Full Metal Jacket

Name: Full Metal Jacket
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Released: June 26, 1987
Duration: 116 min
Rating: 78
Cast: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio

1987

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 605 Ratings

See All

7.4

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7.4	Your Score
7.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 605 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Full Metal Jacket

Now Playing: Full Metal Jacket

Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: June 26, 1987 | R

Starring: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio

Summary: 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.]

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Genre(s): Action, Drama, War

Rating: R

Runtime: 116 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

Jay Scott

May be the best war movie ever made...Different is Kubrick's artistry and control, and his almost perverse, but philosophically progressive, refusal to impart to chaos a coherent narrative contour. Read full review

100

Vincent Canby

Kubrick's harrowing, beautiful and characteristically eccentric new film about Vietnam, is going to puzzle, anger and (I hope) fascinate audiences as much as any film he has made to date... A film of immense and very rare imagination. Read full review

100

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Elliptical, full of subtle inner rhymes...and profoundly moving, this is the most tightly crafted Kubrick film since "Dr. Strangelove," as well as the most horrific; the first section alone accomplishes most of what "The Shining" failed to do. Read full review

Sheila Benson

In a superb cast of mostly unknowns -- with the exception of Matthew Modine and Dorain Harewood -- D'Onofrio, who put on 60 pounds for this pivotal role, and Ermey are exceptional. [26 June 1987]

Dave Kehr

The film has undeniable power, but it's an unusual and unsettling power, a product of a collision between red-hot material and the cool serenity with which Kubrick observes and accepts it. [26 June 1987]

Judy Stone

The concluding image of men silhouetted against the dying flares of explosives, as they march to the raucous refrain of the Mickey Mouse Club theme, is masterly, but leaves a viewer curiously discomfited. Whereas "Platoon" shattered civilian complacency about that war, Full Metal Jacket is merely numbing. [26 June 1987]

Pauline Kael

What happened to the Kubrick who used to slip in sly, subtle jokes and little editing tricks? This may be his worst movie. He probably believes he's numbing us by the power of his vision, but he's actually numbing us by its emptiness. [13 July 1987, p.75]

SEE ALL 19 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

SethDaReviewer

May 3, 2018

FMJ is a great war film with great performances from Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Baldwin, Arliss Howard and especially that of the late Ronald Lee Ermey. The bootcamp part is a classic, brutal depiction of a Marine boot camp during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam part is almostFMJ is a great war film with great performances from Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Baldwin, Arliss Howard and especially that of the late Ronald Lee Ermey. The bootcamp part is a classic, brutal depiction of a Marine boot camp during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam part is almost trippy showing the growing disillusion of a unit of men before the climatic battle with a Viet Cong sniper.
Rest in peace Gunny Hope you train the devil dogs in heaven. 1944-2018… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

LoiReal

Feb 25, 2004

[***PLOT SPOILERS***] At the start of this film, I was laughing uncontrollably from the cliche of a tough boot camp instructor treating recruits like sh.t smudged a minion times against their mother's faces. He kept calling them degrading names such as sluts, pussies et. al. But then as[***PLOT SPOILERS***] At the start of this film, I was laughing uncontrollably from the cliche of a tough boot camp instructor treating recruits like sh.t smudged a minion times against their mother's faces. He kept calling them degrading names such as sluts, pussies et. al. But then as the movie progresses on, I was drawn to Private Pyle, who had an obvious bad case of A.D.D. Initially, I was quite irritated of him with his clumsiness and slow pick up abilities to their unforgiving trainor. Due to Pyle's excess weight which obviously made him unable to keep up with the harsh physical rigors of training, he was kept from eating sweets and the teacher found out how Pyle caped a doughnut. He was made to eat it infront of his classmates while they were punished for him. Everytime he f...ed up, it was his classmates who paid for it. He was beaten with bricks [Ed: Soap, actually] while he was prevented from making a sound by his co-trainees when they got fed up of him. The only one who used to bear with him by necessity, Private Joker, didn't do anything about it. After it, Pyle cried like a child bullied in a kindergarden yard. And it was my first time to really sympathize with a character, I bawled like a baby too. I was just so moved how nobody stood up for him. It's been two days since I've watched FMJ, but the face of Pyle keeps haunting me. The cinematography of the film and the plot when they got to 'Nam sucks big time, but kudos to Kubrick for tugging my cynical heart. It's kinda new for me to be troubled by a film character, and for that, good job Kubrick.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

RodrigoBGC

Sep 26, 2011

Is not only about of what does a soldier lives on the battle field is also all the process it take to become a man a killing machine, an excellent psychological movie that show you other side of the war stories

5 of 7 users found this helpful52

AmadeusMozart

Mar 26, 2017

There is no other way to describe this movie apart from "masterpiece." Once again, Stanley Kubrick pays off with a brilliant movie, this time concentrated on the horrors involving the Vietnam War. Even if the film seems to be "slow", the characters are extremely well elaborated making allThere is no other way to describe this movie apart from "masterpiece." Once again, Stanley Kubrick pays off with a brilliant movie, this time concentrated on the horrors involving the Vietnam War. Even if the film seems to be "slow", the characters are extremely well elaborated making all the situations seem truly real. Additionally, the film is clearly divided into two important parts; the first one involves the life of soldiers during their actual training, while the second part talks about the long, but tough war.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

AdrianOst07

Dec 2, 2020

Full Metal Jacket is a classic in the genre of war films. A great movie that I recommend to anyone that is into learning about the military or the Vietnam War. It's a movie that I've kept coming back to every now and again and I still feel the same emotions as I did watching that movie theFull Metal Jacket is a classic in the genre of war films. A great movie that I recommend to anyone that is into learning about the military or the Vietnam War. It's a movie that I've kept coming back to every now and again and I still feel the same emotions as I did watching that movie the first time and times after that. The shock, feeling of pity for people like Pyle, the consequences and treatment of the Vietnamese by the Americans and even their own people. Every war and war movie (such as Full Metal Jacket, Saving Private Ryan, Hacksaw Ridge) is made to remember those who served and gave their lives on the frontlines, because no matter if they come back dead or alive, they are no longer the person they used to be even if we don't see a difference.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

ERG1008

Sep 15, 2010

Soldiers in training for fighting in Vietnam, tough boot camp & drill Sergeant, some go to war, some don't.
Stanley Kubrick's powerful Vietnam fest that I'd not seen since it came out in the late 80s.
It is very much a film split into two parts starting with the new recruits in the boot campSoldiers in training for fighting in Vietnam, tough boot camp & drill Sergeant, some go to war, some don't.
Stanley Kubrick's powerful Vietnam fest that I'd not seen since it came out in the late 80s.
It is very much a film split into two parts starting with the new recruits in the boot camp being ferociously barked at by the brilliant R. Lee Ermey as Sergeant Hartman. A great turn too by a young Vincent D'Onofrio as the blundering Private Pyle.
The second half of the film sees Matthew Modine's character go into the action in Vietnam & I think it loses a bit of steam here.
It is well written, the action scenes with the sniper are intense but it doesn't really go anywhere.
Mention also for the great soundtrack featuring the Bird is the Word & Woolley Bully!… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

cpdelev

Dec 25, 2013

A film that does not contain any true emotions, good acting, or any humanity in itself. Even though the very point of it is to show how brutal the war in Vietnam was, it does not reach its cause in any way.

1 of 22 users found this helpful121

SEE ALL 68 REVIEWS