Full Metal Jacket adapted and directed by Stanley Kubrick (1987)
10 December 2007Another of the quintessential Vietnam films ever made, and a classic. This film about city fighting in Vietnam is about as brutal as it gets. It actually feels like 2 films that star the same main character, but is more or less about the dehumanizing effects of Marine training and going to war, and what it does to you. The first part being about Marine training and it driving a man insane, and the second about actual war and what it does to people. Like Matthew Modine says about his peace symbol, and having born to kill scrawled on his helmet, it is the Jungian thing about the Duality of men. The performances are amazing. You knew Vincent D’Onfrio would be huge after his performance as the slow Private Pyle. And R. Lee Ermey as the drill sergeant is just plain scary, no wonder he is so enjoyable to watch on Mail Call. And until watching it this time I hadn’t realized that Animal Mother was Adam Baldwin who played Jane on Firefly. I watched this on HD DVD, so it was my first time seeing it in it’s proper aspect ratio (Kubrick had changed the aspect ratio to 4:3 for the VHS release) and it looked great. Sure you can see the film grain, but the blacks don’t artifact, and go all the way to dark black. Certainly the way this film was meant to be seen.
We follow a group of young men who join the Marine Corp and is sent to Paris Island in the late 1960’s and meet their Gunnery Seargant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) who proceeds to break them down and turn them into fighting weapons. We have our protagonist who becomes Private Joker (Matthew Modine), Private Cowboy (Arliss Howard) from Texas and the slightly retarded Leonard Pratt known as Private Gomer Pyle. Leonard really can’t hack it, can’t do anything right, and since punishing him isn’t working, the Gunny starts punishing the whole group instead. Joker stands up to the Seargeant and is made a squad leader, and put in charge of Leonard, trying to get him through. And the only thing he seems good at is shooting, but he starts talking to his gun.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
They end up wrapping soap in towels and tying down Leonard, and beating him so their will be no scars, and even Joker does it, hitting multiple times.
Amazingly they all manage to graduate, with Cowboy and Pyle becoming riflemen and Joker becomes a journalist, but they have to spend one last night on Paris Island. Joker is on duty and he goes into the bathroom and Pyle has lost it and is loading his rifle with live rounds, and mumbling to himself, The gunnery Seargant comes in and starts screaming and Leonard shoots him and kills him, then points the gun at Joker, but swings it around and blows his old brains out.
We then cut to Vietnam, and Joker is a reporter for Stars and Stripes in charge of Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard) a green photographer. They are there for Tet and the base gets attacked, and Joker grabs an M-60 and has to kill for the first time. We also see them negotiating with a hooker (Papillon Soo), before Rafterman gets his camera stolen. Joker then mouths off to his lietenant, so he gets sent out into the shit, and Rafterman volunteers to join him.
They ride up in a helicopter with the door gunner (Tim Colceri) shooting at women and children out of the door as they fly by.
Joker then heads up to find the platoon that Cowboy is in, and they head into the shit in a city with heavy contacts. The lietenant is killed right off, and other people keep getting put in charge. Cowboy introduces Joker to his platoon mates like Eightball (Dorian Harewood) and the insane Animal Mother (Adam Mother). They have action, but also breaks as when an ARVN Pimp (Tan Hung Francione) brings them a hooker (Leane Hong).
Then they are back in the shit, and Cowboy is put in command, but he screws up and they get off course. Eightball is shot by a sniper, then a medic is shot, and Cowboy wants to leave, but Animal Mother rushes in, so they all go in to get the Sniper, but then Cowboy is shot in killed. Animal Mother takes charge and goes in with Joker and Rafterman. Joker comes up on the Sniper, who is a young girl (Ngco Lee) and his gun doesn’t fire, and he panics, but Rafterman comes in and saves him. They all stand around the sniper who is still alive and saying kill me, and Joker says they can’t leave her like this. So Animal Mother tells him to do what he wants, and Joker pulls his pistol and shoots her point blank. And they all leave, singing the Mickey Mouse show song, alive and still fighting in this insane war.
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Such a good but disturbing film. And the disc has many extras including commentaries, but I haven’t had a chance or the time to watch them, but will report when I do.
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