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''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...
directed and produced by
Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 novel '' The Short-Timers'' and stars Matthew Modine, Lee Ermey,
Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. His roles include Private Leonar ...
and Adam Baldwin. The storyline follows a
platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...
of U.S. Marines through their boot camp training in
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island (often abbreviated as MCRD PI) is an military installation located within Port Royal, South Carolina, approximately south of Beaufort, the community that is typically associated with the installation. ...
,
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
, primarily focusing in the first half of the film on privates J.T. Davis and Leonard Lawrence, nicknamed ''Joker'' and ''Pyle'', who struggle under their abusive drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half portrays the experiences of Joker and one other of the platoon's Marines in Vietnamese cities Da Nang and
Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...
during the
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
of the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. The film's title refers to the
full metal jacket bullet A full metal jacket (FMJ) bullet is a small-arms projectile consisting of a soft core (often lead) encased in an outer shell ("jacket") of harder metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel, or, less commonly, a steel alloy. A bullet jacket usu ...
used by military servicemen. Warner Bros. released ''Full Metal Jacket'' in the United States on June 26, 1987. It was the last of Kubrick's films to be released during his lifetime. The film received critical acclaim, grossed $120 million against a budget of $16 million, and was nominated for an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for
Best Adapted Screenplay This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...
for Kubrick, Herr, and Hasford. In 2001, the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...
placed the film at number 95 in its poll titled " AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills".


Plot

During the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, a group of recruits arrive at Parris Island to become
Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...
.
Drill instructor A drill instructor is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces, fire department, or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. Foot drill, military step, and marching are typically taught by drill instructors. Australia Aust ...
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman uses harsh methods to turn the recruits into combat-ready Marines. Among the recruits is the overweight and dim-witted Leonard Lawrence, whom Hartman nicknames " Gomer Pyle", and the wisecracking J.T. Davis, who receives the name "Joker" after interrupting Hartman's introductory speech with an impression of
John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...
. During basic training, Hartman names Joker as squad leader and puts him in charge of helping Pyle improve. One day, Hartman discovers a jelly doughnut in Pyle's footlocker, blames the platoon for Pyle's infractions, and adopts a
collective punishment Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member of that group, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends and neighbors of the perpetrator. Because ind ...
policy in which any infraction committed by Pyle will earn a punishment for everyone else in the platoon. One night, the recruits
haze Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon in which dust, smoke, and other dry particulates suspended in air obscure visibility and the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classificati ...
Pyle with a blanket party, in which Joker reluctantly participates. Following this, Pyle appears to reinvent himself as a model recruit, showing particular expertise in marksmanship. This pleases Hartman but worries Joker, who believes Pyle may be suffering a mental breakdown after seeing Pyle talking to his rifle. After the recruits graduate and the night before they leave Parris Island, Joker discovers Pyle in the bathroom, loading his service rifle with live ammunition, executing drill commands, and loudly reciting the Rifleman's Creed. Hartman attempts to intervene, but Pyle shoots and kills him and then commits suicide. By January 1968, Joker is a
sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...
and is based in Da Nang for the newspaper '' Stars and Stripes'' alongside his colleague
Private First Class Private first class (french: Soldat de 1 classe; es, Soldado de primera) is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel in a number of armed forces. French speaking countries In France and other French speaking countries, the rank (; ...
Rafterman, a combat photographer. The
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
begins and Joker's base is attacked, but holds. The following morning, Joker and Rafterman are sent to Phu Bai where Joker searches for and reunites with Sergeant "Cowboy", a friend he met at Parris Island. During the
Battle of Huế The Battle of Huế (31 January 1968 – 2 March 1968), also called the Siege of Huế, was a major military engagement in the Tết Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. After initially losing co ...
, a
booby trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...
kills the squad leader, leaving Cowboy in command. Becoming lost in the city, the squad is ambushed by a Viet Cong sniper who kills two members. As the squad moves in on the sniper's location, Cowboy is killed. Assuming command, squad machine gunner "Animal Mother" leads an attack on the sniper. Joker locates her first, but his
M-16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of service rifle, military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 rifle was a ...
rifle jams, alerting the sniper to his presence. As the sniper opens fire, she is revealed to be a teenage girl. Rafterman shoots her, wounding her mortally. As the squad converges on the sniper, she begs for death, leading to an argument over whether or not to kill her. Animal Mother agrees to a mercy killing but only if Joker does it; Joker shoots her after some hesitance. Later, as night falls, the Marines return to camp singing the " Mickey Mouse March". A narration of Joker's thoughts conveys that, despite being "in a world of shit", he is glad to be alive and no longer afraid.


Cast

* Matthew Modine as Private/Sergeant J. T. "Joker" Davis, a wise-cracking young Marine. On set, Modine kept a diary that in 2005 was adapted into a
book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...
and in 2013 into an interactive app. *
Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. His roles include Private Leonar ...
as Private Leonard " Gomer Pyle" Lawrence, an overweight, slow-minded recruit who is the subject of Hartman's mockery. D'Onofrio heard from Modine of the auditions for the film. D'Onofrio recorded his audition using a rented video camera and was dressed in army fatigues. According to Kubrick, Pyle was "the hardest part to cast in the whole movie"; Kubrick, however, quickly responded to D'Onofrio and cast him in the part. D'Onofrio was required to gain . * Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, a harsh, foul-mouthed and ruthless senior drill instructor. Ermey used his actual experience as a U.S. Marine drill instructor in the Vietnam War to ad lib much of his dialogue. * Adam Baldwin as Sergeant "Animal Mother", a combat-hungry machine gunner who takes pride in killing enemy soldiers.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
was first considered for the role but turned it down in favor of a part in '' The Running Man''. * Arliss Howard as Private/Sergeant "Cowboy" Evans, a friend of Joker and a member of the Lusthog Squad. *
Kevyn Major Howard Kevyn Major Howard is a Canadian actor best known for his role as "Rafterman" in Stanley Kubrick's ''Full Metal Jacket''. Life and career After acting in high school, Howard moved to Los Angeles and Hollywood in the late 1970s. His headshot wa ...
as Private First Class "Rafterman", a combat photographer. * Dorian Harewood as Corporal "Eightball", a member of the squad and Animal Mother's friend. *
Tim Colceri Tim Colceri (born June 15, 1951) is an American actor and comedian. He is most known for his role in the 1987 Stanley Kubrick film ''Full Metal Jacket'', where he played the door gunner who uttered the much-quoted lines "Get some!" (adopted as th ...
as Doorgunner, a ruthless and sadistic helicopter door gunner who suggests Joker and Rafterman write a story about him. Colceri, a former Marine, was originally slated to play Hartman, a role that went to Ermey. Kubrick gave Colceri this smaller part as a consolation. *
Ed O'Ross Ed O'Ross (born Edward Orss; July 5, 1949) is an American actor. Some of his prominent roles are as Itchy in ''Dick Tracy'', Colonel Perry in '' Universal Soldier'', Lt. Touchdown in ''Full Metal Jacket'', ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Rosta ...
as First Lieutenant Walter J. "Touchdown" Schinoski, the first platoon leader of the Lusthog Squad. *
John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the assi ...
as First Lieutenant Lockhart, the editor of ''Stars and Stripes''. * Bruce Boa as a POG Colonel who dresses down Joker for wearing a peace symbol on his lapel.


Production


Development

In early 1980, Kubrick contacted Michael Herr, author of the Vietnam War memoir '' Dispatches'' (1977), to discuss work on a film about
the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...
but Kubrick discarded that idea in favor of a film about the Vietnam War. Herr and Kubrick met in England; Kubrick told Herr he wanted to make a war film but had yet to find a story to adapt. Kubrick discovered Gustav Hasford's novel '' The Short-Timers'' (1979) while reading the '' Virginia Kirkus Review''. Herr received the novel in bound galleys and thought it a masterpiece. In 1982, Kubrick read the novel twice; he concluded it is "a unique, absolutely wonderful book" and decided to adapt it for his next film. According to Kubrick, he was drawn to the book's dialogue, which he found "almost poetic in its carved-out, stark quality". In 1983, Kubrick began researching for the film; he watched archival footage and documentaries, read Vietnamese newspapers on
microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. ...
from the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
, and studied hundreds of photographs from the era. Initially, Herr was not interested in revisiting his Vietnam War experiences, and Kubrick spent three years persuading him to participate, describing the discussions as "a single phone call lasting three years, with interruptions". In 1985, Kubrick contacted Hasford and invited him to join the team; he talked to Hasford by telephone three to four times a week for hours at a time. Kubrick had already written a detailed treatment of the novel, and Kubrick and Herr met at Kubrick's home every day, breaking the treatment into scenes. Herr then wrote the first draft of the film script. Kubrick worried the audience might misread the book's title as a reference to people who did only half a day's work and changed it to ''Full Metal Jacket'' after coming across the phrase in a gun catalogue. After the first draft was complete, Kubrick telephoned his orders to Hasford and Herr, who mailed their submissions to him. Kubrick read and edited Hasford's and Herr's submissions, and the team repeated the process. Neither Hasford nor Herr knew how much each had contributed to the screenplay, which led to a dispute over the final credits. Hasford said, "We were like guys on an assembly line in the car factory. I was putting on one widget and Michael was putting on another widget and Stanley was the only one who knew that this was going to end up being a car". Herr said Kubrick was not interested in making an anti-war film but "he wanted to show what war is like". At some point, Kubrick wanted to meet Hasford in person, but Herr advised against this, describing ''The Short-Timers'' author as a "scary man, a big, haunted marine", and did not believe Hasford and Kubrick would "get on". Kubrick, however, insisted on the meeting, which occurred at Kubrick's house in England. The meeting went poorly, and Hasford did not meet with Kubrick again.


Casting

Through Warner Bros., Kubrick advertised a casting search in the United States and Canada; he used
videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videoca ...
to audition actors and received over 3,000 submissions. Kubrick's staff screened the tapes, leaving 800 of them for him to review. Former U.S. Marine drill instructor Ermey was originally hired as a
technical advisor In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director on the convincing portrayal of a subject. The advisor's expertise adds realism both to the acting and to the setting of a movie. Nipo T. Strongheart was a noted technica ...
. Ermey asked Kubrick if he could audition for the role of Hartman. Kubrick, who had seen Ermey's portrayal of drill instructor Staff Sergeant Loyce in '' The Boys in Company C'' (1978), told Ermey he was not vicious enough to play the character. Ermey improvised insulting dialogue against a group of
Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...
who were being considered for the part of background Marines, to demonstrate his ability to play the character and to show how a drill instructor breaks down individuality in new recruits. Upon viewing the videotape of these sessions, Kubrick gave Ermey the role, realizing he "was a genius for this part". Kubrick incorporated the 250-page transcript of Ermey's rants into the script. Ermey's experience as a drill instructor during the Vietnam War proved invaluable; Kubrick estimated Ermey wrote 50% of his character's dialogue, particularly the insults. While Ermey practiced his lines in a rehearsal room, Kubrick's assistant Leon Vitali would throw tennis balls and oranges at him, which Ermey had to catch and throw back as quickly as possible while saying his lines as fast as he could. Any hesitation, slip, or missed line would necessitate starting over. Twenty error-free runs were required. " ewas my drill instructor", Ermey said of Vitali. Eight months of negotiations to cast
Anthony Michael Hall Michael Anthony Hall (born April 14, 1968), known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor best known for his leading role as Johnny Smith in '' The Dead Zone'' from 2002 to 2007. He also rose to fame starring in films with ...
as Private Joker were unsuccessful. Val Kilmer was also considered for the role, and Bruce Willis turned down a role due to filming commitments of his television series ''
Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...
''. Kubrick called Ed Harris on the phone to offer him the role of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, but Harris declined it, a decision which he later called "foolish". Bill McKinney was also considered for that role.
Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...
wanted to be in the film, but Kubrick did not send him a script.


Filming

Kubrick filmed ''Full Metal Jacket'' in England in 1985 and 1986. Scenes were filmed in
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...
, the Norfolk Broads, in eastern London at Millennium Mills and
Beckton Gas Works Beckton Gasworks was a major London gasworks built to manufacture coal gas and other products including coke from coal. It has been variously described as 'the largest such plant in the world' Winchester C (Ed), ''Handling 2,000,000 tons of coal ...
in Newham, and in the
Isle of Dogs The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Ha ...
. Bassingbourn Barracks, a former
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
station and then
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
base, was used as the Parris Island Marine boot camp. A British Army rifle range near Barton, Cambridge, was used for the scene in which Hartman congratulates Private Pyle for his shooting skills. Kubrick worked from still photographs of Huế taken in 1968; he found an area owned by British Gas that closely resembled it and was scheduled to be demolished. The disused
Beckton Gas Works Beckton Gasworks was a major London gasworks built to manufacture coal gas and other products including coke from coal. It has been variously described as 'the largest such plant in the world' Winchester C (Ed), ''Handling 2,000,000 tons of coal ...
, a few miles from central London, was filmed to depict Huế after attacks. Kubrick had buildings blown up, and the film's art director used a wrecking ball to knock specific holes in some buildings for two months. Kubrick had a plastic replica jungle flown in from California but once he saw it dismissed the idea, saying; "I don't like it. Get rid of it." The open country scenes were filmed at marshland in
Cliffe-at-Hoo Cliffe is a village on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, England, reached from the Medway Towns by a three-mile (4.8 km) journey along the B2000 road. Situated upon a low chalk escarpment overlooking the Thames marshes, Cliffe offers views of So ...
and along the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
; locations were supplemented with 200 imported Spanish palm trees and 100,000 plastic tropical plants from Hong Kong. Kubrick acquired four M41 tanks from a Belgian army colonel who was an admirer.
Westland Wessex The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34 (in US service known as Choctaw). It was developed and produced under licence by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters). One of the main chang ...
helicopters, which have a much longer and less-rounded nose than that of the Vietnam era H-34, were painted Marine green to represent Marine Corps Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw helicopters. Kubrick obtained a selection of rifles,
M79 grenade launcher The M79 grenade launcher is a single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher that fires a 40×46mm grenade, which uses what the US Army calls the High-Low Propulsion System to keep recoil forces low, and first appeared during the V ...
s, and
M60 machine gun The M60, officially the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of ammunition approved fo ...
s from a licensed weapons dealer. Modine described the filming as difficult;
Beckton Gas Works Beckton Gasworks was a major London gasworks built to manufacture coal gas and other products including coke from coal. It has been variously described as 'the largest such plant in the world' Winchester C (Ed), ''Handling 2,000,000 tons of coal ...
was a toxic environment for the film crew, being contaminated with
asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
and hundreds of other chemicals. During the boot camp sequence of the film, Modine and the other recruits underwent Marine Corps training, during which Ermey yelled at them for 10 hours a day while filming the Parris Island scenes. To ensure the actors' reactions to Ermey's lines were as authentic and fresh as possible, Ermey and the recruits did not rehearse together. For film continuity, each recruit had his head shaved once a week. While filming, Ermey had a car accident and broke several ribs, making him unavailable for four and a half months. During Cowboy's death scene, a building that resembles the alien monolith in Kubrick's '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) is visible, which Kubrick described as an "extraordinary accident". During filming, Hasford contemplated taking legal action over the writing credits. Originally, the filmmakers intended Hasford to receive an "additional dialogue" credit but he fought for and eventually received full credit. Hasford and two friends visited the set dressed as extras but was mistaken by a crew member for Herr. Hasford identified himself as the writer upon whose work the film is based. Kubrick's daughter Vivian, who appears uncredited as a news camera operator, shadowed the filming of ''Full Metal Jacket''. She filmed 18 hours of behind-the-scenes footage for a potential "making-of" documentary that went unmade. Sections of her work can be seen in the documentary '' Stanley Kubrick's Boxes'' (2008).


Themes

Michael Pursell's essay "''Full Metal Jacket'': The Unravelling of Patriarchy" (1988) was an early, in-depth consideration of the film's two-part structure and its criticism of masculinity, saying the film shows "war and pornography as facets of the same system". Most reviews have focused on military brainwashing themes in the boot camp section of the film while seeing the content in the film's latter half as more confusing and disjointed. Rita Kempley of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' wrote, "it's as if they borrowed bits of every war movie to make this eclectic finale".
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
saw in the film an attempt to tell a story of individual characters and the war's effects on them. According to Ebert, the result is a shapeless film that feels "more like a book of short stories than a novel". Julian Rice, in his book ''Kubrick's Hope'' (2008), saw the second part of the film as a continuation of Joker's psychic journey in his attempt to understand human evil. Tony Lucia, in his 1987 review of ''Full Metal Jacket'' for the ''Reading Eagle'', examined the themes of Kubrick's career, suggesting "the unifying element may be the ordinary man dwarfed by situations too vast and imposing to handle". Lucia refers to the "military mentality" in this film and also said the theme covers "a man testing himself against his own limitations", and concluded: "''Full Metal Jacket'' is the latest chapter in an ongoing movie which is not merely a comment on our time or a time past, but on something that reaches beyond". British critic Gilbert Adair wrote, "Kubrick's approach to language has always been reductive and uncompromisingly deterministic in nature. He appears to view it as the exclusive product of environmental conditioning, only very marginally influenced by concepts of subjectivity and interiority, by all the whims, shades and modulations of personal expression". Michael Herr wrote of his work on the screenplay, "The substance was single-minded, the old and always serious problem of how you put into a film or a book the living, behaving presence of what
Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, phi ...
called The Shadow, the most accessible of
archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...
s, and the easiest to experience ... War is the ultimate field of Shadow-activity, where all of its other activities lead you. As they expressed it in Vietnam, 'Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no Evil, for I the Evil'."


Music

Kubrick's daughter Vivian, under the alias "Abigail Mead", wrote the film's score. According to an interview in the January 1988 issue of ''
Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mu ...
'', the film was scored mostly with a Series III edition Fairlight CMI synthesizer and a
Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the earl ...
. For the period music, Kubrick went through '' Billboard'' list of Top 100 Hits for each year from 1962 to 1968 and tried many songs but found "sometimes the dynamic range of the music was too great, and we couldn't work in dialogue". *
Johnnie Wright Johnnie Robert Wright Jr. (May 13, 1914 – September 27, 2011) was an American country music singer-songwriter, who spent much of his career working with Jack Anglin as the popular duo Johnnie & Jack, and was also the husband of country musi ...
– "
Hello Vietnam "Hello Vietnam" is the name of a song written by Tom T. Hall and recorded by American country singer Johnnie Wright, with lyrics in support of the Vietnam War. "Hello Vietnam" spent 20 weeks on the American Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks ...
" * The Dixie Cups – " Chapel of Love" *
Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs Domingo "Sam" Samudio (born February 28, 1937, in Dallas, Texas, United States), better known by his stage name Sam the Sham, is a retired American rock and roll singer. Sam the Sham was known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equi ...
– " Wooly Bully" *
Chris Kenner Christophe Kenner (December 25, 1929 – January 25, 1976) was an American, New Orleans-based R&B singer and songwriter, best known for two hit singles in the early 1960s, " I Like It Like That" and " Land of 1000 Dances", which became staples ...
– " I Like It Like That" * Nancy Sinatra – " These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" * The Trashmen – " Surfin' Bird" * Goldman Band – " Marines' Hymn" *
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...
– " Paint It Black" A single titled "Full Metal Jacket (I Wanna Be Your Drill Instructor)", credited to Mead and Nigel Goulding, was released to promote the film and incorporates Ermey's drill cadences from the film. The single reached Number 1 in Ireland, Number 2 in the UK, Number 4 in both the Netherlands and the Flanders region of Belgium, Number 8 in West Germany, Number 11 in Sweden, and Number 29 in New Zealand.


Release


Box office

''Full Metal Jacket'' received a limited release on June 26, 1987, in 215 theaters. During its opening weekend, it accrued $2.2 million, an average of $10,313 per theater, ranking it the number 10 film for the weekend June 26–28. It took a further $2 million for a total of $5.7 million before being widely released in 881 theaters on July 10, 1987. The weekend of July 10–12 saw the film gross $6.1 million, an average of $6,901 per theater, and rank as the second-highest-grossing film. Over the next four weeks the film opened in a further 194 theaters to its widest release of 1,075 theaters; it closed two weeks later with a total gross of $46.4 million, making it the twenty-third-highest-grossing film of 1987. , the film had grossed $120 million worldwide.


Home media

''Full Metal Jacket'' was released on
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
on October 23, 2007.
Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...
released a 25th anniversary edition on Blu-ray on August 7, 2012. Warner released the film on 4K Ultra HD in the UK on September 21, 2020, and in the U.S. on the following day. Other regions were slated for an October release. The 4K UHD release uses a new HDR
remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...
ed native 2160p that was transferred from the original
35mm 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on fi ...
negative, which was supervised by Kubrick's personal assistant Leon Vitali. It contains the remixed audio and, for the first time since the original DVD release, the theatrical mono mix. The release was a critical success; publications praised its image and audio quality, calling the former exceptionally good and faithful to the original theatrical release, and Kubrick's vision while noting the lack of new extras and bonus content. A collector's edition
box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...
of this 4K UHD version was released with different cover art, a replica theatrical poster of the film, a letter from director Stanley Kubrick, and a booklet about the film's production among other extras.


Critical reception

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website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
retrospectively collected reviews to give the film a score of 90% based on reviews from 84 critics and an average rating of 8.30/10. The summary states; "Intense, tightly constructed, and darkly comic at times, Stanley Kubrick's ''Full Metal Jacket'' may not boast the most original of themes, but it is exceedingly effective at communicating them". Another aggregator,
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, gave it a score of 76 out of 100 based on 19 reviews, which indicates a "generally favorable" response. Reviewers generally reacted favorably to the cast—Ermey in particular— and the film's first act about recruit training. Several reviews, however, were critical of the latter part of the film, which is set in Vietnam, and what was considered a "muddled" moral message in the finale. Richard Corliss of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' called the film a "technical knockout", praising "the dialogue's wild, desperate wit; the daring in choosing a desultory skirmish to make a point about war's pointlessness", and "the fine, large performances of almost every actor", saying Ermey and D'Onofrio would receive Oscar nominations. Corliss appreciated "the Olympian elegance and precision of Kubrick's filmmaking". ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
''s Ian Nathan awarded the film three stars out of five, saying it is "inconsistent" and describing it as "both powerful and frustratingly unengaged". Nathan said after the opening act, which focuses on the recruit training, the film becomes "bereft of purpose"; nevertheless, he summarized his review by calling it a "hardy Kubrickian effort that warms on you with repeated viewings" and praised Ermey's "staggering performance".
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called the film "harrowing, beautiful and characteristically eccentric". Canby echoed praise for Ermey, calling him "the film's stunning surprise ... he's so good—so obsessed—that you might think he wrote his own lines". Canby said D'Onofrio's performance should be admired and described Modine as "one of the best, most adaptable young film actors of his generation", and concluded ''Full Metal Jacket'' is "a film of immense and very rare imagination". Jim Hall, writing for
Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms ...
in 2010, awarded the film five stars out of five and added to the praise for Ermey, saying his "performance as the foul-mouthed Hartman is justly celebrated and it's difficult to imagine the film working anything like as effectively without him". The review preferred the opening training segment to the later Vietnam sequence, calling it "far more striking than the second and longer section". Hall commented the film ends abruptly but felt "it demonstrates just how clear and precise the director's vision could be when he resisted a fatal tendency for indulgence". Hall concluded; "''Full Metal Jacket'' ranks with ''
Dr. Strangelove ''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and ...
'' as one of Kubrick's very best". Jonathan Rosenbaum of the ''
Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...
'' called it "Elliptical, full of subtle inner rhymes ... and profoundly moving, this is the most tightly crafted Kubrick film since ''Dr. Strangelove'', as well as the most horrific". '' Variety'' called the film an "intense, schematic, superbly made" drama that is "loaded with vivid, outrageously vulgar military vernacular that contributes heavily to the film's power" but said it never develops "a particularly strong narrative". The cast performances were all labeled "exceptional"; Modine was singled out as "embodying both what it takes to survive in the war and a certain omniscience". Gilbert Adair, writing for ''Full Metal Jacket'', commented; "Kubrick's approach to language has always been of a reductive and uncompromisingly deterministic nature. He appears to view it as the exclusive product of environmental conditioning, only very marginally influenced by concepts of subjectivity and interiority, by all whims, shades and modulations of personal expression". ''
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'' critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
called ''Full Metal Jacket'' "strangely shapeless" and awarding it two and a half stars out of four. Ebert called it "one of the best-looking war movies ever made on sets and stage" but said this was not enough to compete with the "awesome reality of ''
Platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...
'', '' Apocalypse Now'' and ''
The Deer Hunter ''The Deer Hunter'' is a 1978 war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives were upended after fighting in the Vietnam War. The three soldiers are played by Robert De Niro ...
''". Ebert criticized the film's Vietnam-set second act, saying the "movie disintegrates into a series of self-contained set pieces, none of them quite satisfying" and concluded the film's message is "too little and too late", having been done by other Vietnam War films. Ebert praised Ermey and D'Onofrio, saying "these are the two best performances in the movie, which never recovers after they leave the scene". Ebert's review angered
Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the '' Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his ...
on their television show '' At The Movies''; he criticized Ebert for liking ''
Benji the Hunted ''Benji the Hunted'' is a 1987 American adventure drama film directed and written by Joe Camp and produced by Ben Vaughn. It is the fourth film in the Benji series. The film is about Benji trying to survive in the wilderness and looking after th ...
'' more than ''Full Metal Jacket''. '' Time Out London'' disliked the film, saying "Kubrick's direction is as steely cold and manipulative as the régime it depicts", and that the characters are underdeveloped, adding "we never really get to know, let alone care about, the hapless recruits on view". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. British television channel
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
voted ''Full Metal Jacket'' fifth on its list of the greatest war films ever made. In 2008, ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' placed the film at number 457 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". In 2010, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' ranked it 19th on its list of the "25 best action and war films of all time". The film is ranked 95 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Thrills list, which was published in 2001.


Accolades

Between 1987 and 1989, ''Full Metal Jacket'' was nominated for 11 awards, including an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for
Best Adapted Screenplay This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...
, two BAFTA Awards for Best Sound and Best Special Effects, and a
Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
for Best Supporting Actor for Ermey. It won five awards, including three from overseas; Best Foreign Language Film from the Japanese Academy, Best Producer from the Academy of Italian Cinema, Director of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards, and Best Director and Best Supporting Actor at the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards for Kubrick and Ermey respectively. Of the five awards it won, four were awarded to Kubrick and the other was given to Ermey.


Differences between novel and screenplay

Film scholar Greg Jenkins has analyzed the adaptation of the novel as a screenplay. The novel is in three parts and the film greatly expands the relatively brief first section about the boot camp on Parris Island and essentially discards Part III. This gives the film a twofold structure, telling two largely independent stories that are connected by the same characters. Jenkins said this structure is a development of concepts Kubrick originally discussed in the 1960s, when he talked about wanting to explode the usual conventions of narrative structure. Sergeant Hartman, who is renamed from the book's Gerheim, has an expanded role in the film. Private Pyle's incompetence is presented as weighing negatively on the rest of the platoon; unlike those in the novel, he is the only under-performing recruit. The film omits Hartman's disclosure he thinks Pyle might be mentally unstable—a " Section 8"—to the other troops; instead, Joker questions Pyle's mental state. In contrast, Hartman praises Pyle, saying he is "born again hard". Jenkins says that portraying Hartman as having a warmer social relationship with the troops would have upset the balance of the film, which depends on the spectacle of ordinary soldiers coming to grips with Hartman as a force of nature who embodies a killer culture. Some scenes in the book were removed from the screenplay or conflated with others. For example, Cowboy's introduction of the "Lusthog Squad" was markedly shortened and supplemented with material from other sections of the book. Although the book's third section was largely omitted, elements from it were inserted into other parts of the film. For instance, the climactic episode with the sniper is a conflation of two sections of Parts II and III of the book. According to Jenkins, the film presents this passage more dramatically but in less gruesome detail than the novel. The film often has a more tragic tone than the book, which relies on callous humor. In the film, Joker remains a model of humane thinking, as evidenced by his moral struggle in the sniper scene and elsewhere. Joker works to overcome his own meekness rather than compete with other Marines. The film omits Joker's eventual domination over Animal Mother shown in the book. The film also omits Rafterman's death; according to Jenkins, this allows viewers to reflect on Rafterman's personal growth and speculate on his future growth after the war.


In popular culture

The line "Me so horny. Me love you long time", which is uttered by the Da Nang street prostitute to Joker, became a catchphrase in popular culture and was sampled by rap artists 2 Live Crew in their 1989 hit " Me So Horny" and by Sir Mix-A-Lot in " Baby Got Back" (1992).


See also

* '' Paths of Glory'' * Project 100,000 * Vietnam War in film *
Battle of Huế The Battle of Huế (31 January 1968 – 2 March 1968), also called the Siege of Huế, was a major military engagement in the Tết Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. After initially losing co ...


Notes


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

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External links

* * * * * {{authority control 1987 films 1987 drama films 1980s war drama films American war drama films Anti-war films about the Vietnam War British war drama films 1980s English-language films Films about the United States Marine Corps Films based on American novels Films directed by Stanley Kubrick Films produced by Stanley Kubrick Films set in the 1960s Films set in Huế Films set in Da Nang Films set in South Carolina Films shot in England Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films with screenplays by Stanley Kubrick Murder–suicide in films Vietnam War films Warner Bros. films 1980s American films 1980s British films