Full Metal Jacket

[Mortal Envelope]

(spoilers ahead in the off chance you haven't seen this flick)


FMJ is one of my favorite war movies, although I'm not sure if "war movie" is really that accurate; on the surface, it certainly seems to be but I think there's a lot more going on than just that.  I don't think it's a typical "war is hell" or "war sucks" movie -I think it has more to do with playing cowboy or the misrepresentation that war is a big show (the John Wayne references, the troops hangin out in an old burntout movie house, etc.,).  Or another theme, winning = more kills.

Now, this movie is notoriously disliked regarding the second half, but I personally like it (and who couldn't love the first half?).  There's a lot of debate on just what the hell it all means.  I'm sure it means a lot of things really, but something I noticed on a macro level: these young kids get put through hellish bootcamp, gearing them up for their John Wayne cowboy fantasy show only to have their expectations shattered when half of their group get sniped out by a young asian girl.  I mean, that's just one interpretation...sometimes I have others ...but that's how Kubrick works I guess. 

Also, if you're into this movie you gotta do search on youtube for "Full Metal Skeletor" - funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

[Oldskool138]

Well, John Wayne came out with The Green Berets (the only movie set in Vietnam during the war...and was partially directed by Ray Kellogg who directed such B-movie classics as The Killer Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster) the same year Full Metal Jacket took place, 1968.  Irony might be a reason for all the John Wayne references.

I enjoy the second half of the movie.  I love the imagery he uses during the Hue City battle.  When Cowboy gets shot and they drag him to safety notice the concrete wall in the background looks almost exactly like the monolith from 2001.  Kubrick paints Hue City as Hell and the soldiers are hunted by an unseen evil with a great ironic twist at the end.  Great stuff.

[Neville]

Another Kubrick movie I haven't watched for years. I remember liking a lot the first half, then getting sort of lost with most of the second part, until the sniper scenes appear.

Part of the reason why I don't liked the movie as much as I expected has to do with the way Kubrick films it. I can't tell if other people feel the same, but I think all Kubrick films from "The shinning" onwards look too calculated, to the point of being almost surreal. There's something in their technical overfectionism and the way they are crammed with quotes to other films / books and different readings that feels almost suffocating.

[CheezeFlixz]

The John Wayne reference was around when I was in the Marines long, long ago. John Wayne is the quintessential tough guy and therefore use in the Marines, perhaps other branch's too.

As a side not a "John Wayne" is a P-38 can openers that use old schooler used, when they had C-Rats.


I still have a number of these unopened somewhere and the original one I carried on my dog tags is still there.

On the movie, since R. Lee Ermy was a real life drill instructor I can say the FMJ has the closet thing to REAL boot camp ever put to film. It's an excellent film. 

[Andrew]

As a side not a "John Wayne" is a P-38 can openers that use old schooler used, when they had C-Rats.


I still have a number of these unopened somewhere and the original one I carried on my dog tags is still there.

I still have one.  They come in handy every so often and are tiny.  I learned to duct or electrical tape mine shut, since it gets used rarely and digs into your leg if it partially opens in a front pocket.  Painful.