Right time for a non Dark Souls post and this one is another revistation, which will cover a vietnam war film and Stanely Kubrick's penultimate movie: Full Metal Jacket. So, here I will do the usual expansion of quotations of dialogue and adding in headings to the sections and add to one or two flaws and do a new summary.
So, with that said all said let's saddle up, lock and load and take another look at this war classic...
And yep as usual, the following warning is coming...
PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
STORY
So, the story is set in 1967 during the Vietnam war and it begins with a group new recruits who are sent to Parris Island where they are trained by the hard ass and foul mouthed senior drill instructor Sgt Hartman (Lee Ermey). Hartman uses tough tactics on the recruits, which include the cocky Private Joker (Matthew Modine), the inept and overweight Leonard Lawrence "Private Pyle" (Vincent D'Onofrio) (these are nicknames given by Hartman). Pyle's bumbling and clumsy nature and frequently below par performance in his training gets him regularly into trouble with Hartman who pushes him hard.
After a while Hartman decides to have Pyle paired with Joker to help him improve in his training, which for a while improves. However Pyle is found out by Hartman to have stolen a jelly doughnut from the mess hall which he hid in his footlocker (which was found to be unlocked on inspection by Hartman). Hartman then decides as a result of Pyle's failure that every time he screws up, he will punish the rest of the recruits instead, and this indeed carries on as Pyle's continues to make mistakes. One night the rest of the recruits attack Pyle by pinning him down in his bed and hitting him with bars of soap. By now Pyle is left feeling totally isolated and alone and from here he starts to show signs of mental breakdown.
Pyle however on the plus side starts to finally impress Hartman with his rifleman skills and it is not long after this that Pyle disciplines himself into becoming a textbook marine, but at this time Pyle also starts to show signs of cracking up as he talks to his rifle. On completion of their training the marines are given their military occupational assignments, with Pyle and many of the other recruits being given infantry in the field, and Joker basic military journalism.
On the final night on the island Joker on nightwatch finds Pyle in the toilets, holding his rifle, clearly now having suffered a mental breakdown, Pyle starts to quote the rifleman's creed, this noise of which awakens Hartman. Hartman storms into the latrine and demands that Pyle put down his weapon, but Pyle instead kills Hartman and then he turns the rifle on himself, leaving Joker stunned.
After this the film jumps to the following year 1968 where Joker is now a journalist in the war for Stars and Stripes. And from here Joker is sent to Phu Bai where he soon meets up with one of his fellow recruits Prviate Cowboy (Arliss Howard) and his squad of men, which includes the cynical machine gunner, Animal Mother (Adam Baldwin). And from here things get tough as Joker becomes more involved in the war as a soldier where he has to fight like the others to survive in Vietnam....
THOUGHTS
Full Metal Jacket is no doubt one of the most memorable war films in recent years, and while you could argue that the main showpiece of the film is its first 45 minutes during the boot camp sequences, it still remains one of Stanley Kubrick's most powerful films. Kubrick's look at the war in a way is similar to Apocalypse now in that it isn't told in a strictly literal fashion as depicted in Oliver Stone's Platoon, where it get's down to the nitty gritty of the sights, sounds, noises, the dirt, the bugs and the blood, it is more about examining the attitudes of the war from the point of view from the soldiers in the field, than purely focusing on fighting to survive.
Kubrick wanted to make a film about the Vietnam war for several years and it took some persuasion for him to work with his close friend Michael Herr, who was a former war correspondent, with whom he co-wrote the screenplay along with Gustav Hasford. Production wise of course with Kubrick's fear of flying the film once again was filmed entirely in England and at locations such as the Norfolk Broads, and a former RAF and British army based, Bassingbourn barracks, the Cliffe marshes (used for the open country scenes) as well as at disused gas works in London. And given that it was supposed to be set in Vietnam, Kubrick went as far as to even import palm trees from Spain! And its this attention to detail that actually makes you believe or at least accept that the film does capture the Vietnam setting.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!).
Getting onto the performances they are pretty much top notch here as the excellent cast give it their best.
Starting with Matthew Modine arguably giving one of his best performances as the cocky Private Joker, which Modine shows in a way as being about the only character in the film with a sense of empathy, as he is mainly surrounded by marine killing machines. And in the Parris island scenes you see that he is the only one that shows any kind of empathy towards Private Pyle and his inability to perform well in his training as well as his dismay at Pyle's eventual breakdown.
Modine does of course have plenty of good scene as the one where Joker during his brutal training at Paris Island is asked by Hartman, "Do you believe in the Virgin Mary?" and Joker says "Sir, no, sir!" which angers Hartman. So, Hartman shouts at Joker "Why little maggot! You make me wanna VOMIT!" and he slaps him roughly across the face and demands that Joker tell him he does love the Virgin Mary or he'll stomp his guts out. So, Hartman asks him again "Now you do love the Virgin Mary, don't you??" and Joker shouts back "Sir, negative, sir!" and Hartman shots "Private Joker, are you trying to offend me???!" and Joker responds "Sir, negative, sir! Sir, the private believes any answer he gives will be wrong and the senior drill instructor will beat him harder if he reverses himself, sir!".
Another good moment from Modine is when the Joker during a team meeting at the Stars & Stripes press office is told by his boss, Lt Lockhart that the war is now unwinnable but made reference to Ann Margaret coming to Asia the week before. So, as Lt Lockhart tells his team in summary of the situation "Its a huge shit sandwich and we're all gonna have to take a big bite!" Joker sarcastically replies "Sir, does this mean that Ann Margaret is NOT coming?".
Joker faces off against one of Vietnam soldiers, Animal Mother, who asks him what he does and Joker tells him he is a combat correspondent, and Animal mother sarcastically asks "Have you ever seen any combat?" and Joker replies "Well, I've seen a little on TV!". Animal then says "You're a REAL comedian!" and Joker grins and says "Well, they call me the Joker!". So, Animal then says "Well, I've got a joke for you...I'm gonna tear you a new asshole!" and Joke retorts in a John Wayne voice "Well, pilgram...only after you eat the peanuts out of my sheeitt!".
Another good scene is when Joker is being interviewed on camera along with the other platoon soldiers after he reunites with Cowboy. So, Joker tells the interviewers "I wanted to see exotic Vietnam... the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them. I wanted to be the first kid on my block to get a confirmed kill!".
WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP IN NEXT TWO PARAGRAPHS!
Then there is the scene where after a VC sniper has killed some of Cowboy's platoon (including Cowboy himself) Joker, Animal Mother and the others make their way into the building where the sniper is and as Joker finds the sniper and is about to fire on her, his rifle jams so the sniper turns round and opens fire on him. Joker manages to take cover but the sniper bears down on him but she is gunned down by Rafterman just in time, who shouts on the others they got the sniper.
So, in the scene as the sniper lies dying on the ground, Joker asks "What about her?" and Animal Mother says "Fuck her. Let her rot" but Joker insists "We can't just leave her here". So, Animal Mother coldly tells Joker "Hey asshole, Cowboy's wasted. You're fresh out of friends. So, I say we leave the gook for the motherlovin' rats!". Joker then looks up at Animal Mother angrily and says "I'm not trying to run the squad, I'm just saying we can't leave her like this". So, as the sniper gasps for breath she suddenly manages to speak in English "shoot me" and Animal Mother goads Joker into shooting her, which after some hesitation he does.
And last of all is the last scene of the film where Joker and the other soldiers walk through the ruins of a VC area and they all sing the "Mickey Mouse" song and Joker narrates. So, Joker says in narration "My thoughts drift back to erect nipple wet dreams about Mary Jane Rottencrotch and the Great Homecoming Fuck Fantasy. I am so happy that I am alive, in one piece and short. I'm in a world of shit... yes. But I am alive. And I am not afraid".
Vincent D'Onofrio is terrific in his tragic role as the hapless Leonard Lawrence or "Private Pyle", an overweight recruit who is unable to do things right by himself until later on when he is pushed to breaking point by Hartman.
D'Onofrio has several highlights in the film particularly the scene where Hartman first talks to Pyle who tries not to laugh at Hartman's gruff yet amusingly profane manner. So, in the scene Hartman asks Lawrence, who is smirking at Hartman's gruff profanity "Do you think I'm funny?!" and Pyle says "Sir, no sir!" and Hartman demands "Then wipe that disgusting grin off your face!". However, Pyle has difficulty trying to stop grinning, so Hartman angrily says "Well any-fucking-time, sweetheart!" and Pyle says "Sir, I'm trying, sir!". So, as Hartman threatens Pyle to wipe the grin off his face by gouging out his eyes and skull fucking him, Pyle can no longer restrains his grin and he says "Sir, I can't help it, sir!". So, Hartman get's Pyle down on his knees and has him choke himself using Hartman's hand who shouts at him "Are you through grinning?!" and Pyle gasps "Sir, yes, sir!" and Hartman shouts he cannot hear him twice more and Pyle shouts in strained voice "SIR, YES, SIR!".
Another good scene from Vince is when Hartman inspects the men and has them stand on their footlockers in their underwear and T-shirts with their hands held out and he notices that Pyle's footlocker is unlocked. So, Hartman yells at Pyle "Private Pyle, why is your footlocker unlocked?!" and Pyle shouts "Sir, I don't know, sir!" and Hartman shouts back "If there is one thing in this world that I hate, its an unlocked footlocker, you know that Private Pyle!" and Pyle shouts "Sir, yes sir!".
So, Hartman yells at Pyle to get down as he inspects Pyle's footlocker and he finds a jelly doughnut inside it. So, Hartman yells at Pyle "What the fuck is that?! WHAT IS THAT PRIVATE PYLE??!" and Pyle tells him "Sir, its a jelly doughnut, sir!" and Hartman asks him "Is chow allowed in the barracks, Private Pyle?" and Pyle replies "Sir, no sir!". Hartman grills him more and asks "Are you allowed to eat jelly doughnuts, Private Pyle?!" and Pyle says "Sir, no, sir!" and Hartman asks "And why not?!" and Private Pyle says "Sir, because I'm too heavy, sir!". Hartman then asks "Then why did you try and sneak a jelly doughnut into your footlocker, Private Pyle?!" and Pyle replies "Sir, because I was hungry, sir!" and Hartman grimly repeats "Because you were hungry!".
Then there is the scene where Pyle shows signs that he is beginning to crack up as he talks to his rifle as he cleans it, which begins to worry Joker. So, Pyle in the scene says quietly to himself "It's been swabbed and brushed. Everything...is clean. Beautiful. So that it slides perfectly. Nice. Everything cleaned...oiled. So that your action is beautiful. Smooth, Charlene" with Joker looking on concerned.
Another noteworthy scene is when Pyle finally manages to get his peformance up to speed for his training but by this time he is starting to show signs that he is cracking up. However, in this scene we see that its Joker that makes a mistake when Hartman questions him and Pyle answers Hartman flawlessly.
So, in the scene Hartman walks up to Pyle and inspects his rifle and asks "How many counts in that movement you just executed?" and Pyle in a firm and assertive tone says "Four counts, sir!". So, as Hartman checks Pyle's weapon, he asks Pyle "What's the idea with looking down the chamber?" and Pyle replies "Sir, that is to guarantee that the private is not giving the inspecting officer a loaded weapon, sir!". Hartman then asks "What's your fifth general order?" and Pyle answers without a beat "Sir, the private's fifth general order is to quit my post only when properly relieved, sir!". Hartman finally asks "What's this weapon's name, Private Pyle?" and Pyle answers "Sir, the private's weapon's name is Charlene, sir!". So, Hartman who is impressed for once with Pyle, says to him "Private Pyle you are definitely born again hard! Hell, I may even allow you to serve as a rifleman in my beloved corps!" and Pyle shouts "Sir, yes, sir!" and Hartman moves off.
And last of all is Vincent's last scene where Pyle is found by Joker in the bathroom after lights out on the final night at the island and Pyle has finally lost his mind and he sits on a toilet seat with his rifle. And as Joker shines his torch on Pyle, Pyle looks up with a crazy grin and says "Hi, Joker!" and Joker nervously asks Pyle "Are those live rounds?" and Pyle tells Joker ".762 millimeter. Full metal jacket!". Joker then nervously tells Pyle "Leonard...if Hartman comes in here and catches us, we'll both be in a world of shit" but Pyle looks angrily at shouts "I AM in a world of SHIT!" and he then starts to do his drills and begins to cite the Rifleman's creed before Hartman storms into the toilet, which leads into a tragic climax for both Pyle and Hartman.
Which brings me onto Lee Ermey as Sgt Hartman, who delivers the best performance in the film as the ruthless drill sergeant, and he plays Hartman straight down the line as a hard assed marine, who frequently spouts out profanity at his recruits in order to push them as far they can go. When Kubrick hired Ermey, who was a real life drill instructor in the US marine corps, he asked that he wanted it to be real, and Ermey said "Stanely, I wouldn't give it to you any other way."
Ermey has so many good scenes here and priceless lines of dialogue that there are too many to mention all at once, but I will of course mention a few key ones.
And to start off there is Ermey's first scene where Hartman introduces himself to the new recruits and he tells them "I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be "Sir". Do you maggots understood that?" and the men respond "Sir, yes, sir!" and Hartman shouts "Bullshit! I can't hear you! Sound off like you got a pair!" and the men shout louder "SIR, YES, SIR!".
Hartman then continues "If you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training, you will be a weapon. You will be a minister of death praying for war. But until that day, you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human fucking beings. You are nothing but unorganized grab-asstic pieces of amphibian shit! Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair. There is no racial bigotry here. I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless!".
This is then followed by the scene where he questions Private Cowboy for the first time who tells him he's from Texas "Holy dog shit, only steers and queers come from Teaxs, Private Cowboy and you don't look much like a steer to me so that kind of narrows it down!. Hartman then asks "Do you suck dicks?" and Cowboy replies "Sir, no, sir!" and Hartman asks "Are you a peter puffer??!" and again Cowboy replies "Sir, no, sir!" and Hartman shouts back "I bet you would be the kind of goddam person that would fuck a person in the ass and not even give them the courtesy of a reach around! I'll be watching you!".
Then of course there is the classic scene where Hartman has the recruits parade around their bunks holding their rifles and grabbing their crotches and as they do they are singing the memorable words that are of course as follows: "This is my rifle, this is my gun! This is for fighting, this is for fun!".
Another great scene from Ermey is when Pyle feebly tries to climb the training course obsctacle wall and he is afraid to climb over it much to the disgust of Hartman. So, Hartman shouts at Pyle "Get up here fat boy, you're too slow! You climb obstacles like old people fuck, do you know that, Private Pyle???!". So, as Pyle finally reaches the top of the obstacle he is too afraid to climb over it and Hartman grills him and shouts "Well, what in the fuck are you waiting for?! Up and over! MOVE IT!! MOVE IT!!". However, as Pyle gasps and looks scared, Hartman yells "Are you quitting on me???? WELL ARE YOU?!! Then QUIT you slimey walrus fuckin piece of shit! Get the fuck off my obstacle! GE THE FUCK DOWN OFF OF MY OBSTACLE!! NOW! MOVE IT! I'm gonna rip your balls off so you cannot contaminate the rest of the world! I will motivate you private, even if it short dicks every cannibal on the congo!!!".
This is then followed by the scene where Hartman begins to really push Pyle hard with his training as he forces him out on a separate run with Joker and we see Pyle is exhausted as he is running with Joker holding him up. So, in the scene Hartman shouts at Pyle "The fucking war will be over by the time we get out there, won't it, Private Pyle?! Are you going to fucking die on me?! DO IT NOW!!". And as Hartman continues to push an exhausted Pyle, who is gasping for breath as he runs slowly, Hartman shouts at him "Do you feel dizzy?! Do you feel faint?! Jesus H. Christ! I think you've got a hard-on!!".
And then there is the scene where Hartman discovers a jelly doughnut in Pyle's footlocker and he holds up the offending doughnut and addresses the men. So, Hartman tells them "Private Pyle has dishonored himself and dishonored the platoon. I have tried to help him. But I have failed. I have failed because YOU have not helped me. YOU people have not given Private Pyle the proper motivation! So, from now on, whenever Private Pyle fucks up, I will not punish him! I will punish all of YOU! And the way I see it ladies, you owe me for ONE JELLY DOUGHNUT! NOW GET ON YOUR FACES!". Hartman then turns to Pyle and says "Open your mouth!" and Hartman shoves the doughnut into Pyle's mouth and he shouts "They're paying for it! YOU eat it!".
WARNING: SPOILER COMING UP IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!
And last of all is Ermey's final scene where Hartman confronts Pyle, who at this point has had a complete mental breakdown. So, Hartman storms into the toilet (or head) having been rudely awoken by Pyle loudly reciting the Rifelman's creed.
So, Hartman yells "What is this Mickey Mouse shit? What in the name of Jesus H. Christ are you animals doing in my head? Why is Private Pyle out of his bunk after lights-out?!! Why is Private Pyle holding that weapon?!! Why aren't you stomping Private Pyle's guts out?!!!". Joker then informs Hartman that Pyle has a loaded weapon and Hartman tries a change of tack and he approaches Pyle slowly and says "Now, you listen to me, Private Pyle. And you listen good. I want that weapon, and I want it now. You will place that rifle on the deck at your feet, and step back away from it". However, Pyle instead aims his rifle right at Hartman, who yells his last words "What is your major malfunction, numbnuts?!!! DIDN'T MOMMY AND DADDY NOT SHOW YOU ENOUGH ATTENTION WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD???!!" which prompts Pyle to shoot Hartman dead and end a great performance.
Arliss Howard is also excellent as Private Cowboy, who you don't actually engage with much until he appears later in the film in Vietnam, and he becomes a more humanised character as he leads a squad of men who respect him. And Howard's performance could actually be the one that elicits some emotion from the audience especially as he can be identified as the everyman in the film.
Howard has some good scenes in the film aswell such as the one where Joker reunites with Cowboy again in Vietnam and the two of them give each a warm hug. So, in the scene Cowboy emotionally hugs him and says "I was hoping I'd never see you again, you piece of shit!" and Cowboy jokes with Joker and asks "You been getting any?" and Joker teases him "Only you're sister!" and Cowboy laughs and says "Well, better my sister than my mom, my mom ain't bad!".
Then there is the scene where Cowboy is interviewed for TV and he says "When we're in Hue, in Hue city...it's like a war, you know. Like what I thought about, what I thought a war was supposed to be. There's the enemy, kill them!". And this is followed by an amusing moment when he tells the camera crew "I hate Vietnam. There's not one horse in this whole country. There's not one horse in Vietnam. There's somethin' basically wrong with that!".
And lastly there is the scene where two of Cowboy's men are shot by a sniper and Animal Mother insists they go in and get them but Cowboy refuses to as he knows it is a trap being set up by VC forces. So, Cowboy warns Animal Mother "Listen, Mother! I'm callin the plays and I say we pull out!" but Animal Mother asks him "What about Doc Jay and Eightball?" and Cowboy tells him "I know its a shitty thing to do but we can't refuse to accept the situation!". However, Animal Mother refuses to listen, which angers Cowboy who shouts at him "Stand down! That's a direct order!" but Animal Mother goes in anyway.
This then leads into Howard's last moment where (SPOILER!!!) Cowboy is shot by the sniper and his men, including Joker gather around him to try and save him and Cowboy desparately says with his dying breath "I can hack it! I can hack it!". However, as Joker cradles Cowboy, Cowboy soon dies in his arms, marking maybe the film's most powerful scene.
And last of all is Adam Baldwin who is also really good as Animal Mother, the no nonsense cynical soldier whom bears a grudge against Joker when he meets him.
So, in Baldwin's first scene, Animal Mother walks up to Joker and asks him "Are you a photographer?" and Joker tells him "No, I'm a combat correspondent" and Animal Mother sarcastically asks "Have you see any combat?!" and Joker says "Well, I seen a little on TV!". Animal Mother grins and says "So, you're a real comedian!" and Joker tells him "Well they call me the Joker!" and Animal Mother says to him "Well, I got a joke for you...I'm gonna tear you a new asshole!" and Joker in a John Wayne voice says "Well, pilgrim, only after you eat the peanuts out of my shit!". So, Animal Mother then asks him in a threatening way "You talk the talk, do you walk the walk?!"
Then there is the scene where Joker, Cowboy, Animal Mother and the other soldiers stand around the dead bodies of two of their men and each of them say something about their fallen comrades. So, as Rafterman says "At least they died for a good cause" Animal Mother asks him "What cause is that?" and Rafterman suggests "Freedom?" and Animal Mother with a slight grin says "You'd better flush out your head, new guy. This isn't about freedom; this is a slaughter. If I'm gonna get my balls blown off for a word, my word is "poontang".
Another good scene from Baldwin is when two of the platoon are being shot by a VC sniper and as Cowboy tells the men they are to pull out and leave the two injured men behind, Animal Mother refuses to listen.
So, Animal Mother shouts "Wait! Hold it! Nobody's pulling out! There's only one fucking sniper!" and Cowboy warns him "Back off, Mother! I'm calling the plays and I'd say we pull out!". So, AM then asks "What about Doc Jay and Eight Ball?" and Cowboy says "They're wasted! You know that!" but Animal Mother refuses to listen and shouts "Fuck you, Cowboy! FUCK ALL YOU ASSHOLES!!" and he storms in toward the two dying men and shoots some covering fire as he does. However, Animal Mother then asks a mortally wounded Doc Jay where the sniper is "Doc, where is the sniper?" and as Doc Jay weakly points in the rough direction, he and Eight Ball are shot dead leaving Animal Mother looking shocked and he says "Shit! Fuck!". Cowboy then checks out the area and narrowly avoids taking fire from the sniper and soon shouts back to Cowboy "Cowboy! Doc Jay and Eight Ball are wasted! There's only one sniper! You're clear up to here! Come on!".
And last of all is the scene where (SPOILER!!) Rafterman has saved Joker by shooting the sniper, who turns out to be a young woman, who by this time is lying on the ground. So, Animal Mother looks down at the sniper and says "OK. Let's get the fuck out of here" and Joker asks "What about her?" and Animal Mother says "Fuck her. Let her rot". However, Joker insists "We can't just leave her like this" and Animal Mother tells him "Hey asshole... Cowboy's wasted. You're fresh out of friends. I'm running the squad now, and I say we leave the gook for the motherlovin' rats!". However the sniper then struggles to speak and in English says "Shoot me" and Animal Mother looks to Joker and tells him "You wanna waste her? Go ahead. Waste her".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Finally moving onto the direction by the master, Stanley Kubrick, well he once again here makes a technically brilliant film and he uses his typical camera set ups of slow pans, and symmetrical patterned shots, and makes good use of slow mo in some of the film's later scenes, especially during the attack on Cowboy's squad by a VC sniper. And he makes great use of the film locations in England for the various scenes in the film, even if you can see during the Parris island scenes that there are English give way road signs! Kubrick however also doesn't forget to add some emotional impact to the film particularly later on in the film during the sniper sequence and the consequences it has on the platoon there.
As for the soundtrack for the film is also excellent as it features some original atmospheric moody pieces by Abigail Mead. It also features some tracks of the period which are used really well such as Johnnie Wright's "Hello Vietnam" which is used right at the beginning where we see the recruits get their hair shaved off. Also Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walkin" where we see the Vietnamese hooker tempt Joker and his journal photographer friend Rafterman with the famous line "Me so horny, me so horny! Love you long time!". Then there is of course the catchy "Surfin Bird" by The Trashman, which is just brilliant and was later again popularised by Family Guy, and finally The Rolling Stones "Paint it black" is aptly used at the end credits.
FLAWS
As for the flaws...well Full Metal Jacket isn't quite perfect of course.
And I would have to say that the film's main problem is that its pacing suffers from a real a dip after the Parris Island sequence is over and Lee Ermey's character, Sgt Hartman is killed off, and from then on, the film doesn't have the same energy and level of intensity. However to be fair the film does pick up again when Joker is sent back into the "shit" in Vietnam and he regroups with Cowboy, which does help add a little more emotional weight to the story.
I also think that the film's locations while largely excellent, still do show up the rather drab English weather given that it was shot entirely in the UK (due to Kubrick's fear of flying he wouldn't leave England) and of course you also get that scene where you see the English give-way signs during Hartman's training run! I also felt looking at the imported palm trees that we see also kind of adds a sort of fake look to proceedings in a way, of course there are plenty of palm trees in Vietnam for sure but it feels like Kubrick had slightly overdone the whole palm tree thing here at the same time.
I also found it a bit strange how the character of Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard) seems to quickly turn into a real asshole after he shoots the sniper, he suddenly adopts a cocky attitude to the other men and he boasts to them. Because in the scene, Rafterman boasts "I got the sniper! I fucking blew her away! Aren't I a life-taker?! Aren't I heartbreaker?!" it just seems like he has underwent a complete personality change from the guy we had seen before. So, in short, Rafterman is a dick.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So to sum up, Full Metal Jacket is an excellent war film and one that tells the Vietnam War story from a different perspective as we get to see both the training and combat processes of the war. Stanley Kubrick once again directs the film brilliantly with his great eye for technical details but he also allows to draw in the audience and show them characters that are memorable and tragic at the same time. The film also has great performances from its strong cast and in particular, Modine, D'Onofiro, Ermey, Howard and Baldwin all give some of their best work here and yep this film also introduced the world to the pleasure of that "Surfin Bird" track aswell!
So, overall Full Metal Jacket 31 years on is still well worth a watch and it remains one of the most memorable Vietnam war films of its time.
OK, so that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post.
Till then its bye for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment