Full Metal Jacket

Approval Rate: 65%

65%Approval ratio

Reviews 50

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  • by

    spike65

    Fri Jul 18 2008

    Probably the best film portrayal of the Vietnam War thus far. The boot camp portion was perfect and the later part about the Tet offensive in the Northern portion of South Vietnam was pretty good. The bit where the door gunner shoots random civilians was too stereotypical of non-vets opinions of our soldiers in that War. Could have happened? Yes. Happened that casually? No. Would have more likely occured during a heat of battle moment unlike the way it was portrayed in the film.

  • by

    cantrell4

    Fri Mar 07 2008

    I have to give the movie some credit because it actually mirrored experiences I went through at Paris Island and Nam,anybody out there remember the hot-locker.Full Metal Jacket can be credited with letting part of the secrets out the real story is yet to be told,after all it was only a movie.Lets-Git-Some!

  • by

    louiethe20th

    Thu Mar 06 2008

    Great movie, but the language was overkill. I am sure that is pretty close to how a gunnery would talk though, Aye numbah?

  • by

    jochichi

    Sun Oct 14 2007

    very funy

  • by

    bmg12ced

    Mon Oct 01 2007

    very good movie for action

  • by

    irishgit

    Thu Jul 19 2007

    Interesting movie. Explains a lot about the U.S. military success in Vietnam. Solid performances, great direction, good soundtrack.

  • by

    victor83

    Thu Jul 19 2007

    A definite 5, but bowwow makes a point- not quite as good after the Parris Island Part (which was actually filmed at MCRD San Diego).

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    jeremy00081

    Fri Nov 03 2006

    Great movie. I really felt bad for "Gomer Pile". This movie warms the heart. The second half of the film provides some good battle footage and more nerve-racking drama. I'm not a drama guy myself, but some dramas are so good, you can't help but get sucked in. I couldn't quite give this film 5 stars, but I can give it 4 and a half.

  • by

    leftfinger

    Thu Aug 17 2006

    The basic training part hits too close to home (sans the suicide part). Visions of Drill Sergeants dancing in my head. Great movie.

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    pzkpfw_vi_e

    Fri Apr 21 2006

    Great, great Vietnam War movie. It had many lasting impressions on me. From the basic training shock and R. Lee Ermey's ultra-effective acting (really, it was probably an easier role for him then I would think, as he probably has a lot of real life experience in the suck), to Animal Mother and the other messed up soldiers the war had created (especially the unknown helicopter gunner, firing at civilians). But the battle of Hue was so effective and depressing. The last scene where the soldiers are trying to figure out what to do with the half-dead young female sniper is telling. And the movie ending was fustrating, awkward and incomplete; just like the war it portrayed. Great Kubrick film

  • by

    djahuti

    Tue Apr 04 2006

    Great movie,excellent acting and writing.IMO one of the best of it's genre.

  • by

    missbaysdaddy

    Sat Dec 31 2005

    As close to the way it was as I have seen put on film. Recommended for anyone that is thinking about joining a branch of the service.

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    faa07a17

    Wed Oct 05 2005

    Intriguing, especially when I think about the similarities and differences between the Marine boot camp and the Canadian military boot camp I went through. The boot camp scenes were the best part of the movie but seeing the microcosm of that unit moving through Hue City in what was one of the Marines defining moments made (please forgive the cliche) history come alive.

  • by

    planetarygear

    Tue Aug 09 2005

    One of the best movies about Vietnam (aren't they all?) But this one is different because of the boot-camp segment, which, PB is correct in pointing out, is the BEST part of the movie. Great chararacter development during this segment. But then it does lose something after that. It seems most of the great war movies suffer from agonizing slowdowns at somepoint... but this one is different, it's very much like watching 2 seperate movies, one obviously better than the other. But still a classic! No one better than Kubrick.

  • by

    genghisthehun

    Fri Jun 17 2005

    R. Lee makes this a 5.

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    jukeboxhero

    Thu Jun 16 2005

    THIS IS THE MOVIE TO WATCH.R lee is the best drill instructer ever! HOO AH

  • by

    kattwoman

    Sun Jun 12 2005

    this was a good movie very intense . i preferred the bootcamp part than i did after they left for war.

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    typeoneg

    Wed Mar 02 2005

    great movie. seen it many times.

  • by

    intheory

    Mon Feb 28 2005

    best movie ever...sgt. hartman is my hero, Mother is the hottest guy, and this movie has so many great quotable lines

  • by

    numbah16tdhaha

    Tue Jul 27 2004

    I have met R. Lee Ermy and he made that freaking movie. Outstanding! Now get off my obstacle!

  • by

    mariusqeldroma

    Mon Jul 26 2004

    What is your major malfunction? This movie kicked ass and took names like nobody's business.

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    callitdownthel_ine75

    Fri Jul 09 2004

    Along with 'Dr. Strangelove', 'Full Metal Jacket' is Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece. Who can forget R. Lee Ermey's frightening portrayal of Sgt. Hartman and his bullying of Pvt. Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio)? This movie pulls you in, and despite the second half being a tad bit lesser than the first half in overall quality, it is still a very good movie.

  • by

    lashes

    Mon Jun 28 2004

    Spookily realistic to USMC Boot Camp for that time. My father, a Vietnam Veteran, shook the entire time while watching it.

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    ladyshark4534

    Thu Dec 11 2003

    Kubrick did a good job on this one. The guy who played Gomer Pyle did a good job at depicting a character who was so helpless and so sad as well as lost. A very disturbing film though which does end on a sour note. I preffered when they were in bootcamp rather than the Vietnam scenes.

  • by

    tvtator

    Sat Dec 06 2003

    A powerful and stunning war movie. The first half is a must see and is a shocker. Vincent D'Onofrio and R. Lee Ermey are superb. The movie shows how war dehumanizes people and turns them into killing machines. D'Onofrio gives an absolutely mind blowing performance as Gomer Pyle.

  • by

    enkidu

    Thu Dec 04 2003

    Kubrick almost never misses, and hit his target again in this one. It's about how human beings are transformed into killers. Some learn the lesson a little TOO well, as we see at the end of the first half. The second half shows the results of the transformation. FMJ is a rich and powerful anti-war statement: it amuses me to no end that the right-wingers on here completely missed the point.

  • by

    orwellan

    Wed Dec 03 2003

    Superb film, did for the American military, what the film 'Scum' did of borstals. Quality!

  • by

    stanuzbeck

    Sat Sep 06 2003

    Replace Matthew Modine with a competent actor and you have the perfect war movie.

  • by

    president_x_d

    Mon Aug 18 2003

    YOU WILL NOT LAUGH / YOU WILL NOT CRY / YOU WILL LEARN BY THE NUMBERS / I WILL TEACH YOU

  • by

    alty6905

    Sun Aug 17 2003

    This was pretty intense. Full of carnage and gave me a new arsenal of insults.

  • by

    astroboy

    Fri Aug 15 2003

    One of the greatest war movies of all time.This is almost two movies in one.The second half after leaving bootcamp is good but not as great as the first half.Excellant soundtrak and score.This is much better than Platoon in my opinion.

  • by

    ezmenot

    Thu Jul 03 2003

    Loved it. Have seen it 3 times and will see it another 3 times if given the chance.

  • by

    radioman

    Tue Jun 10 2003

    R. Lee Ermy really makes this movie. After we loose him we loose the intencity of the picture. Only a real old school DI.could have pulled off this artfull way of degrading his recruits. And that is how he got the job. The first 45 min.of FMJ really is a Modern Art Masterpeice.

  • by

    rebelyell1861

    Tue May 27 2003

    Read Kratz's comment on this. It hits the mark.

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    jason1972

    Wed Oct 30 2002

    There's nothing sugar coated about this Stanley Kubrick classic. Boot camp was really that brutal. It's too bad that bleeding heart liberals and PC hungry officials don't mkae that the same today. Truly the most unforgettable movie character of all time - Lee Ermy as Gunnery Sgt. Hartman.

  • by

    boogietunes

    Thu Oct 24 2002

    GIT SOME!

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    sexystreif

    Sat Apr 20 2002

    kubrik is insane! he's also a genius, I've loved every one of his movies including this one. insanly bad ass!

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    stud_in_americ_a

    Tue Nov 27 2001

    The first 45 minutes or so of this film are 45 minutes of the funniest stuff you will ever see. However the second half is overall farely boring. If ya want to get some laughs then rent this even to watch the first part alone. Some of the most imaginative language is used. This is definitely not for the kids with mucho galore amounts of profanity and plenty of violence.

  • by

    daf62757

    Fri Aug 24 2001

    First half of movie was a scream up until the DI was shot. The Vietnam half was just plain dumb. The best line of the 2nd half was the line by the helicopter gunner about how can you shoot women and children. You just dont lead them as much!

  • by

    loki13

    Fri Aug 17 2001

    One of the best movies about the Viet Nam war, it was also a great look into what it it like to be A U.S. Marine and all the honour attached to it.

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    jbiscuit1

    Wed Jun 20 2001

    This is an excellent movie, until the boys go to Vietnam. I found the film to be a very realistic and exceptionally well made portrayal of boot camp. I especially enjoyed the relationships founded by the characters as well as the disintegration of one man. Unfortunately, the film becomes too dark in Vietnam. I understand the point Kubrick is making, and its intent. However, the movie becomes rather tedious, and ends without a true moral center (intended, but disturbing nonetheless). My father loves this film, and I believe I understand why with his generation's identification with Vietnam and all of the different emotions it evokes, but the film simply becomes too tedious after the last bootcamp scene.

  • by

    afterglow70

    Sat Jun 16 2001

    Better then Platoon.

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    milehijp

    Fri Jun 15 2001

    Another Kubrick masterpiece. R. Lee Ermey totally makes the film what it is by doing a fantastic performance as the drill instructor.

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    teaseress

    Fri Feb 02 2001

    I do adore Stanley Kubrick films and its a shame he's no longer with us. I found this film very disturbing in places and then a bit lighthearted. It does make you think about the atrocities of war and it shows what happened in Vietnam. Vietnam films are always the most realistic as it was the first media war, the general public of America actually saw what happened, and the veterans protested. It was an absolutely disgusting war and a lot of young innocent men paid for it with their lives.

  • by

    squeak

    Tue Jan 30 2001

    A brutally honest film about the Vietnam war, showing the tragedy and ugliness of the war. Also, touching on the emotional characters of the soldiers. Accurate to history and a dramatic account of the war.

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    faceless_avenger

    Mon Jan 15 2001

    This is a movie in two parts. The first, bootcamp, is ingenious. It is fresh, exciting, and painful to watch (because of the content). The second half, out at war, is just like every other war movie. It blends together with Platoon, Apocalyse Now, Saving Private Ryan, etc. Not bad, but not terribly memorable. Overall, a good movie though.

  • by

    ricoec87

    Thu Jan 11 2001

    This is one crazy movie. It gives the viewer an inside look at what boot camp for the Marines is like. There are moments where your mind will be blown away by what has just happened. This movie never ceases to amaze.

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    kal_el

    Thu Jan 11 2001

    This is the best movie about the Vietnam war to come out of Hollywood. Kubrick's meticulous analysis of military conditioning is a stark condemnation of the American ideologies that caused the Holocaust in Vietnam. Vincent D'Onofrio's chilling portrayal of a mentally disturbed soldier is reason enough to see this film.

  • by

    chiefboohoo

    Tue Nov 21 2000

    One of the most wonderful works of film to ever exist. Kubrick's direction is as it's absolute finest throughout the film. This film is extremely inspiring and provoking to several ends. It is a torrent two hours spent watching this movie that will torment and distrub your psyche. When it's over, you will leave with such a renewed passion that it will frustrate you not knowing what to do with yourself and your newfound spirit.

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    kindtothepeopl_e

    Mon Nov 20 2000

    This was an exciting, yet depressing view of Vietnam. I love this movie. One of Stanley Kubrick's best films.