Full Metal Jacket

NO SPOILERS! This is a review, not a synopsis.

First of all I love Kubrick's work, so I came into this with a bias. However I have seen a lot of action and war films, and this one, to an individual who never went to war, seems the most true-to-life, taken as a whole. This IS how you have to look at this film, incidentally; trying to break it down into two or three parts and say which was better is missing the point of the film, I think.

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. Less allegory and more applicability! Wonderful!

The camera work was superb. 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.

Full Metal Jacket is an excellent war film. All the characters are very well written, and represent very common characters in the military. There's always a class clown, a hardened individual that's respected, and someone who just isn't capable. The acting of Vincent D'Onofrio in this is exceptional, he only has a short amount of screen time, but his story is very sad and impactful. The second half of the film starts to become less enjoyable, but nevertheless it's still a good film.

Strange, as I sat to watch Full Metal Jacket for the first time in years, what I remembered most was Lee Emery's Sgt Hartman's rantings and Vincent D'Onofrio. In fact, it was Vincent D'Onofrio's Pvt Lawrence, known as "Gomer Pyle" that made this Stanley Kubrick film, truly memorable. I'm noticing this more and more as I get older and revisit old films. The performances, certain performances, even in supporting roles allow a film to keep growing with the passing of time. Full Metal Jacket a shattering film or I should say, two shattering films. The first part, the training, the intro is a masterpiece practically impossible to match up, so, the second part doesn't match it. But, still. A film-experience. Vincent D'Onofrio's performance even more powerful now, 30 years later. Enormous! The British skies over Vietnam is another reminder than an artist's eye knows no boundaries.

"With flowers and my love both never to come back ... It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black". So sings the man whose throbbing song marks the film's end, merciless lyrics to describe thematically a story that is as wrenching as it is mesmerizing.

There are no villains in this film, only heroic victims. The villains are all off-screen, comfy behind mahogany desks, or dressed for success and giving shrill speeches about how maintaining peace requires war. Strange logic.

First it's boot camp, a dreary prospect at best, for an ordinary group of young American men. Here, a sadistic drill Sargent, in colorful language, barks out orders and insults straight from Hades. It's do or die, almost literally, for our greenhorns. It's an ordeal of blackness from which some may never recover. Still, the grunts learn a valuable lesson; namely, that life is mostly physical, not mental. It's a lesson some ivory tower college professors never learn.

But then it's on to an even blacker black ... Vietnam. Combat scenes are rendered believable by effective visuals and terrific sound effects: pounding percussion, amplified sounds of equipment and footsteps across explosive debris, and an always present, ever-so-subtle ... echo. Potent and torturous, these scenes convey a Zen-like immediacy, an impending sense of doom. And then at film's end, those lyrics ...

Composed of two, barely overlapping, parts, the script's structure is a bit unorthodox. But the film works, owing to an intensity that never lets up. R. Lee Ermey is of course terrific as the harsh drillmaster. Casting of the young lions is okay, though a tad weak in one or two cases. Insertion of pop songs of the era works well, to amplify the cultural disconnect between a war-torn Vietnam and an indifferent America.

Like reading a history book, watching an occasional war movie is good for the soul. It puts one's problems in perspective. For that reason, this particular war movie is better than most. It's riveting, intense. And the sense of impending blackness hovers ever present over the story's heroic victims, like the sword of Damocles.

The first half of "Full Metal Jacket" is so intensely entertaining that director Stanley Kubrick can be forgiven for the slight come-down that follows. The opening scenes draw us into the strict world of "maggots" training to join the ranks of real men, otherwise known as Marines. We see the characters humiliated, yelled at like children, beaten and, in one tragic case, broken down. It's an unpleasant yet fascinating place to visit from the comfort and safety of our living room couches. Yet once the action shifts to the Vietnam War, when you would expect even better, something is lost. The characters seem less real and the atmosphere less intriguing. Overall, however, there aren't many faults to find with this effort, but be forewarned that it's certainly not for younger viewers.