Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermy, Vincent D'Onofrio, Arliss Howard, Dorian Harewood
Certificate: 18
Genre: war
Awards: None

Full Metal Jacket is a war film in two parts. The first is an absolutely superb basic training experience with R. Lee Ermy's terrifying drill sergeant.  The dialogue is darkly humorous while problems lurk in the background. It's difficult to take your eyes off of the film for even a second as characters start to change into killers right in front of you.

The second part is weaker in comparison. It's set in vietnam where we follow private Joker (Modine) as a journalist for a military newspaper. A new batch of characters are introduced where the horrors of war are shown with a soundtrack of almost ignorance of the goings on.


Kubrick delivers a very dark portrayal of war and human nature. It's not as poetical as Apocalypse Now.  Neither is it as realistic as Saving Private Ryan. The best word to describe FMJ is creepy.

****Good