Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Star Rating- 3
Length of Film- 116 minutes
Director- Stanley Kubrick
Cast- Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Arliss Howard, Kevyn Major Howard, Ed O'Ross, John Terry, Kieron Jecchinis, Bruce Boa, Kirk Taylor, Jon Stafford, Tim Colceri, & Ian Tyler
Oscar Nomination- Stanley Kubrick, Michael Herr, Gustavo Hasford (screenplay)

I would say this movie is split into 2 parts; basic and then war. The first part of the movie was the enlisters going through basic- buzzed haircut, nicknames, drill, and cleaning. R. lee Ermey who played Gny. Sgt. Hartman was absolutely hilarious! Even though he was mean and the "stereotypical" drill sergeant his one liners were priceless. I was so excited for this movie after the first 15 minutes. I was on the edge of my seat. 

Hartman-how tall are you, private?
Private Cowboy- sir, five foot nine, sir.
Hartman- five foot nine, I didn't know they stacked shit that high!


Hartman- were you born a fat, slimy, scumbag piece o'shit, Private Pyle, or did you have to work on it? 

Hartman- I bet you're the kind of guy that would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the Goddamn courtesy to give him a reach-around. I'll be watching you. 


Sgt. Hartman picket on a Private, he nicknamed Gomer Pyle. He was obese and struggled through everything. Anytime he messed up, the other Privates suffered for it. One night they got even, pinned him down, gagged his mouth and beat him with bars of soap that they put in their sock. When they got to rifle training, Pyle kicked ass! Anyway, Pyle got sick of it....shot and killed Hartman and then shot himself. 


End of the first half. The second half was when the privates graduated basic and went off to battle. This is when I was bored out of my mind. It was slow and nothing interesting happened. We lost all the humor from the first half, and now we're all about drama. We met new characters and learned about their specific jobs. The only thing I found entertaining in the second half was the music selection. During the fight scenes they played Wooly Bully, Surfin' Bird, Chapel of Love,  These Boots are Made for Walkin', and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The music's humor reminded me of the music from American Werewolf in London (1981) were they just wanted the music to be humorous and fit with an overall theme and not necessarily the mood of the scene. During FMJ, it felt like they wanted to lighten the mood of all the fighting with catchy pop/rock tunes.


The movie is worth seeing for the first half and the music selection in the second half. I could care less of the war scenes (personal preference), but you know, to each its own. Happy viewing!!!