Tagline: In Vietnam the wind doesn’t blow. It sucks.
Full Metal Jacket movie storyline. Stanley Kubrick’s thought-provoking Vietnam War film was partly based on Gustav Hasford’s 1979 book The Short Timers, and followed in the footsteps of Kubrick’s other anti-war films: Paths of Glory (1957) and Dr. Strangelove, Or: (1964). This was Kubrick’s first film after The Shining (1980), and it made an underappreciated appearance the year after Oliver Stone’s Platoon (1986) won Best Picture.
Kubrick’s film was unsuccessful at the box office — lost in the spate of mostly Vietnam-related war films that came out in Platoon’s wake, including Heartbreak Ridge (1986) (about the invasion of Grenada), Hamburger Hill (1987), The Hanoi Hilton (1987), Casualties of War (1989), 84 Charlie Mopic (1989), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989).
A two-part drama, the first part of the film takes place at Parris Island training-boot camp in S. Carolina (although the entire film was shot in England), where drill instructor Gunnery Sgt. Hartman (Ermey, a former, real life Marine sergeant) transforms young Marine cadets into killing machines with twisted sentiments, and verbal, psychological, and physical abuse and torment.
The first half climaxes with a chilling, dehumanizing bathroom scene between Hartman, Private Leonard Lawrence (dubbed “Gomer Pyle”) (D’Onofrio) – an overweight, misfit cadet driven insane by Hartman’s bullying, and Private J.T. Davis (dubbed “Joker”) (Modine), who is caught between them. “Joker,” a cynical Stars & Stripes military correspondent / journalist, is the bridge to the second half of the film on the nightmarish, violent front lines within Hue City – a cool, unemotional look at urban warfare on the eve of the 1968 Tet Offensive at the turning point of the war.
About the Story
In 1967, during the Vietnam War, a group of new U.S. Marine Corps recruits arrive at Parris Island, South Carolina, for basic training. After having their heads shaved, they meet Senior Drill Instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, who employs forceful methods to turn the recruits into hardened, combat-ready Marines. Among the recruits are privates “Joker”, “Cowboy”, and the overweight, bumbling Leonard Lawrence, who earns the nickname “Gomer Pyle” after incurring Hartman’s wrath.
Unresponsive to Hartman’s discipline, Pyle is eventually paired with Joker. Pyle improves with Joker’s help, but his progress halts when Hartman discovers a contraband jelly doughnut in Pyle’s foot locker. Believing the recruits have failed to improve Pyle, Hartman adopts a collective punishment policy: every mistake Pyle makes will earn punishment for the rest of the platoon, with Pyle being spared. In retaliation for Pyle’s failures, the platoon hazes him with a blanket party, restraining him in his bunk while beating him with bars of soap wrapped in towels. After this incident, Pyle reinvents himself as a model Marine. This impresses Hartman but worries Joker, who recognizes signs of mental breakdown in Pyle, such as him talking to his M14 rifle.
Following their graduation, the recruits receive their Military Occupational Specialty assignments; Joker is assigned to Basic Military Journalism, while most of the others (including Cowboy and Pyle) are assigned to Infantry. During the platoon’s final night on Parris Island, Joker discovers Pyle in the bathroom, loading his rifle with live ammunition. Joker attempts to calm Pyle, who executes drill commands and loudly recites the Rifleman’s Creed. The noise awakens the platoon, and Hartman, who confronts Pyle and orders him to surrender the rifle. Pyle shoots Hartman dead, and then kills himself.
In January 1968, Joker, now a corporal, is a war correspondent in South Vietnam for Stars and Stripes with Private First Class Rafterman, a combat photographer. Rafterman wants to go into combat, as Joker claims he has done. At the Marine base, Joker is mocked for his lack of the thousand-yard stare, indicating his lack of war experience. They are interrupted by the start of the Tet Offensive as the North Vietnamese Army attempts to overrun the base, but are rebuffed.
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Arliss Howard, Kevyn Major Howard, Ed O’Ross, John Terry, Kieron Jecchinis
Screenplay by: Stanley Kubrick
Production Design by: Anton Furst
Cinematography by: Douglas Milsome
Film Editing by: Martin Hunter
Costume Design by: Keith Denny
Set Decoration by: Barbara Drake
Art Direction by: Barbara Drake
Music by: Vivian Kubrick
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures (United States)
Release Date: June 26, 1987
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