After a seven year hiatus following the release of the horror masterpiece The Shining, Kubrick returned with a war film, Full Metal Jacket. The film manages to take a slew of war clichés and make them into something wholly original. The movie opens at Marine boot camp, with R. Lee Ermey yelling his head off at all the new recruits. He focuses in particular on Leonard Lawrence, whom he dubs Private Pyle. Vincent D'Onofrio makes a stunning debut, playing Pyle with equal parts lovable simpleton and ticking time bomb. His performance is so unsettling that he (and Ermey's profane Sgt. Hartman) is the most memorable part of the film.
The second part of the movie takes place in the Nam, specifically in a fight for Hue City. Pvt. Joker, a Marine reporter, joins his training buddy Cowboy as he documents the battle. While many of the film's fans prefer the first, more comedic half, the second is where the film achieves greatness. The humor here is even darker than in the training segment, and Kubrick uses action sequences for a purpose. Rather than just having explosions to excite the audience, he uses the fight to show the effects of the war on these soldiers. Adam Baldwin's Animal Mother is the most fascinating study.
While the two distinct parts of the film divide viewers, the film is truly another triumph for Kubrick. It is the third best Vietnam film I've seen (the first two being Apocalypse Now and Platoon), and like those two films and all great war movies, the conflict is not with the enemy but with oneself and one's allies.
The second part of the movie takes place in the Nam, specifically in a fight for Hue City. Pvt. Joker, a Marine reporter, joins his training buddy Cowboy as he documents the battle. While many of the film's fans prefer the first, more comedic half, the second is where the film achieves greatness. The humor here is even darker than in the training segment, and Kubrick uses action sequences for a purpose. Rather than just having explosions to excite the audience, he uses the fight to show the effects of the war on these soldiers. Adam Baldwin's Animal Mother is the most fascinating study.
While the two distinct parts of the film divide viewers, the film is truly another triumph for Kubrick. It is the third best Vietnam film I've seen (the first two being Apocalypse Now and Platoon), and like those two films and all great war movies, the conflict is not with the enemy but with oneself and one's allies.