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A superb ensemble cast falls in for action in Stanley Kubrick's brilliant saga about the Vietnam War and the dehumanizing process that turns people into trained killers. Joker, Animal Mother, Gomer, Eightball, Cowboy and more - all are plunged into a boot-camp hell pitbulled by a leatherlung D.I. (R. Lee Ermey) who views the would-be devil dogs as grunts, maggots or something less.The action is savage, the story unsparing, the dialogue spiked with scathing humor. Full Metal Jacket, from its rigors of basic training to its nightmare of combat in Hue City, scores a cinematic direct hit.
"As brutally unsparing as "Platoon" was, it was ultimately warm and embracing." Jack Kroll, NewsWeek
"The best war movie ever made!" Jay Scott, The Globe & Mail
"Elliptical, full of subtle inner rhymes...profoundly moving..." Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
"An intense, schematic, superbly made Vietnam War drama." Variety
"...harrowing, beautiful and characteristically eccentric...A film of immense and very rare imagination." Vincent Canby, The New York Times
Editor's Note
In this riveting look at military life during the Vietnam conflict, Stanley Kubrick, who made the powerful antiwar classics PATHS OF GLORY (WWI) and DR. STRANGELOVE (the Cold War), once again explores the behavior of men in battle. FULL METAL JACKET (1987), adapted from Gustav Hasford's novel THE SHORT TIMERS, is broken down into two very different parts. The first half of the film focuses on the training of a squad of Marine grunts on Parris Island, and more specifically on the troubled relationship between the brutal drill sergeant (a frightening Lee Ermey) and an oafish misfit (a brilliant Vincent D'Onofrio) who just happens to be a sharpshooter. The second half takes the grunts to Hue City, where the climactic battle of the 1968 Tet Offensive--and the turning point of the Vietnam War--took place. The story is told through the eyes of Private Joker (Matthew Modine), a cynical aspiring photojournalist who is forced to fight for his life and the lives of his fellow recruits. Unusually for Kubrick, FULL METAL JACKET emerged at a time when a trend for films about Vietnam was in full swing. PLATOON had proceeded Kubrick's film by a year, and lesser efforts such as HAMBURGER HILL also emerged in 1987. London's abandoned docklands may not be the most obvious choice of location to replicate the ravages of the Vietnam landscape, but this is where Kubrick shot the film, sticking to his dogged principles of not shooting outside his adopted home. A moving commentary on the dehumanizing process that occurs when soldiers prepare and engage in battle, FULL METAL JACKET is an unforgettable experience from one of the most original voices to ever pick up a movie camera.
Plot Summary
Based on Gustav Hasford's novel THE SHORT TIMERS, Kubrick's unusual answer to the 1980s spate of Vietnam War films (PLATOON, HAMBURGER HILL, 84 CHARLIE MOPIC, etc.) actually seems like two films in one. The first half focuses on the training of a squad of Marine grunts on Parris Island, and more specifically on the troubled relationship between the brutal drill sergeant (Ermey) and an oafish misfit (a brilliant D'Onofrio) who just happens to be a sharpshooter. Post-training, we follow the grunts to battle of Hue City, the climactic battle of the 1968 Tet Offensive and the turning point of the Vietnam War, seeing mostly through the eyes of a cynical reporter nicknamed Joker (Modine). As a Vietnam War film, Kubrick's is notable for focusing on urban, rather than jungle, battlefields--with snipers hiding behind every bombed-out building.
| Features | Audio: English, French, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Dubbed: French, Spanish | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | This Is A Blu-Ray DVD Made For Blue-Laser Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture & Sound |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Warner |
| Release Date: 10/23/2007 |
| Original Release Date: 1987 | | Catalog ID: 118627 | | UPC: 00085391186274 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Nominee (1988) | | | British Academy Awards, Nigel Galt, et. al., Best Sound | | | British Academy Awards, John Evans, Best Special Effects | | | Golden Globe, R. Lee Ermey, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture | | | Oscar, Stanley Kubrick, et. al., Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium |
| Memorable Quotes| "Here you are all equally worthless."----Gny. Sgt. Hartman (Lee Ermey) to the new recruits | | "What is your major malfunction, Pvt. Pyle?"----Gny. Sgt. Hartman to Pvt. Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio) | | "You write 'Born to Kill' on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?!"----Colonel (Bruce Boa) to Pvt. Joker (Matthew Modine)|"I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir."----Pvt. Joker's eventual response|"We gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over."----Colonel's later comment to Pvt. Joker |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...Harrowing, beautiful and characteristically eccentric....The performances are splendid..." 06/26/1987 p.C3New York Times
Included in the New York Times "10 Best Films of 1987" 12/27/1987 p.II, 23 Variety
"...An intense, schematic, superbly made Vietnam War drama..." 06/24/1987 Los Angeles Times
"...A powerful and centered statement of outrage....It is a muscular return to form..." 06/26/1987 p.C1 Widescreen Review
"The picture looks like it was shot in the 70s, which is suitable for the setting of the storytelling." 07/01/2006 p.66 Washington Post 9 of 10
"There's a major star in Full Metal Jacket: Stanley Kubrick's direction. Resurfacing like a cinematic cicada after a seven-year absence, the American expatriate has overtaken the homegrown Viet Pack of Coppolas, Ciminos and Stones to make the most eloquent and exacting vision of the war to date...Although the elements of the story are simple and precise, Kubrick infuses a dreamlike, fatalistic quality. Sometimes the characters come alive, other times they seem like so many props for Kubrick's smoldering landscapes and tracking camera movements. The finale, a harrowing cat-and-mouse game with a sniper, ends in a building that -- with its forever-burning (and strategically placed) fires -- looks like a satanic temple. Kubrick's soundtrack is characteristically dynamic and explosive...Inspired with technique rather than overblown with it, Kubrick, the filmmaker's filmmaker, lays one on you." - Desson Howe
Reel.com 8 of 10
Stanley Kubrick's war drama Full Metal Jacket is really two films: the first is a blistering indictment of the military's soul-crushing indoctrination techniques; the second, a coolly cynical look at the plight of the G.I. in the killing fields of Vietnam...While the latter is merely good, the former is truly superb - a searing, powerful, darkly hilarious attack on traditional notions of patriotism and soldiery. In Jacket's first post-credit scene, we meet one of film's most outspoken villains - Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey), a senior drill instructor in United States Marine Corps...Although certainly bloody, Jacket's second half never captures the creeping suspense of Platoon nor the visceral combat of Saving Private Ryan. The result is an intriguing, if somewhat cold, grunt's-eye-view of America's worst military debacle. - Tor Thorsen
The Washington Post 9 of 10
There's a major star in Full Metal Jacket: Stanley Kubrick's direction. Resurfacing like a cinematic cicada after a seven-year absence, the American expatriate has overtaken the homegrown Viet Pack of Coppolas, Ciminos and Stones to make the most eloquent and exacting vision of the war to date...Although the elements of the story are simple and precise, Kubrick infuses a dreamlike, fatalistic quality. Sometimes the characters come alive, other times they seem like so many props for Kubrick's smoldering landscapes and tracking camera movements. The finale, a harrowing cat-and-mouse game with a sniper, ends in a building that -- with its forever-burning (and strategically placed) fires -- looks like a satanic temple. Kubrick's soundtrack is characteristically dynamic and explosive...Inspired with technique rather than overblown with it, Kubrick, the filmmaker's filmmaker, lays one on you. - Desson Howe
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