One of the best anti war movies made. I am not the biggest Kubrick fan, but what he did here was fantastic. D'Onofrio gives the best performance of his "career" and it is a really shocking picture from start to finish (B+)

Very overrated, IMO. B

I am going to agree with Riggs on this film. The boot camp act is done masterfully and is a great part. However, the movie after that falls off into Deer Hunter Part Deux or Apocalypsce Now Reloaded or Platoon II, in other words nothing special.

B+


The first 40 minutes (well the whole training camp stuff) are brilliant. Simply brilliant. Amazing screenplay, amazing lines, amazing acting. That part is an istant and infinite classic. Unfortunately, it goes a bit downhill after that...

An ok movie. Kubrick takes his joy of stripped down violence and puts it to good use in Vietnam. I especially liked the "Boots for Walking" sequence with the machismo and std sex jokes. There's something quite raw about that moment which spoke more to me than the battleground scenes. Watching the men run around and trying to pull together some semblence of group identity may have been accurate, but didn't really make me care. The film felt a bit like an attemp at neo-realism set against the backdrop of a city under bombs rather than a bombed out city. But the quality of the filmstock and camera wasn't compatible. I would have almost preferred damaged footage. In the end, it just has violence stylized, but at least in the right space.

B-

A mixed bag, most notable for having several memorable scenes and a half dozen memorable lines, even if the overall project doesn't come together as intended. It's pretty boring actually, especially after the bizarre boot camp opening with the current star of Law and Order: Criminal Intent as a fat young man who can't take the stress of the training, much to his and the drill sargeant's detriment. R. Lee Ermey turns in a memorable role as the drill sargeant, as vivid a portrait of the overly gung-ho Vietnam era commander as was Duvall in Apocalypse now. The film then shifts to focus more on Matthew Modine's character but neither he nor the script is up to the challenge and it flounders in the third act with nothing much to say.

C- it might have been lower but Kubrik has a way of making movies vivid and memorable, you feel like you had an experience even though this is a case of an important director tackling an important subject but not having anything new to contribute.

I really liked this movie. It's not as good as 2001, Dr. Strangelove, or A Clockwork Orange, but it's one of the best war films I have ever seen (Note: I have yet to seen Platoon or The Deer Hunter). Not because of the violence, but because it is one of the most tense films I have ever seen. The scene with the sniper towards the end of the film, and the scene with Gomer Pyle in the bathroom are the two that standout the most. I have also never seen blood explode in a film like this before. I'm not sure if I would say it's more realistic than Saving Private Ryan, but it's effective.

However, the first 45 minutes of the film are the best part of the movie. Once the film goes to Vietnam, it kind of loses it's steam, but it's still good.

A

Saw this again last night. That first half is still fantastic, some of the funniest lines in movie history. Too bad the second half doesnt hold up aswell, not that it isnt solid it just cant compete with the boot camp scenes. It's a travesty that R. Lee Ermey didnt even get nominated for his role as Sgt. Hartman.

B+

Agreed. Not Kubrick's best, by a long shot...

I agree with Levy, awesome film with D'Onfrio's best performance.

Exactly, I know the second half of the film is in stark contrast to first, but that's for a reason. I never understood the whole, first half good, second half not good thought process.

I felt exaclty the same way about Jarhead. Great first hour, mediocre second hour.

First half was really good, second half sucked.

**

The first half of this movie was awsome':2thumbsup:'

This movie is one of my favorite kubrick films, along with a clockwork orange, the shining and 2001

A

No love for Dr Strangelove???

to tell you the truth, i've only seen it once, and that was a long time ago. i really need to rent it to give it another shot

A

I absolutely loved it. The first half was hilarious, with a very good drift into psychotic-ness arc by the D'Onofrio character, but while I know I'm in the minority on this, I loved the second half equally. The sniper bit is one of the best war sequences I've seen, the use of slow-motion and blood... perfect. And Joker's shooting at the end... so well done. We don't learn much about him as a protaganist, but I don't think we're supposed to.

More and more Kubrick moves up on my list of favorite directors... he's probably in my top 3 with Cameron and Hitchcock now. It's hard to believe a year ago I hadn't seen a single one of his films away from The Shining. It's been a good year.

For the record, I have now seen both Platoon and The Deer Hunter. Both are better than Full Metal Jacket.

While I stand by most of what I said above (And my grade), the film loses an edge once we get out of training camp. The stuff in Vietnam is well done (The intensity is the best thing about the film) but the first 30-40 minutes of this film are masterful.

I don't know why everyone thinks the film falls apart in the second half. I thought it was just as brilliant as the first half, and, indeed, the film would not be the same without it.

While it's not as allegorical and transcendent as Apocalypse Now, it's not supposed to be. It's essentially stripping down the myth of Vietnam, exposing it for the gritty and disturbing conflict it really was. The boot camp stuff plays into this, showing the raw underbelly of combat training, and then the war scenes, full of sex and violence and piss and vinegar, really showcase how dehumanized and robotic these soldiers got. Every other Vietnam film does this as well, of course, but Kubrick does a terrific job really emphasizing and highlighting the total lack of empathy or pathos in these characters. They're just killing machines. That's it.

It also, I think, plays into the fact that American fought the Vietnam War like it was a Western. Cowboy, Joker talking like John Wayne, the Wild Bunch-esque slow-motion squib-laden shots, etc. The soldiers themself even make reference to the Western they're shooting in Vietnam, saying "the gooks'll play the Indians". It's an interesting side-theme, and speaks volumes about Kubrick's depth as a filmmaker and as a cultural critic.

So, yeah, I really dug it. Sandwiched right in between his other two war films for me.

The second half is extraordinary. The death of Cowboy is not captured by a motion picture camera, but by something strong enough to induce the scenery directly into the observer's mind- with lights and movements that doesn't get iterrupted by camera lenses or the human cortex while flowing into the deepest darkness of our soul.

A+

The second half is great. It's probably the only big film to capture urban warfare in 'Nam.

not his best, but still one of the better war films out there. it's certainly unlike the rest of 'em... the only problem for me was that the movie climaxed both emotionally and in terms of quality after about 45 minutes.

A-

I honestly think the 2nd half of FMJ has the best in-war scenes out there. I'm not a fan of Saving Private Ryan, the Deer Hunter has very little of the actual war, I haven't seen Apocalypse Now but I've read Heart of Darkness so I know it doesn't have much actual war either. So Platoon vs the 2nd half of Full Metal Jacket... I like Full Metal Jacket