Full Metal Jacket [1987 film]

A smart-ass in boot camp, then Vietnam.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: D
Music: A

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.9/4

See FMJ for the excellent first half, an authentic, condensed portrayal of basic military training. Obviously the presence of a real retired drill sergeant (Ermey) had a lot to do with that. Then, starting with the climactic latrine scene and carrying throughout the rest of the movie, realism becomes hogwash. Kubrick ignored advisors when it came to the skewed, erroneous, just plain wrong depiction of this platoon's actions in the war in Vietnam. The movie is a testament to the anti-war movement and a visual essay on the meaninglessness of war. But it is not an extremely engaging story. The first half of the movie makes a tight dramatic point that training marines to be killer has some inhumane consequences and proves it with Pyle's show more suicide. But the second half doesn't have an overall story arc to hang its hat on. One can argue that the point of the movie is that atrocities are senseless and meaningless. True enough. But in terms of a dramatic story, the meaning of the point (authors' message) is lost because it lacks a more robust plot. show less

Un gruppo di giovani marines appena reclutati e duramente addestrati dal sergente Hartman con metodi brutali, parte per il Vietnam, dove sperimenta gli orrori della guerra nella battaglia intorno alla città di Hue (fonte: Mymovies)

116 minutos