Full Metal Jacket

Movie Info

Genre(s): War

Written by: Gustav Hasford (also novel The Short Timers)
Michael Herr
Stanley Kubrick

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Release Date:
Theatrical: June 26, 1987
DVD: June 29, 1999

Running Time: 116 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R

Starring Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Baldwin, Dorian Harewood, Arliss Howard, Kevyn Major Howard, and Ed O'Ross

The story of an 18-year-old marine recruit named Private Joker - from his carnage-and-machismo boot camp to his climactic involvement in the heavy fighting in Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive. [Warner Bros.]

Also On Metacritic

FILM: 2001: A Space Odyssey A Clockwork Orange Dr. Strangelove Eyes Wide Shut The Shining

Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 41 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Daniel R. gave it an8:
The first half is some of cinema's most greatest, most funny and most shocking pieces of work yet. Kubrick uses unsettling humour here to test our limits and although a lot of us don't want to laugh at the thought of soldiers-in-training being abused and being referred to as maggots we simply cannot help ourselves as R. Lee Ermey seems to make it look acceptable with his outstanding performance. After the shock at the end of bootcamp, the film progresses straight to the Vietnam war with those soldiers now in the thick of the action; although the result of this is rather disappointing. The cast here is faultless but the action and the imagination that we have to come to love of Kubrick is not here in full stretch and although there are still moments of greatness it doesn't come close to the first half. The ending of this film makes up for the rest of the half however and really is thought provoking stuff. This could've been Kubrick's best but unfortunately cannot add up to the greatness of the director's previous works such as A Clockwork Orange or 2001. Still worth a watch however and is still one of the best films in the war movie genre if not the best.

Josh C gave it a10:
Stanley Kubrick's daunting two-part monolith also communicates on a gut level, yet it is the most deceptively simple work he has ever made--and even more resistant to easy interpretation than his 2001: A Space Odyssey. A friend of mine who was a Marine sergeant in the Tet offensive assures me that so many details are botched that the film is worthless as history; insofar as coscreenwriter Michael Herr has recently pointed out that Kubrick set out to make a certain kind of war film before he settled on either Vietnam or Gustav Hasford's novel The Short-Timers, I see no reason to doubt this testimony. But conventional realism seems so far from Kubrick's purposes that I can't dismiss the film for these infidelities either. I'm more inclined to ponder lead actor Matthew Modine's provocative suggestion that Kubrick's relationship to other commercial directors is analogous to the position of the early Cubists. Combining this sense of poetic abstraction with a subject as "hot" as Vietnam (or colonialism in general) is a risky and daring move, but I can't side with those who fault Kubrick for "coldness" simply because they can't anticipate or see through him (as they can with a genuine iceberg like Brian De Palma). It's been at least a quarter of a century since I've seen Kubrick's awkward first feature Fear and Desire (1953)--long since suppressed by Kubrick himself--but it is that touching and compassionate amateur film about young men at war, set in no particular place or time, that Full Metal Jacket evoked for me, refined, perfected, and chiseled to such a fine point that it fully expresses what the earlier film only implied. The vision may be hard as nails, but it is one without villains or other easy bromides.

Michael D gave it a10:
For all of those that ridicule this movies' second half. Watch it again ... and then again. When I first saw this in the theater I was totally put off by the cinematography of the second half of the film. After repeated watching I think it is actually masterfully constructed. Empty. The only part of the film that still fails, in my opinion, is the section dealing with the news interviews of the soldiers. Meant to revolt us ... they simply come across as dry and excessive. So far removed from the Jungles of platoon this movies depiction of the shells of destroyed Vietnamese cities is amazing. ... Oh yeah ... and if since I have not stated it earlier I will say this ... the first half of this movie is nothing short of ingenious. Utterly amazing. There are images in that part of the movie that will never leave you ... and thats coming from a guy that saw this movie TWENTY years ago.

Samtam90 gave it a9:
The first half of the movie is Kubrick's masterwork, not even the sheer brilliance of Shining and A Clockwork Orange can come close to it. The second half, unfortunately, can't even remotely compete, as i find it too slow and some of the scenes are too much detached from the main plot. So, i give a full 10 for the first part and an 8 for the second (i'd like to remember the GREAT ending).

John R. gave it a9:
Awesome movie, with a terrific opening sections at boot camp. That keeps the viewers in no matter what happens the rest of the movie. The war might have seemed a little slow at times, but it portrayed the brutality very well. Great war film, definitely recommended to watch if you have not seen it.

Jake V. B. gave it a10:
I just finished reading a book on Kubrick. The chapter on FMJ was interesting in pointing out certain scenes where I missed some or most of Kubrick's point. In the prostittue/theater scene, I realized that only in the widescreen version of the film could you see certain background visuals. At present FMJ is available in letterboxed format from Warner Bros. only in HD DVD, which is where the DVD technology is headed. They (Congress is included in "they.") want us to start all over again in both the player and disc. It's really unfair. The picture is much better, but, using FMJ as an example, I've bought it in VHS, then DVD, then again in 5.1 SS DVD, and would buy it again in letterboxed format, but switching to a new DVD format is asking too much. Apparently, we're missing a good bit in this modified version of the film. I've emailed WB's site, pleading for a widescreen release in the present DVD format and maybe they would if enough people showed an interest. This excellent, very intelligent and challenging film deserves release in its proper format without having to buy a $1,000.00 DVD player. Among comtemporary filmmakers, Kubrick was without peers and I would rank him above Welles, though I'm sure this comment will cause many film buffs to go ape.

Casey S. gave it a9:
Full Metal Jacket can not be compared to any movie of its era. Kubrick's portrayel of the two parts of war; preparation and battle are personified well. Of equal importance is the music choice chosen for the soundtrack, namely the Mickey Mouse song as the movie closes.

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