Full Metal Jacket (1987)

In this article, we will be looking at 2019’s book “1001 Movies to See Before You Die” and going through each film in a random order that I have chosen. We will be looking at what constitutes this film to be on the list and whether I think this film deserves to be here at all. I want to make perfectly clear that I won’t be revealing details from this book such as analyses by film reporters who have written about the film in question, so if you want the book itself you’ll have to buy it. But I will be covering the book’s suggestions on which films should be your top priority. I wouldn’t doubt for a second that everyone reading this article has probably watched many of these movies anyway. But we are just here to have a bit of fun. We’re going to not just look at whether it should be on this list but we’re also going to look at why the film has such a legacy at all. Remember, this is the 2019 version of the book and so, films like “Joker” will not be featured in this book and any film that came out in 2020 (and if we get there, in 2021). So strap in and if you have your own suggestions then don’t hesitate to email me using the address in my bio. Let’s get on with it then.

Full Metal Jacket (1987) dir. by Stanley Kubrick

I’m not going to lie, it is not my favourite Stanley Kubrick film. My first is definitely “Dr. Strangelove” and then “2001” and then “The Shining”, but “Full Metal Jacket” is not really near the top though I do have to say that it made me laugh, I enjoyed it a lot and I have seen it probably three or four times. Starring Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood and many more, this film is basically one of the most satirical films about Vietnam I have ever seen or even come across. It is a brilliant representation of the stupidity of war and is basically like a funny version of Oliver Stone’s “Platoon”. The fact that they came out so close to each other always makes me giggle a little as well. You can either watch “Full Metal Jacket” or you can watch “Platoon” and watching them both, one after the other, is hilarious.

The Rotten Tomatoes consensus goes into the nineties and the critics have stated the following:

"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.”

TIME Magazine were generally favourable towards it, concentrating on the performances given in the film to hold it up:

"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…[and] the Olympian elegance and precision of Kubrick's filmmaking…”

And yes, Vincent Canby gave his opinion as well and praised the performance of Lee Emrey in the film, calling him:

"the film's stunning surprise ... he's so good—so obsessed—that you might think he wrote his own lines…[Modine] is one of the best, most adaptable young film actors of his generation [Full Metal Jacket] was a film of immense and very rare imagination…”

Film Four gave their own opinions and gave the film five out of five, praise went to the acting and the opening sequence:

“…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 opening sequence] was far more striking than the second and longer section…”

Roger Ebert came in with a little bit of passive aggression and did not like the film as much as I thought he would, though I can see how he respects more serious works of war film a bit more than this:

“The opening passages of "Full Metal Jacket" promise much more than the film finally is able to deliver. They tell the story of a group of marine grunts undergoing basic training on Paris Island, and the experience comes down to a confrontation between the gunnery sergeant (Lee Ermey) and a tubby misfit (Vince D'Onofrio) who is nicknamed Gomer Pyle. These are the two best performances in the movie, which never recovers after they leave the scene.”

It deserves its place on the list of films you should watch before you die, but where is it on the list of Kubrick films you personally enjoy?

Roger Ebert's Movie Review: Full Metal Jacket