle a las personas puntos de vista distintos a los que "el sistema" trata de imponer.
Por esa razón me gusta la imagen que proyecta está cinta del ejército americano, donde se ve como muchas veces el gobierno de Estados Unidos envía sus tropas a sitios donde ni siquiera ellos mismos entienden por qué están ahí. Puede parecer irrelevante, pero sobretodo en ese tiempo le da una carga de crítica social no muy frecuente en el cine americano de esa época.

Me gusta mucho el enfoque que le dieron al ejército de Estados Unidos en esta cinta, ya que contrario a lo que normalmente se plasma en los medios, aquí no se busca realzar a los militares como héroes ni se pinta el nacionalismo como un valor escencial, sino que se refleja la vida de los soldados como simples seres humanos que arriesgan sus vidas por causas que no entienden. Si tomamos en cuenta que esta película se realizó en los años 80's y que además es un pilar fundamental en lo que la cultura entiende como entrenamiento militar se hace especialmente interesante de ver, se la recomiendo especialmente a las personas que no crean mucho en la política, a quiénes tengan el nacionalismo como un valor importante y a curiosos del séptimo arte.

Since it was at least a decade since I saw this flick for the last time, I thought it was definitely time for a re-watch. Honestly, I always had some rather mixed feelings about this one. First of all, I have to make myself clear : it is a really good movie but I don't think it is flawless though. Obviously, as usual with Kubrick, the directing was absolutely amazing and the acting was completely off the charts. However, the combining of the 2 parts (the training and the actual war) just didn't really work for me. I mean, the first part was just amazing, on the same level of some of the best work provided by this great master but the second part was decent but honestly rather underwhelming, especially after the emotional roller-coaster provided by the boot camp. Basically, it is a random succession of war scenes with no real plot (there are even two scenes involving Vietnamese prostitutes) but, in just an hour, you don’t really get the time to involve yourself in the conflict and, compared to ‘Platoon’ which spends its whole running time in Vietnam, this part was never really spellbinding in my opinion. Still, it remains a really good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Stanley Kubrick’s work.

The first half, set in the harsh marine training camp is excellent - characters, suspense, and a shocking ending. The second, set in Vietnam (or London Docklands, with Sea King helicopters taking the place of Hueys), for me is disappointingly clichéd, and lacks the punch of the first half of the film. There are better Vietnam films out there - Platoon, Hamburger Hill, Tigerland.

Full Metal Jacket begins by following the trials and tribulations of a platoon of fresh Marine Corps recruits focusing on the relationship between Gunnery Sergeant Hartman and Privates Pyle and Joker. We see Pyle grow into an instrument of death

Full Metal Jacket is a film that I loved and didn't like which is something that I think is really weird but can't help but think this way. What I loved about Full Metal Jacket was only the first 40 minutes of it involving the training in the army. I found it absolutely hilarious because Drill Sergeant Hartman was a complete bastard and the way he was speaking and what he was saying was hilarious! Also with the sudden screaming of "Sir, yes, sir!" and "Sir, no sir!" I was totally gripped with Private Pyle's character but I was disappointed when he commited suicide because I thought that it was about him but it was more about Private Joker. Pyle's suicide was a very powerful and dark scene. After that moment, I didn't like the rest of the film because I thought it was pretty dull and boring.


I wasn't really interested in Private Joker's character at all to be honest because I think it was mostly because I didn't really like the actor playing him. I thought Vincent D'Onofrio was really brilliant as Private Pyle because he brought out that sensitive, kind-hearted attitude but also his psychological side as well. He was the ultimate bully victim not only to the drill sergeant but also to some of the other privates in the platoon. His name isn't really Pyle. His real name is Leonard Lawrence. The more pressure Pyle was under he became totally twisted which is really tragic because he didn't deserve it. I think his relationship with Drill Sergeant Hartman was absolutely brilliant because they both revealed to the world what sensitive people could be feeling like when in the army with the Drill Sergeant screaming and hitting them. It was good that Hartman was naming all of the privates by something they've said, done or anything else like Private Joker, Private Cowboy, Private Snowball and Private Pyle. R. Lee Ermey was absolutely fantastic! He was hilarious and very cold hearted which is after all the nature of a sergeant/colonel in the army.


Stanley Kubrick's work in Full Metal Jacket is very good. The way Kubrick filmed this film was in a very similar way to his other films. Even if I didn't know that Full Metal Jacket was a Kubrick film I would be able to tell that it's one of his because of the camera angles used within it. The camera slowly zooms out in an impactful event just like it does in A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut as well as Full Metal Jacket. Full Metal Jacket is Kubrick's war film not Paths Of Glory despite that is a fantastic film though.


It is weird because I loved the first 40 minutes but didn't like the rest of it very much as it says in my review. That is the only thing that has happened to me in a film before. I think if I watch all of it again in the future I will appreciate it more. Full Metal Jacket is Kubrick's sixth best film after A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb. Full Metal Jacket is one of the best war films as well as one of the best black comedies.

These really are good movies, it just sucks that they're under one roof. If Full Metal Jacket was somehow a two-part film, it would be a masterpiece. Now after about 50 minutes we cut from one great film to another great film, with no common theme or development. It's obvious that the focus of the training segment is Pyle, even if Joker is the main character. The loss of this focus when the war segment begins hurts the film in the way that it then has to create another focus for us. This makes this break in the structure a very obvious and painful one. It feels as if someone would reboot the entire movie in the middle of the proverbial action. Make no mistake however; from the fantastic over-the-top performance from Lee R. Ermey to the often absent, but yet powerful score, Kubrick's Vietnam-epic is definately worth watching once, twice, three times... It will always give something more to you as you notice something different about the characters, performances or events depicted on the screen. There's always something going on in the background, figures endlessly shifting through the stark, murky clouds of Vietnamese landscape and those long, long corridors of the training island.

''The deadliest weapon in the world is a marine and his rifle. It is your killer instinct which must be harnessed if you expect to survive in combat. Your rifle is only a tool. It is a hard heart that kills. If your killer instincts are not clean and strong you will hesitate at the moment of truth. You will not kill. You will become dead marines and then you will be in a world of shit because marines are not allowed to die without permission. Do you maggots understand?''


Story follows a group of Marine recruits from the harrowing experience of boot camp to the horrifying battlefronts of Vietnam.

Matthew Modine: Pvt. Joker

Adam Baldwin: Animal Mother

I was not expecting Full Metal Jacket to live up to expectations but thankfully i was wrong. Stanley Kubrick generally does some weird films and as soon as it begins you know your in for a treat.

This isn't just a war film, it's a study of people being transformed, moulded into reliable killing machines. The boot camp scenes are brilliant and R. Lee Ermey as Gny. Sgt. Hartman is iconic. I just couldn't muster myself to stop laughing at the beginning.
Private Pyle played by Vincent D'Onofrio is fascinating as a man who depicts what happens when your pushed to far and how it can make your whole being snap if you let it. The resulting conclusion of boot camp in a toilet left me blown away at how far it went.

Vietnam and it's war is shown up in a scene where we see a soldier shooting anyone from a helicopter, adeptly saying if they run there Vietcong if they don't, there a persistent Vietcong. It's sick but it so funny in a black humoured way. Shows the whole fucked up state of the dirty War on both sides.

The music is effective, definitely reminded me of 2001 and Clockwork Orange. I loved the songs like these boots were made for walking and the song on the credits what a finish.
Haunting droning haunting music used in the scenes at night at the boot-camp were chilling to me and the final scene.

The shock when you find soldiers you cared about shockingly die. Its tear inducing, and the identity of the sniper when they find the culprit near the end, that was heartbreaking.

Full Metal Jacket is another classic like The Deer Hunter that not only focuses on war but also on the people fighting it.

''Seven-six-two millimeter. Full. Metal. Jacket.''

Pending Full Review and Re-writes...