Actors: Matthew Modine, Lee Ermey, and Vincent D'Onofrio
Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket could easily be two movies: Part I and Part II. The first part takes place in Parris Island, North Carolina, one of the USMC's basic training locations. The hard bitten and war wise Sr. Drill Instructor meets green, naive recruits and has to whip them into shape to go to 'Nam. Most of them make it through but "Private Pyle" (nee Leonard Lawrence) snaps mentally during the training and kills the Sr. Drill Instructor then himself with an M-16 rifle loaded with "7.62 Full Metal Jacket" ammo (thus the Movie title).
During the second half the green troops find themselves in Vietman and begin to die like soldiers do in war. The main character of the 2nd half, "Private Joker"(Matthew Modine) becomes more hardened, calloused and violent as the movie rolls on and he watches his buddies die at the hands of the Viet Cong. The Tet Offensive of the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong in 1968 occurs in the film followed by the battle for the ancient city of Hue (pronounced "whey"). Inexperienced, green, American young men meet Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Ermy) who is meaner than any Viet Cong they will meet in combat, whips them into shape so they can go and kill the enemy. War is not as glamorous as they had hoped and people actually died right before their eyes. Those that survived the Battle for Hue, at the end of the movie, are marching along en masse whistling the Mickey Mouse Club Theme in some surreal scene, the backdrop being smouldering buildings bombed and destroyed by the battle. Private Joker narrates throughout the entire movie.
--KERRY BULLS, Resident Scholar
This movie tells two different stories during the Vietnam war. The first one tells the story of a fat recruit who can't overcome any of the obstacles. He gets some help, but ends up being hated by all the other recruits. The other story tells the story of a joker journalist and his struggle with the Vietnamese in the war.
--Jack Bauer, Resident Scholar
In Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket," we see the affects of war/boot camp on two different people. Private Gomer Pyles (Vincent D'Onofrio) is an over-weight soldier. He can not run his obsticles, and is constantly picked on by Drill Sargent Hartmann (Hermey) and the rest of the soldiers. With a little help from Private Joker (Matthew Modine), Gomer tries harder at boot camp. But, being warped by the trials of boot camp, snaps. This movie was qutie awesome, and is my number two favorite Kubrick movie. I'm only 15, and havent seen all the movies I want to see yet, but when I see all top 100 on the AFI's top 100 list, Full Metal Jacket will be up there, without question.
--Denny Hanson, Resident Scholar
Stanley Kubrick basically splits his Vietnam war story in two: half in Marine basic training, half in Vietnam, where his journalist infantryman (Modine) participates in the urban battle in the bombed-out streets of Hue. Americans go mad and face an unseen enemy. There is no glory whatsoever in this intense war story, and the characters are all expendable, not people you get to know or like very well.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
This Stanley Kubrick masterpiece shows us the dark side of war. It also shows how a group of Marines can be changeddue to war in Vietnam. A very good picture from Stanley Kubrick.
--Brandon L. Tate, Resident Scholar
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Analysis of Full Metal Jacket
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie Actual chase scenes or violence - 30% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 13.3% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 56.7%
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1960's-1970's
War Thriller
Yes
Armed Forces:
- Marines
Specific to
- Vietnam
Training/Promotion story?
Yes
Kinds of training/promotion:
- military
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- infantry soldier
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- short/standard straight (man)
Body type
- average (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- aggressive
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- very skinny (man)
How much in movie?
- 40%
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- enemy army
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Other Asian
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Setting
United States
Yes
Asia/Pacific
Yes
Asian country:
- Southeast Asia
Misc setting
- fort/military installation
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately messy visuals of dead
- gory visuals of deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
How many deaths in film?
- dozens
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 1 (None)
Kind of violence:
- land battles
- guns
Unusual forms of death
- perforation--bullets
Any profanity?
- A lot of foul language
- A huge amnt of foul language
