Drill sergeant Ronald Lee Ermey was a REAL-LIFE Marine drill sergeant and Vietnam war veteran hired to train the actors to look like Marines. The director was impressed with his insults on the actors so gave him the part of Sergeant Hartman.
The director wanted it as real as possible to how it was during that time . Ermey is doing things he said he didn't do as an instructor . But did things in the film , he had seen really happen with other instructors during his time .Such as striking recruits .
The guy with the machinegun in the helicopter was who they originally hired to be the drill instructor and R Lee Ermey was just supposed to be a technical advisor but he improvised that whole opening scene to show what a drill instructor would act like and the director gave him the part.
People tend to find the second half "boring" because its not as outright darkly humorous as the first, but the fact is it's an uncompromising and rather realistic depiction of the conditions and experiences one can expect in any full scale war- a true masterpiece.
@@USCFlash They simply don't work without each other. Parts of this film cannot be looked at, watched, analysed separately. I am not sure what this "first part of the film" group is on about. Definitely not the target audience for this one.
It's not boring. It's just not nearly as compelling. The greatness of this movie lies with the first half. If the boot camp was abridged I am not sure people would speak so fondly of the movie.
Joker’s gun jammed. It had nothing to do with him not being serious. That thing Joker said to the reporter about getting his ‘1st kill’ was him being sardonic.
So many people don’t seem to get this… He is shown to be sarcastic and fond of grim/dark humor. His tone was highly suggestive that he was not serious.
@@jamesbarels469 It did jam, but it was due to using the incorrect ammunition type, and lack of in field maintenance. The gun powder burned dirty causing issues, and no cleaning kits were issued with the rifles. I believe an investigation showed this was done deliberately to cause failures in the field and get the rifle pulled from service. They fixed the issues and the problems stopped.
@@marine6680 Well, many people don't understand/like dark humor. People who have been heavily traumatized are able to pick up on and appreciate dark humor way easier than the average person. I was never in the military but I"ve had a hard life and seen and been part of many dark things, and I coped with it by joking around about it with my buddies. To most people I just seemed kinda careless and like I didn't take things seriously, but that"s just how it goes. In a way, I was/am glad that people like Ash who may not pick up on that kinda humor super easily found it weird or disturbing, cuz in a strange way, it makes me feel comforted to know that the vast majority of people aren't so desensitized and messed up that humor like that flows naturally and is received well.
Gomer Pyle was a character in Gomer Pyle USMC and he was a bit dim/slow at times. The reason the hair is being shaved completely is for hygiene and to strip the recruit of any sense of individuality. Every recruit looks, speaks and acts like every other recruit while in boot camp. The individuality of each recruit is stripped away completely. They have to work as a unit regardless of how they feel about the recruit next to them, uniformity is key. The DI (Drill Instructor) treats the recruits like shit, so the recruits learn to work together. The DI makes every recruit hate him as a unit so that they work together to keep the DI off everyone's back. When I went to Marine Corps boot camp in 2001, this kind of stuff still happened. The racist comments were toned down a bit, physical violence wasn't done in the open and recruits would never have access to live rounds in the barracks. During the Vietnam war the prostitutes would be taken to areas with American military personnel so that the girls could listen and report back military intelligence they were told or overheard when they were sleeping with the enemy. Many of the prostitutes were taken from villages against their will and some were quite young.
My dad was in Air Force boot camp in the 90s and even in the Air Force they'd take recruits out somewhere and beat the hell out of them for no reason lol.
That's funny you called that drill instructor is not an actor playing his role, but just him, because that's actually true! This actor, Ronald Lee Ermey, was drill instructor himself!
Not only that but he was originally just there to help the actual actor they'd cast. But he was so good at it Kubric just put him in the role on the spot
R. Lee Ermy was the name of the Gunnery Sgt Senior Drill Instructor. He was an awesome guy. He was a Marine and even after he was released from Active Duty still gave 180 days a year of volunteer service. He was the special guest at one of my Marine Corps Balls. He did that whole introduction from the movie as the beginning of his speech. The Marine Corps gave him the rank of Gunnery Sergeant after this movie and bc of his continued civilian service in an honorary way. I got to hang out with him after the Ball and smoke a cigarette with him. Great memory.
As a Marine, I can tell you that this is VERY accurate for boot camp. I spent many nights laughing about all the things I saw and heard in the day that I was NOT allowed to laugh at during the day. The really weird thing is, when you get on the plane to leave the base, you instantly begin to miss boot camp. Despite the hell that it was, you miss it.
This is spot on (although less extreme) what my police academy was like in ‘08 GA in August, burpees, boxing, getting pepper sprayed, tear gassed, and tased Would never do it again, but damn I miss it lol
"War doesn't prove who is right, only who is left." Another good Vietnam movie is Platoon, directed by Oliver Stone.. a Vietnam combat infantry veteran.
Two things I must mention: The scene where the gun jams and he has to use his pistol to shoot the sniper, a large number of marines were being killed in the war because of gun jams so that's a very real thing they had to deal with, the failure rate was so high many soldiers would pick up the enemy ak-47... Which leads into my second thing, the teddy bear scene was also a reality, many toys, guns stashes, and trinkets that could be seen as souvenirs were rigged with explosives knowing U.S. soldiers would try to pick them up
The gun doesn't actually jam. Joker had forgot to lock and load his gun. I read in another comment section that the sound of the misfire is the sound the gun makes when you pull the trigger but fail to chamber a round. So basically Joker does fuck up.
@@tadamoriyagi8265 sorry about that, at least the rest is correct, cool to learn something like that, not a gun nut myself so I would have been totally oblivious to that
I think this entire movie was great not just the first half, and yes Ash back in the 60s drill instructors could get away with beating the shit out of soldiers openly, the b.s excuse for Vietnam was fighting communism while Nixon was simultaneously handing Americas future over to the communist Chinese, great reaction video as always bro.🤟
July 28, 1965 - In a nationally televised speech, President Johnson announced his decision to send an additional 50,000 American troops to South Vietnam, increasing the number of personnel there by two-thirds and to bring the commitment to 125,000. Johnson also said that the monthly draft call would more than double, to more than 1,000 new young men per day (from 17,000 to 35,000) for enlistment and training in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was Nixon that brought an end to the Vietnam conflict.
@@dunhill1 Yeah I never said he started the war I said he sold us out to communist China and he didn't immediately end the war upon taking office he took his sweet time, both parties are owned by the MIC and have been for quite some time.
@@dunhill1 Close, but no cigar. “Once in office Nixon escalated the war into Laos and Cambodia, with the loss of an additional 22,000 American lives, before finally settling for a peace agreement in 1973 that was within grasp in 1968".
Actually, the training they got was pretty effective. It’s considered one of the reasons that PTSD is more prevalent after WWII. That any a societal shift that doesn’t celebrate the soldiers when they return from war. Training was lacking through the WWII time frame. It was found that many soldiers didn’t shoot at the enemy. They deliberately aimed away from them. They didn’t want to kill. This was known about back during the old musket days, and reaffirmed in studies done after WWII. So training techniques changed. Fighting and killing were drilled in a manner to be more instinctual. Little changes like shaping targets in human outlines, and bigger changes like the induced stress and quickly following orders. Infantry troops became much more effective at the individual level because of this. So more returned knowing they shot people. And dark humor is a military thing. It’s a way to alleviate some stress. You have to joke about the inappropriate and death, or you will focus to much on the danger. Also, Joker tried to shoot the sniper, his rifle just jammed. He dropped his rifle out of surprise and fear of getting shot at, but also because he was switching to his pistol.
The interview Joker gave when he was talking about getting his first kill… Joker was being condescending. He didn’t want to be there. Remember… the majority of American soldiers were drafted/forced to go to Vietnam. Joker was trying to show how ridiculous the war was in that interview. R. Lee Ermy was the drill instructor. And he was an actual drill Sargent in the USMC. That’s why he was so good at the roll.
What they did to Pyle was pretty brutal, but what you gotta understand Ash, is that in war, the consequences of Pyle incompetence would be the death of his soldier mates. So they go hard on him, but unfortunaly it backfires.
Joker was drafted into the war and didn't believe in it. He was there out of duty and to avoid whatever punishment is for draft dodgers. When he wrote "Born to Kill" on his helmet and said he wanted the first confirmed kill in his neighborhood he was being sarcastic. But you were right about the thousand yard stare thing.
I think you thoroughly misunderstood the character of Joker. He's just a human being, joking inappropriately ("confirmed kill" etc.) while trying to stand his ground and pretending to be somewhat tough in a dog-eat-dog world. A human with flaws but despite the misery around him still a human with a living heart in the end.
The helicopter door gunner that was shooting civilians was originally cast to be Sgt Hartman, the drill instructor. R. Lee Ermey was just an advisor. When Kubrick saw Ermey shit on the dialogue written for the drill instructor and the actor's delivery, he (Ermey) showed them how it was really done, and he was given the role of Hartman and the original actor got the role as the crazy door gunner. Lee Ermey was a real US Marines Corps drill instructor and a lot of his Hartman character is just an over exaggerated version of the real Marine instructor Lee Ermey.
Also Kubrick felt bad for shafting him out of the role which is why his name is the only one that pops up at the very beginning because the actor was really looking forward to the role
I couldn’t agree with you more. This movie is pure entertainment from the beginning when the recruits are getting their buzz haircuts to Johnny Wright Hello Vietnam song to the ending scene when the now fully battle hardened marines are walking through a burning city in the darkness singing the Mickey Mouse Club song. This is Stanley Kubrick’s finest work. You have to remember this movie was before Platoon come out. 👍👍
Great reaction and reading of this masterpiece, Ash. So glad you enjoyed the much lambasted 2nd half. Obviously hard to top the training scenes, but the war scenes are uncompromising, disturbing and thought provoking. Kubrick, according to his brother in law, is said to have considered this film his greatest achievement as a film maker. Keep them Symbolisms coming...
R.L. Ermy himself was asked if USMC Recruit Training was really as physically abusive as depicted in the move. He essentially said that there wasn't a need to have to lay hands on someone. They had other more affective ways to get someone in line. However, those who refused to conform to good order and discipline simply wouldn't make it through training and would be discharged. The military doesn't need problem children in recruit training. Conform or go back to mommy. If you have to be beaten to conform, you don't belong in the military where taking initiative is encouraged, and even the abused recruit will move further into their career and eventually be in charge of other junior enlisted men. Anyone that says that their boot camp experience was like that or worse is flat out lying, grossly exaggerating, telling someone elses lie, or they experienced a unique case of abuse that was an unusual anomaly. I was in the military for 20 years. There are strict procedures for dealing with wilful noncompliance or chronic incompetence that leads to discharge or denial of reenlistment. The military, ESPECIALLY elite units, don't play games with people who can't/won't maintain discipline/safety/security or mission success.
Which is the problem with Hartman. Lawrence was clearly drafted, and just as clearly mentally problematic. He should have been evaluated and kicked out long before things got to the endpoint.
(nods) Yep, those people are filthy f***ing liars -- and they know it. They're trying to trick ignorant civilians. That's kind of their thing. -- a former US Army parachute infantry light weapons sergeant (11B2P)
Ash, I want to recommend you "Oldboy", the best Korean film ever. Quentin Tarantino recommended it himself, that's how I knew about it first time. The plot is wild, but in a very good way, and acting is phenomenal. And for sure that's a great film to do a reaction.
I watched the version played by Josh Brolin and had no idea it was a remake! He did a great job but once I watched the original, I was blown away even more. What an absolute crazy story to see unfold 😳
Important to note: there are different jobs in the marine corps. Joker was a military journalist, not infantry. Infantry dedicated their entire time towards mastering war and tactics. After boot camp, which you saw with Ermey, all those guys would’ve gone on to train for their jobs. So despite Joker being expected to fight at a high level, he didn’t spend nearly as much time as the other guys preparing for it.
I was in the USMC from 1969-1972. This is about as close to real life as one can get. Unless one has been to war, one cannot judge what others do. I was in-country from 1971-1972. and was sent home for an AK-47 round to the thigh.. The biggest thing you have to understand is that nobody wanted to be there. We were there because that's where our politicians and generals wanted us to be. In the 8 months that I was there, I was credited with seventeen confirmed kills. Even now, I see each and every one of the faces in my nightmares. I know your channel is for entertainment, but before any criticisms can be assigned, fact checks should be done. Look at the whole picture, friend.
The Vietnam War was pretty funny ked up. You would know as much as anyone. I wasn't alive at that time but from everything I've learned it wasn't right that you guys had to go through that. Thank you for your service and I hope you're doing ok man.
If you're looking for more genuinely fantastic war movies, 'Come and See' from Russian director Elem Klimov, and 'Platoon' by Oliver Stone are absolute must-see titles.
Wow, that was a ride on a first watch! I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to yell my agreement or disagreement with your analysis of one scene and then loudly reverse my position in the next scene when you adapt to new details... and then reverse my position again when you adapt to new details… I’d call this one for Kubrick. Loved the ride-along, bruv.
Mate I was proper confused and conflicted and weirded out yet enjoying the shit out of the movie..so watching that commentary I’m all over the place..but appreciate the love ❤️
Joker is one of the few people that are questioning the war, like you are as you watch the movie. Most other characters just accept it and go along. That is why he has "Born to Kill" on his helmet but a peace sign on his vest. He sees the insanity of it all. He sees the ridiculousness of the idea that america is there to help them and the way they do that is by killing them and destroying their country. It is the same for every war that the US has been in since Korea.
I had the "This is my rifle, this is my gun" as my ringtone and misplaced my phone at work. Called it a couple times to try to find it. Turns out I left it in the bathroom, someone turned it in and it was sitting on a really hot dispatch ladies desk. Hard to not chuckle to myself when I picked it up.
It's not explicitly mentioned but the entire Pvt. Pyle plot arc is a general reference to an unofficial 'program' run during the Vietnam war sometimes referred to as "McNamara's Morons"- an attempt to enlist and train "low intelligence" individuals for combat that had a number of extremely easy to predict issues in execution. The fact that only two people died as a result of the incident in the film may actually be a better alternative than some of the outcomes had in real life, entire platoons of troops may have been put out of action because of things like forcing people who have no right or reason to be in the military to serve- even small mistakes in the field can easily cost dozens of lives (as any reasonable person might assume!) It didn't stop with enlisted grunts either- many officers in the war were basically scooped up straight out of college and the 'upper class' and made into 2nd Lieutenants and put in charge of infantry companies and shoved into the thick of it. You've probably heard the term "Frag" or "fragging" before right? Well, the origin of that term is from a practice that was shockingly commonplace during Vietnam where leadership who were considered incompetent or otherwise dangerous in some way to their own troops would have a frag grenade thrown into their tent at some point during the night- to solve the 'problem' of poor leadership. Vietnam was the real fucking deal.
Oh so….WWI or WWII wasn’t the real f•cking deal then? Christ get over yourself …..Vietnam wasn’t the most violent war….. It wasn’t the most of anything….o sorry it was the BIGGEST failure, the most POINTLESS and. Well the war where we found out just how ROTTEN, CORRUPT and DISGUSTING plenty of supposed stellar servicemen were shown to be….well a bit LESS THEN. So yea….I wouldn’t brag about that war like it’s some grand historical honor to have been in it. I mean…..are you 1 of those delusional men who worship the military cuz you couldn’t get in it? 🙄🤮
This one and russian "Come and See" are the best war movies of all time in my opinion. War is not an adventrure, its blood&guts. If everyone on Earth would watch both of them, may be we would have no more wars.
Come and See is an insane feat of cinema. Still my favorite child performance of all time and not once did I feel like I was watching a film. It just felt like watching real life.
The reason the Drill instructor is so good is because he IS a retired Drill instructor. He was originally hired as a consultant but was "Too Good" not to put in the movie. There are documentaries on youtube about him (I can't remember his real name), but yeah, he was a real drill instructor in real life.
I mean, as fucked as our involvement in the Vietnam War was (and there and the Korean War were the first ones where a LOT of Hollywood really portrayed a much more critical view of wars we were involved in, but that also largely followed much of the American public's view of the war). But at the same time, WW2 was more complex than simply knowing "They're Nazis, they're evil." Yeah, there were some indications of stuff like the Holocaust going on, but the full extent of stuff like the concentration and death camps were largely not discovered until near the end of the war. In terms of widespread political will, Americans were kinda divided on getting involved until Pearl Harbor, which quelched the collective sentiment of isolationists and noninterventionists who had been winning out until then.
I actually read a book about the impact of aircraft in WWII, specifically in the Pacific. But there was just a bunch of information both the US and Japan's history between themselves and each other. That was the thing that fully convinced me just how evil war was. And especially that there's no good guys ever involved. The US dropped incendiaries on wooden towns, fired two nukes and rattled people's heads with enough bombing to last a lifetime while the Japanese practiced cannabalism, public execution, mass suicide and a ton of rape.
@@owenmaleski2203 There may not be any good guys, but do not pretend that the Japanese and the Americans were equally bad. They weren't. Not even close to it.
I’m a marine corp veteran.. I joined in 1991.. This movie still has the most accurate depiction of a marine corp drill instructor to this date. I love and hate this fact. Great reaction Ash! Been subscribed to your channel for nearly a year now.. keep rockin it dude! Hi from San Diego California… we have the west coast boot camp here at MCRD. In San Diego… the movie was filmed to be Parris Island . The only other boot camp for marines!
Back in the day, advertising slogans for products(toys) aimed at children, they would often say, "Be the first kid on your block to get yours!"... Joker was being sarcastic. I once heard someone say they thought that "Animal Mother" was what Pyle would have turned into if he hadnt died. I thought that was interesting.
Hartman was actually right in thinking Joker would be a good fit for Pyle cause he was figuring that Joker would add enough levity to Pyles training between the drill instructing that it would help him adjust better. Unfortunately Pyle was someone that couldn’t take the punishment even with the levity
I don’t mean any disrespect, but I can tell you were never in the military. Private Joker was actually an ideal soldier, whereas Pyle was a psycho case. I was in the Army for ten years. I went to basic training in 1985. By then, they weren’t allowed to beat trainees anymore. The only exception was the live fire ranges. One of our trainees were killed when he accidentally blew his skull off by putting his M-16 into the foxhole. That was a huge no-go. It went off. And another guy who threw his live grenade straight up in the air. The drill sergeant body slammed him behind the barrier and saved his life. It’s definitely no joke. We even had a nut job who opened fire on an Apache helicopter as it flew overhead during training. I went to Desert Storm but it was not anywhere near as bad as Vietnam. That was my dad’s war. He did three tours there. (Edit). I do respect your ability to realize how screwed up the war was and the fact that this movie was much more realistic than most other war movies. But again, Joker was not a screw up who took nothing seriously, he just knew how to not get too wound up, because that makes you freeze at the moment of truth. He was able to keep it light and that’s why he survived. War is not a joke but if you get wound up too tight, you will not make it. Joker had the right mentality.
Okay, to give you the context you need for this, we didn't straight up invade Vietnam. You need to look at this in the context of the Cold War as a whole. Much like the Korean War, America's involvement in Vietnam was a result of the Communists in Russia and China inciting an ideological revolution in the country. Vietnam used to be a French colony, and this essentially came in the form of the newly armed natives driving the French out, and since America was an ally of France, as well as the ideological conflict between east and west that composee the entire Cold War, hence why they decided to get involved. Then you've got all these kids being drafted into the army against their will, as well as those being convinced to enlist because they're being promised they're going to come back as heroes of their country just like their fathers in WWII and Korea to an extent, and then watching their friends and brothers getting killed, while their own commanders have no idea who their allies and enemies are, and of course it makes them hardened, resentful tiwards the locals, and yes, mentally and emotionally broken; all because they were made pawns in just one war that was a result of the world's biggest political dick measuring contest that was the Cold War. This whole scenario was far more complicated than the black-and-white summation of America just straight-up invading an innocent country.
I think technically it wasn’t even a “war” as no official declaration was made. The US was asked to aid as a policing and advisory force for the non-communist faction. Because of that, the primary goal was to hold territory, not gain and push back the enemy. They did that during Korea, and got so close to China that they jumped in as well. So they wanted to avoid that happening again. Such a conflict is not going to be pretty. It is going to lead to the quagmire that it became.
Communism wants to subgate the world, would have made more puppet govs in southeast Asia for the soviet union. US fighting there help with the Chinese soviet slipt, helping to end the cold war. Most of the vietnamese didn't like Communism for how brutal it was towards its own citizens. For the US to effectively fight Vietnam War, we would had to invade the surrounding countries to stop the supply routes. Russians, Chinese, and Cubans were there fighting as well on communist side.
Yes, Vietnam was basically the "line drawn in the sand" to occupy and stall out the spread of communism in the region. Despite all the obvious problematic issues, the "conflict" was a success in that none of the US allied nations had to deal with any real insurgency or destabilization from the Soviet influence on their home soil.
I hate to be that guy, but these are all the things that history books tell you. And while much of it may be true, there's been ulterior motives for going to war or an invasion on a grand scale since pre WW2. Military industrial complex and all that jazz. It's almost always tied to the interests of those in power...An example in this context, do you know how much heroin came into the US from Vietnam and the surrounding countries post conflict? Was that a coincidence? 🤔
I was active duty USMC from 2003-2007, while its true (mostly) that drill instructors cant/dont physically strike recruits, during Vietnam things were much more.... unpredictable. That said, even these days DI's have all sorts of creative ways to make up the difference. I remember one time one of my DI's was walking around and 'adjusting' peoples hand position during 'attention', which in his case was done by basically punching your hands if they were in the wrong position. That same DI used to randomly go around during things like rifle cleaning time and grab 6-10 recruits at a time and bring them outside to "the pit" and make us do various pit-appropriate activities like high-knees, getting covered in sand and sand fleas, and other unpleasant things. Doing something 'wrong' was not a prerequisite of getting pitted randomly.
They did coming up to Vietnam. Including Ermey, who himself said they were.given leeway because they had to train so many soldiers on short notice. Much of this was taken directly from his own actions.
The PIT was random punishment for the goofiest random stuff but it was great conditioning for the long haul...as much as I hated the PIT and we called it being smoked at Ft. Bliss TX. This was in 1986 It really did get me in the best shape of my life
It's always fascinating to see what people in other nations with different backgrounds think about US history. The Vietnam War is one of the most brutal and complicated wars of the 20th century. It was not simply the US invading Vietnam. The war as most people know it was a North Vietnam backed by the Soviets, Chinese, North Koreans, and other communists fighting a guerilla war against South Vietnam which was backed by the US, Australia, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand. Many Americans know at least one person who served in that war (of the top of my head I can name 5, 4 Americans and 1 who fought for South Vietnam), all of them were or are very quiet about the subject. The two that spoke openly about it both felt betrayed not just by our government but by our country as a whole. One talked about how when he and other veterans from the war wanted to be in a Independence Day parade they were forced to march at the back and were banned from carrying any banners or flags while everyone else could bring what ever they wanted. He was never given a "welcome home" until he a group of soldiers who came back from the First Gulf War walked at the back of the parade with them out of protest against how the Vietnam veterans were treated. The second was a customer at my work who had a mental breakdown seeing the shit show that occurred at Kabul airport back in 2021 when NATO pulled out completely. He was in the US Navy during the final hours of the war in 1975 when hundreds of thousands of civilians tried scrambling out to the sea to avoid the North Vietnamese army, most didn't make it. There is a documentary I highly recommend called "The Vietnam War" by Ken Burns, it is the best piece of media about the war in Vietnam and covers just about every aspect. Part of me would like to see you learn more about the war as the series goes on and how it shapes your view on the subject. However, to say it is bleak and at times beyond sad would be an understatement so doing a reaction could be in poor taste. What ever your choice is I hope you at least check it out in private.
So here’s a few things that may help put in context a few things for you: 1. The Drill Instructor at the start is played by R. Lee Ermey who was a real life DI for several years and was brought on as a technical advisor for this movie. However when Kubrick saw how much of a real life performance he could give to the character he have Ermey the role and gave him full right to improvise the dialogue - as yes this would the type of stuff you’d actually hear. 2. The removing of the hair ain’t done to represent nam, but to represent there loss of individuality as it is in real life. The military don’t want individuals, they want people who can work together and think together and know what each person is thinking at the same time. They don’t want a John Rambo running off and getting killed, they want someone who can follow the orders they are given and fight and work with their brothers as needed. 3. The beatings and harsh punishment would be quite common to this era of the marines. A lot of them weren’t always volunteers but draftees not wishing to fight but conscripted. As such they required to break these people down harder so they’d be less likely to go in with a worse mindset and get themselves or others killed. 4. The reason Joker is given pile ain’t because he’s bad. It’s cause Joker was the best out of his unit, meaning the DI wanted him teaching the worst to raise him up. Because that failed, he though he could get pile by having his unit force him to fix himself by making him feel bad for getting them in shit - and in turn getting the unit to force pile to fix himself too. 5. The whole scene of “they don’t appreciate us fighting for them” isn’t actually completely off. South Vietnam’s government that was sponsored by the US side of the Cold War was highly corrupt and incompetent. It’s soldiers the ARVN were very poorly lead, trained and had fuck all morale… and were quite corrupted and good at killing people they believed were VC… this usually led to lots of South Vietnamese people disliking there government and the US troops coming to protect it - note the US troops didn’t know this type of political background shit outside of seeing it first hand or seeing the ARVN in “action”. As such to them it came off as them fighting for a government these people wanted (which many still did) but were completely happy in treating those who came to do it poorly (which they also did). 6. Shrapnel my dude. For all games and movie make it that all you have to do to avoid it is move like 3 inches to the side and you’ll be fine.. yeah no. It can be absolutely random in where it goes and how it gets you. The fact the Lt was at the front of the pack was… strange as it would usually be a lower enlisted man appointed as a point man (and no this ain’t because the lower enlisted were more expandable, it’s if someone low down the ranks is injured you still have a full on intact command structure to rely on and help coordinate everyone - plus have the higher intel and coordination to call in support alongside his NCO’s) 7. Something you’ll find quite interesting in that interview scene is the different response between the front grunts and the POG’s who stay on base. Joker and Raptor both have the usual propaganda like speak of the war while the Tex’s squad has been at the front of the war so have highly differing views of everything. They’ve seen the shit and felt it, they don’t care for who wins just getting home. 8. Yes traps like that were common. It was designed to hurt morale as well as taking out important individuals. Tho it would be uncommon at this time for troops to lift that type of stuff up (especially an experienced one) without having someone check it over first. Tho being human stuff like that does happen. 9. The scene where the medic and animal mother run out is kind of why the military don’t want soldier acting independently. As it leads to worse situations when others can live. Getting pulled into a literal snipers kill ground without an idea on how to take em out ain’t going to help no one especially when there’s no plan initially. While it’s horrid to say, sometimes casualties are completely acceptable under circumstances and you just have to write some people off as it’s less likely to end with several others killed and wounded in the same situation than one guy. 10. The scene inside the building very much sums up Jokers arc. He hoots and hollers about how he’s a killer throughout the movie and while he does put the finishing shot in, before that he outright hesitated and almost got himself killed - remember heartman taking about needing the heart of a killer to live - as such it’s the transformation in his story. From a person who wants to be a “hero” like in the movies and comics, to someone who actually now sees the truth in war. 11. The book is also a good read tho… the authors anti-war sentiments can come through quite heavy handed at times and some scene because of it are quite jarring. I.e. in the book after the final scene, Raptorman is completely obsessed with talking about his first kill… that he gets run over by a tank. Yes they struggle to see and you can get quite distracted but even that irl is a heavy thing to have to “uh huh” at.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot episode was aired as the season finale of the fourth season of its parent series on May 18, 1964. The show ran for a total of 150 half-hour episodes spanning over five seasons, in black-and-white for the first season, and then in color for the remaining four seasons. In 2006, CBS Home Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD. The final season was released in November 2008.
R. Lee Ermey made up his own material, and it was so good that the control freak director let him do so. Ermey made a recording of his patter, after which it was transcribed, and he and Kubrik got the best ones for his performance.
I went to Afghanistan in my time 🤷🏾♂️ it’s all the same, Marine Bootcamp is now longer than this (also I swear it was worse than that) never got choked but got hit and kicked by “accident” a few times.
There is a reason why drill instructor Hartman looks natural in that role, probably because that is R. Lee Ermey, who was an actual drill instructor for the marines. He came in as an advisor and Stanley Kubrick thought he was the perfect fit for the role and it came to fruition. He also did many other movies after this while still being in the marines. He was in the movie Se7en you guys watched as the police chief. He was also amazing in Saving silverman...
Back in the 60's it was still permitted to "physically" train recruits. Another great boot camp movie is Heartbreak Ridge with Clint Eastwood. For a great comedy boot camp movie watch Biloxi Blues.
You need more Stanley Kubrick in your life. Paths of Glory, Barry Lyndon, hell, pick any movie from the list and it’ll be one of the best movies you’ve ever seen. Just watch them all.
11:00 That actor was a drill Sargent in the military and was helping the actors, and Kubrick decided to cast him for this part. He improvised or helped with his dialogue
The whole movie is great, but the first half and second half are very different in tone and the message they convey. They are meant to be like two halves of the same coin. The first half is the setup showing the indoctrination and training… The second is the grim reality of war… And how ultimately both dehumanize those involved.
9:59 - I think the point of this scene is showing that Pyle can learn under the right guidance but what Hartman is giving him is not the right guidance. You think Joker is not right because he's not hard but the movie literally shows you the contrary (to an extent). 11:01 - If you know who Bob Ross is, just imagine that he was a drill Sargeant too. I can't imagine him shouting like Hartman. 13:42 - Notice how Joker is one of the few who hit him repeatedly instead of once. 14:44 - It's more showing part of the brainwashing: they praise terrorists because they were Marines while downplaying their terrorist acts. 24:08 - That's because it's not an American movie.
Your reaction to this masterpiece makes me happy , angry and sad all at once. Only Stanley Kubrik can potray idiocy in this fantastic way . I remember very well the chaotic Vietnam war and the heavy wild protest here in Sweden. Absolutely impossible to understand how people think the second part of the film is boring ? Have seen the film a number of times for various reasons . Partly to show my boys one of the most senseless wars in modern times and to experience Kubrik's directorial genius , and already certainly Stanley Kubrik's greatest masterpiece : Year 2001 A Space Odyssey from 1967 , and The Shining 1980. Before the war broke out , it was said a week to ten days would be enough to defeat the Vietnam ! It took almost eleven years to lose the war and still bears the sacars of the loss. One is drawn into your clear reaction to hell on earth, the war ! the battle where everyone is a loser. Thanks....
As a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, I can tell you that Boot Camp is EXACTLY like this, at least it was in 1982 when I received my training at Parris Island in 3rd Battalion, H Company.
I thought the opening 'symbolism' of the cutting off of the hair was more like an initiation... a stripping back of your personal identity, your previous life to enter a new life where you were considered the same as everyone else, taking you back to a primal state in such a cold environment to make or break war heroes. You had to earn your identity back or craft a new one. Just my take.
My grandfather went through MC bootcamp in 1942, They were hardcore and put people in the infirmary, He understood that screwing up in the field could get his buddies killed, Many died at Guadalcanal, when I did it it wasn't close to that hardcore but still harsh (1989)
Lmao love this movie! I'll never forget watching this the day before I went to Parris Island for recruit training! Shitty at the time but I look back at those memories fondly now!
Top reaction mate.... A classic and much studied movie from my youth... Some of your words/reactions were so honest & fresh... Ash - You brought some new & honest perspectives to my appreciation of this classic... .. . Long-time watcher of your reactions but have never subbed (I rarely sub). But for months now, I have been looking forward to your productions. Classic (CLASSIC) movies with you & your better half. Brilliant work guys. Subbed & Belled... .. .
Also another very good Matthew Modine movie that you and Hannah would really enjoy is Vision Quest. It's a story about a wrestler challenging himself to greater things, a b line love story, musical appearances by Madonna before she blew up in fame. All around a fun film.
When my father went to Vietnam, he told me that the children would bring clay pots or figures to the US military tents and because it rained almost everyday, the rain would wash the clay away to reveal a grenade without the pin in so it would detonate in their tents. For him it was a very tough time as a Marine.
When Joker is being interviewed and says "I want to be the first kid on my block to get a confirmed kill" he isn't being serious. His coping mechanism is sarcasm and humor and he's using satire to expose and criticize the stupidity of the war. He's actually very intelligent but it comes across like he's being a dick. He can just never not see the insanity of it all. The pointlessness of it all...and I think realizing that and essentially laughing instead of crying to get through the horror is all he can do. I also think the drill Sargent chose Joker to take Pvt. Pyle under his wing because guys like Joker were typically singled out to lead due to their independent thought. The military wants non-thinkers who'll run into gunfire without a thought. 18-25 is ideal recruitment for foot soldiers and grunts because they're less likely to question orders. Whereas guys like Joker who display critical thinking are promoted. As annoying as Joker was the sarge ultimately respected him and left him alone. Their interactions were almost banter compared to Pyle who basically was seen as a non-critical thinker who could broken down and reprogrammed. Hard to do with smarter, more aware soldiers. So they tend to move up and lead. The scene with peace symbol pin I find very interesting. When Joker gets confronted about it it's viewed as inappropriate. Like it has no place being on a soldier's uniform and I think some audience members might agree but in reality there is no better time or place to promote peace than in war. Just funny that it was seen as a negative when ultimately that's what could stop all wars. Guess the point is many soldiers and governments don't even want it. What's a soldier who doesn't kill? What's a government that doesn't exploit people to maintain itself? Anyway. Symbolisms!
Imagine being 17, getting a letter in the mail, then 2 weeks later being dropped into a foreign jungle full of insane animals etc, plus they’re trying to constantly kill you….Vietnam Vets deserve our utmost respect and honor…can’t even imagine
Basic Training was 8 weeks long plus your A,I.T (Advanced Individual Training. ) for infantry it was 8 weeks. After 2 weeks of Basic Training You haven't even fired a weapon yet. There is no way two be dropped into Viet Nam only after 2 weeks. I do wholeheartedly agree with the statement about the respect and honor part. The shameful part is it took decades, not as soon as they came back to acknowledge respect.
Love the reaction Ash! 🧡✌ crazy stat: THE PHRASE "FULL METAL JACKET" APPEARS NOWHERE IN THE BOOK UPON WHICH THE MOVIE IS BASED. While Kubrick was enthralled with Vietnam veteran Hasford’s book "The Short-Timers", he was concerned about using the book's title as the movie title. .Kubrick discovered the phrase “full metal jacket,” which describes the casing of a bullet, in a gun catalog. 👀👀🤣🤣😎👍 Kubrick gave his audience so much more than what is presented at face value👀🔥
I love all the things you have said here, man. That's what is this film is about. I watched this film for the first time when I was around 10 or smth. I couldn't enjoy almost any war movie after that. That's why I missed "Fury" and some other reactions at your channel. I'm not saying other war movies are bad, but I just can't watch some romantic war adventures about heroes and all that stuff after "Full Metal Jacket".
Ash @4:25 "Gomer Pyle" was an American TV sitcom in the 1970s. Gomer was an extremely dumb (although very nice guy) private in the US Army. He was also very goofy and inept. So, that's the meaning of the Drill Instructor nicknaming that guy "Gomer Pyle." He was essentially saying he was an incompetent idiot. @10:50 The "actor" playing the Drill Instructor, R. Lee Ermy, was an active duty Marine in real life for over ten years, reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant. He played many similar rolls to this after this film as well as few where he broke out of the type-casted roll of a DI. You may not recall he was the supervisor of the two Detectives in "Seven." @26:31 Joker is not being serious here. When he states he "wanted to meet people from an ancient culture and kill them" and that he "wanted to be the first kid on his block with a confirmed kill," he's being sarcastic about how stupid and pointless the war he's been drafted into is. He's a military reporter speaking to a cameraman from his own unit. Obviously he knows that footage is never going to see the light of day. Same reason he has "born to kill" on his helmet and wears a peace button, just a statement on the pointlessness of that whole war.
The Vietnam war started because the French company Michelin needed rubber to feed Europe's tire market in the early 1900's when masses of cars and trucks came on the scene. The French colony of Indo-China forced huge rubber tree plantation on the locals. They were mistreated and paid slave wages to produce rubber. Eventually this created the Viet Minh (communist rebels). They fought the French until WWII when the Japanese took over European colonies in Asia. The Viet Minh started fighting the Japanese with weapons supplied by the allies. When the war was over France tried to pick up were they left off before the war. But now the Vietnamese had training and heavy weapons to put up a real fight against the French. By the late 1950's the French were losing their colony to communist forces. The US was worried about all of Asia turning communist so they started fighting to stem the tide.
@@emilianosintarias7337 Yes, because everyone in China is so independent. Pol Pot made Cambodia "independent" and it only cost a million or so lives. The USSR was so independent they put up an Iron Curtain to keep it in. Remember when the USSR fell, remember all the Soviet satellite states that remained communist to retain their Independence? Yeah, me either. Those countries had every opportunity to do the failed experiment "right". But, not a one stepped up to "do it right". (I wonder why?). Communists just trade one cruel master for another. The difference is there isn't even an illusion of free thought or action. Communism = I don't own anything and I want to share it with you. Capitalism = I got mine you better get yours.
@@emilianosintarias7337 Please debunk away. Make sure to explain why there are only 5 communist countries today. Also name all countries in the USSR that remained communist after the USSR fell.
@@rburns9730 There actually was a referendum in the USSR at that time, and the majority actually voted to stay in and keep the USSR (of which i don't support). Over 80%. The majority regret the end of the USSR which unicef says killed 10 million people, you may remember Yeltsin, taking orders from Clinton fired on the Russian parliament. That killed around 3000 people. And the communist party is the 2nd most popular in russia today. The collapse of the USSR did not work out, and even before this war, the Ukraine had the GDP of an african country. Khmer rouge were CIA backed and China (who mainly supported other countries based on geopolitics only) backed too, but don't have any coherent ideology, they were a cult who came in after the US murdered hundred of thousands of cambodian civilians. The vietnamese communists took them out.
He called Joker because of that single incident on the first day. He gave everyone a nickname. It didn’t mean that he wasn’t serious about being there. He learned well and was a good teacher. Hartmann also had him teach to give him experience as a leader. I think Hartman respected him. The US didn’t invade Vietnam. They sent money troops and advisors to help the South Vietnamese govt.
@@SSD_Penumbra north Vietnam invaded south Vietnam. You can make an argument that the US instigated the conflict between the two, but not that we invaded. We didn't have to fight to get into their borders, we were fighting for the south Vietnamese government.
@@SSD_Penumbra I’m not gonna argue semantics. By your logic when we sent troops to France in WW1 we were invading France Russia INVADED Ukraine, Germany INVADED Poland and France. The intent was to conquer and annex these countries. We went to Vietnam to shore up and strengthen the South Vietnamese against the invasion of the North.
@@dan2007kohn Massing troops to "liberate" a country that doesn't want to be liberated is an invasion. The South Vietnamese wanted to take over the North and the US agreed to help them because "communism bad"
My dad was a drill sergeant in the Marines during the Vietnam war. You can imagine what growing up was like for my brothers and I. My dad told me about his boot camp experience. He said he was meticulous about not fucking up. On the last day, his drill instructor took him aside and said, “I haven’t hit you yet, have I?” “Sir, no, sir!” And then he got punched in the head.
Hey ASH, I forgot to mention earlier: the combat scenes were filmed in the outskirts of LONDON, England (!)... in an abandoned business park. The palm trees were brought from SPAIN and planted around the destroyed English warehouses. 😂
@@martinmoolman5754 I think Arnolds is the best but id put “Prey” right after it, which is extremely impressive because “Predator” is arguably the greatest sci-fi movie of all time.
I went to Marine Corps Recruit Training at San Diego, California in Oct 2011- Jan 2012 and can say that while not as intense as this film, my Drill Instructors still found ways to properly train us to be Marines. R. Lee Ermey actually served in the Marines as a Drill Instructor during Vietnam and played a different Drill Instructor in the 70's film The Boys of Company C. The purpose of Recruit/Basic Training is to instill discipline, uniformity and unit readiness to be able to survive and succeed in any stressful situation
Ash, I think you misunderstood the both Drill Sergeant HArtman and Joker. The drill sergeant was not there to show them tactics that for their in field comanding officers. Hartman was there to get the Marines in the right mindstate of follow the instructions and do things right. So when you get in the field and you are given orders you will follow them to achieve the objective. Hartman is also there to weed out any phony tough pissants who think they are ready for combat. That's why he was so hard on Lawerence. As for Joker, he was a good solider, followed in strustion and did things well, which is why Hartman promoted him to squad leader. Joker was showing the fight that we all have to conform to when inside of such a rigid system as the military. He's not weak or a bad solider, he's just trying to express his own individuality. Which is why he wore a peace symbol yet ahd Born to Kill on his Helmet.
At the end of the movie when Joker's gun jammed he was not being a weak solider he was having normal human reaction when faced with death and the thing that fails you fails. We would all freak out for moment but then he grabbed his pistol. However the girl started shooting at him so he was caught defenseless. You built up preconcieved notions about Joker thoughtout the movie and applied them to situations without giving himthe benifit of hiis humnanity and indivuality.
He was also in the texas chainsaw massacre remake. I only looked up that he was sarge in toy story, was shocked when I looked it up. He is absolutely terrifying in that film
When a bomb blows up it doesn't just hurt and kill people where it Explodes, Shrapnel from them goes flying everywhere so you don't have to be near the Bomb to get hit
they went to war in Vietnam to prevent the north from expanding into the south. think of it it like north and south Korea except Vietnam came out on top and as soon as they did they threw everyone who didn't agree with them into camps and tortured them into being obedient.
This film was entirely shot in England. Kubrick was American but settled in over there, did not like to fly, so he shot all of his later films over there. The palm trees, were just flown in and planted, Crazy Genius director.
You are overreacting like a silly nancy! There were several factors going on that made bootcamp harsh. 1. We had the draft (do you really think most of those kids woke up one day and said "Yeah, I think I will go to Vietnam, sounds fun"? 2. The training pipeline was shorted from 12wks to 8wks because they needed bodies in Vietnam. That put a major strain on Drill Instructors who felt responsible for getting recruits ready to be Marines and send them off to the battlefields of Vietnam. The Marine Corp. remained pretty harsh up until the late 80's and maybe early 90's I am guessing in terms of physical chastisement.
Totally agree. Anyone who thinks the 2nd half of the film is bad just didn't get the symbolisms. The hard cut between the first and second half was very intentional also. The night Pyle died, was Joker's last night in training. He shipped out to Vietnam the next day.
Not sure if this was posted already but i think the Sergeant in a way likes Joker’s guts coz in a way he was honest with himself and even when he slapped him, Joker did not change his answer. I think that’s how he got that respect from the Sgt. KR, Some Bromley dude
Just think Ash.. somewhere on the other side of Vietnam, Forrest sitting with his back against Bubbas so they don't have to lay with their heads in the mud.
The drill sergeants real name is R. Lee Ermy. A real life Marine corps gunnery sergeant who has passed away in the last few years but he was a real a real hard ass Marine but a real kind human being who had a comedic side. He spent a lot of time building homes for wounded veterans. Much respect to him and may he rest in peace.
Drill sergeant Ronald Lee Ermey was a REAL-LIFE Marine drill sergeant and Vietnam war veteran hired to train the actors to look like Marines. The director was impressed with his insults on the actors so gave him the part of Sergeant Hartman.
Drill Instructor and Gunnery Sergeant
The director wanted it as real as possible to how it was during that time . Ermey is doing things he said he didn't do as an instructor . But did things in the film , he had seen really happen with other instructors during his time .Such as striking recruits .
The guy with the machinegun in the helicopter was who they originally hired to be the drill instructor and R Lee Ermey was just supposed to be a technical advisor but he improvised that whole opening scene to show what a drill instructor would act like and the director gave him the part.
One of the only people Kubric let add lib for pretty much every scene he was in.
I'm watching, thinking "whose gonna tell him"
People tend to find the second half "boring" because its not as outright darkly humorous as the first, but the fact is it's an uncompromising and rather realistic depiction of the conditions and experiences one can expect in any full scale war- a true masterpiece.
100%
Yeah I don’t see why people don’t like the second half
@@USCFlash They simply don't work without each other. Parts of this film cannot be looked at, watched, analysed separately. I am not sure what this "first part of the film" group is on about. Definitely not the target audience for this one.
I think people don't like the second half because they made Pyle a sympathetic character and they don't like Joker as much.
It's not boring. It's just not nearly as compelling. The greatness of this movie lies with the first half. If the boot camp was abridged I am not sure people would speak so fondly of the movie.
Joker’s gun jammed. It had nothing to do with him not being serious.
That thing Joker said to the reporter about getting his ‘1st kill’ was him being sardonic.
So many people don’t seem to get this… He is shown to be sarcastic and fond of grim/dark humor. His tone was highly suggestive that he was not serious.
Ash gets Joker wrong the entire movie. It’s sad because his character is very interesting and elevates the movie.
The M-16 was notorious for jamming under the conditions of the Vietnam War. At least that is my understanding compared to other rifles.
@@jamesbarels469 It did jam, but it was due to using the incorrect ammunition type, and lack of in field maintenance.
The gun powder burned dirty causing issues, and no cleaning kits were issued with the rifles.
I believe an investigation showed this was done deliberately to cause failures in the field and get the rifle pulled from service.
They fixed the issues and the problems stopped.
@@marine6680 Well, many people don't understand/like dark humor. People who have been heavily traumatized are able to pick up on and appreciate dark humor way easier than the average person. I was never in the military but I"ve had a hard life and seen and been part of many dark things, and I coped with it by joking around about it with my buddies. To most people I just seemed kinda careless and like I didn't take things seriously, but that"s just how it goes. In a way, I was/am glad that people like Ash who may not pick up on that kinda humor super easily found it weird or disturbing, cuz in a strange way, it makes me feel comforted to know that the vast majority of people aren't so desensitized and messed up that humor like that flows naturally and is received well.
Gomer Pyle was a character in Gomer Pyle USMC and he was a bit dim/slow at times. The reason the hair is being shaved completely is for hygiene and to strip the recruit of any sense of individuality. Every recruit looks, speaks and acts like every other recruit while in boot camp. The individuality of each recruit is stripped away completely. They have to work as a unit regardless of how they feel about the recruit next to them, uniformity is key. The DI (Drill Instructor) treats the recruits like shit, so the recruits learn to work together. The DI makes every recruit hate him as a unit so that they work together to keep the DI off everyone's back. When I went to Marine Corps boot camp in 2001, this kind of stuff still happened. The racist comments were toned down a bit, physical violence wasn't done in the open and recruits would never have access to live rounds in the barracks. During the Vietnam war the prostitutes would be taken to areas with American military personnel so that the girls could listen and report back military intelligence they were told or overheard when they were sleeping with the enemy. Many of the prostitutes were taken from villages against their will and some were quite young.
It's called Sexpionage and the US did and does this to this day.
My dad was in Air Force boot camp in the 90s and even in the Air Force they'd take recruits out somewhere and beat the hell out of them for no reason lol.
Love your username. Same.
☮💌 and empathy.
Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) was on The Andy Griffith Show and then went on to make Gomer Pyle USMC :D
Just like face masks do.
That's funny you called that drill instructor is not an actor playing his role, but just him, because that's actually true! This actor, Ronald Lee Ermey, was drill instructor himself!
I met him on the M777 test fire shoot in twentynine palms back in like 2005 I think…
Not only that but he was originally just there to help the actual actor they'd cast. But he was so good at it Kubric just put him in the role on the spot
@@jgreen2015 yep the actual actor ended up playing the gunner on the Helicopter and Ermey got the big role of drill instructor
He’s still being an Actor in the film 😂
R. Lee Ermy was the name of the Gunnery Sgt Senior Drill Instructor. He was an awesome guy. He was a Marine and even after he was released from Active Duty still gave 180 days a year of volunteer service. He was the special guest at one of my Marine Corps Balls. He did that whole introduction from the movie as the beginning of his speech. The Marine Corps gave him the rank of Gunnery Sergeant after this movie and bc of his continued civilian service in an honorary way. I got to hang out with him after the Ball and smoke a cigarette with him. Great memory.
Damn. I wish I was there.
@@khagen50 Yeah he was such a nice man. Sad that he passed. He loved the USMC through and through.
As a Marine, I can tell you that this is VERY accurate for boot camp. I spent many nights laughing about all the things I saw and heard in the day that I was NOT allowed to laugh at during the day.
The really weird thing is, when you get on the plane to leave the base, you instantly begin to miss boot camp. Despite the hell that it was, you miss it.
Im still friends with my DS today.
This is spot on (although less extreme) what my police academy was like in ‘08
GA in August, burpees, boxing, getting pepper sprayed, tear gassed, and tased
Would never do it again, but damn I miss it lol
@@TheJackBakerDS?
ARMY@@billherman7294
@@billherman7294I'm guessing drill Sargent
"War doesn't prove who is right, only who is left."
Another good Vietnam movie is Platoon, directed by Oliver Stone.. a Vietnam combat infantry veteran.
Stone's Born on the 6th of july, and Heaven and earth are also master pieces.
@@spanishprisoner typo
Lmao ash completely misunderstood Jokers character right from the beginning. Joker is the real deal. Because of people like him less war is fought.
4:48 "Is he gonna actually skull fu-"
That part me cracked me up lol. Man, R. Lee Ermey is just the fucking best. Such an iconic role.
My favorite laughable part in the movie, even though there was ALOT of them. Pile actually closes his eyes tight after the DI says that! I LMAO!
Two things I must mention:
The scene where the gun jams and he has to use his pistol to shoot the sniper, a large number of marines were being killed in the war because of gun jams so that's a very real thing they had to deal with, the failure rate was so high many soldiers would pick up the enemy ak-47...
Which leads into my second thing, the teddy bear scene was also a reality, many toys, guns stashes, and trinkets that could be seen as souvenirs were rigged with explosives knowing U.S. soldiers would try to pick them up
The gun doesn't actually jam. Joker had forgot to lock and load his gun. I read in another comment section that the sound of the misfire is the sound the gun makes when you pull the trigger but fail to chamber a round. So basically Joker does fuck up.
@@tadamoriyagi8265 sorry about that, at least the rest is correct, cool to learn something like that, not a gun nut myself so I would have been totally oblivious to that
I heard that's why the AK-47 has been so popular for so long, basically you could completely submerge it in water and it would keep on firing
I think this entire movie was great not just the first half, and yes Ash back in the 60s drill instructors could get away with beating the shit out of soldiers openly, the b.s excuse for Vietnam was fighting communism while Nixon was simultaneously handing Americas future over to the communist Chinese, great reaction video as always bro.🤟
July 28, 1965 - In a nationally televised speech, President Johnson announced his decision to send an additional 50,000 American troops to South Vietnam, increasing the number of personnel there by two-thirds and to bring the commitment to 125,000. Johnson also said that the monthly draft call would more than double, to more than 1,000 new young men per day (from 17,000 to 35,000) for enlistment and training in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was Nixon that brought an end to the Vietnam conflict.
@@dunhill1 Yeah I never said he started the war I said he sold us out to communist China and he didn't immediately end the war upon taking office he took his sweet time, both parties are owned by the MIC and have been for quite some time.
@@kungfew1396 agreed. and to this very day, we are still sold out to China.
@@dunhill1 Close, but no cigar. “Once in office Nixon escalated the war into Laos and Cambodia, with the loss of an additional 22,000 American lives, before finally settling for a peace agreement in 1973 that was within grasp in 1968".
Nixon making peace with China didn't force American corporations to send jobs there. Would you rather the US have invaded China a 2nd time?
He's only called joker for that one time he opened his mouth.sarge decided to call him joker before they even really started drilling
Actually, the training they got was pretty effective.
It’s considered one of the reasons that PTSD is more prevalent after WWII. That any a societal shift that doesn’t celebrate the soldiers when they return from war.
Training was lacking through the WWII time frame. It was found that many soldiers didn’t shoot at the enemy. They deliberately aimed away from them. They didn’t want to kill. This was known about back during the old musket days, and reaffirmed in studies done after WWII.
So training techniques changed. Fighting and killing were drilled in a manner to be more instinctual. Little changes like shaping targets in human outlines, and bigger changes like the induced stress and quickly following orders.
Infantry troops became much more effective at the individual level because of this.
So more returned knowing they shot people.
And dark humor is a military thing. It’s a way to alleviate some stress. You have to joke about the inappropriate and death, or you will focus to much on the danger.
Also, Joker tried to shoot the sniper, his rifle just jammed. He dropped his rifle out of surprise and fear of getting shot at, but also because he was switching to his pistol.
The interview Joker gave when he was talking about getting his first kill… Joker was being condescending. He didn’t want to be there. Remember… the majority of American soldiers were drafted/forced to go to Vietnam. Joker was trying to show how ridiculous the war was in that interview.
R. Lee Ermy was the drill instructor. And he was an actual drill Sargent in the USMC. That’s why he was so good at the roll.
What they did to Pyle was pretty brutal, but what you gotta understand Ash, is that in war, the consequences of Pyle incompetence would be the death of his soldier mates. So they go hard on him, but unfortunaly it backfires.
He wasn't fit. It was idiotic to insist. That made it wrong and counter-productive.
Joker was drafted into the war and didn't believe in it. He was there out of duty and to avoid whatever punishment is for draft dodgers. When he wrote "Born to Kill" on his helmet and said he wanted the first confirmed kill in his neighborhood he was being sarcastic. But you were right about the thousand yard stare thing.
I think you thoroughly misunderstood the character of Joker. He's just a human being, joking inappropriately ("confirmed kill" etc.) while trying to stand his ground and pretending to be somewhat tough in a dog-eat-dog world. A human with flaws but despite the misery around him still a human with a living heart in the end.
Yeah, he missed the boat on that one.
I don't understand why people say the second half is trash it's a great probably the most accurate depiction of Vietnam at the time.
The helicopter door gunner that was shooting civilians was originally cast to be Sgt Hartman, the drill instructor. R. Lee Ermey was just an advisor. When Kubrick saw Ermey shit on the dialogue written for the drill instructor and the actor's delivery, he (Ermey) showed them how it was really done, and he was given the role of Hartman and the original actor got the role as the crazy door gunner.
Lee Ermey was a real US Marines Corps drill instructor and a lot of his Hartman character is just an over exaggerated version of the real Marine instructor Lee Ermey.
Also Kubrick felt bad for shafting him out of the role which is why his name is the only one that pops up at the very beginning because the actor was really looking forward to the role
I am glad you understood the movie and weren't 1 of those "the 2nd half is crap". This movie is a masterpiece from start to finish!
I couldn’t agree with you more. This movie is pure entertainment from the beginning when the recruits are getting their buzz haircuts to Johnny Wright Hello Vietnam song to the ending scene when the now fully battle hardened marines are walking through a burning city in the darkness singing the Mickey Mouse Club song. This is Stanley Kubrick’s finest work. You have to remember this movie was before Platoon come out. 👍👍
Great reaction and reading of this masterpiece, Ash. So glad you enjoyed the much lambasted 2nd half. Obviously hard to top the training scenes, but the war scenes are uncompromising, disturbing and thought provoking. Kubrick, according to his brother in law, is said to have considered this film his greatest achievement as a film maker. Keep them Symbolisms coming...
The drill sergeant was a real drill sergeant. All of the start was improvised. Kubrick just let him loose and what happend for real back then
R.L. Ermy himself was asked if USMC Recruit Training was really as physically abusive as depicted in the move. He essentially said that there wasn't a need to have to lay hands on someone. They had other more affective ways to get someone in line. However, those who refused to conform to good order and discipline simply wouldn't make it through training and would be discharged. The military doesn't need problem children in recruit training. Conform or go back to mommy.
If you have to be beaten to conform, you don't belong in the military where taking initiative is encouraged, and even the abused recruit will move further into their career and eventually be in charge of other junior enlisted men.
Anyone that says that their boot camp experience was like that or worse is flat out lying, grossly exaggerating, telling someone elses lie, or they experienced a unique case of abuse that was an unusual anomaly.
I was in the military for 20 years. There are strict procedures for dealing with wilful noncompliance or chronic incompetence that leads to discharge or denial of reenlistment.
The military, ESPECIALLY elite units, don't play games with people who can't/won't maintain discipline/safety/security or mission success.
Which is the problem with Hartman. Lawrence was clearly drafted, and just as clearly mentally problematic. He should have been evaluated and kicked out long before things got to the endpoint.
(nods) Yep, those people are filthy f***ing liars -- and they know it. They're trying to trick ignorant civilians. That's kind of their thing. -- a former US Army parachute infantry light weapons sergeant (11B2P)
Ash, I want to recommend you "Oldboy", the best Korean film ever. Quentin Tarantino recommended it himself, that's how I knew about it first time. The plot is wild, but in a very good way, and acting is phenomenal.
And for sure that's a great film to do a reaction.
I watched the version played by Josh Brolin and had no idea it was a remake! He did a great job but once I watched the original, I was blown away even more. What an absolute crazy story to see unfold 😳
It's phenomenal
@@Pr0x1mo I Saw The Devil is so out of pocket lmfao
Important to note: there are different jobs in the marine corps. Joker was a military journalist, not infantry. Infantry dedicated their entire time towards mastering war and tactics. After boot camp, which you saw with Ermey, all those guys would’ve gone on to train for their jobs. So despite Joker being expected to fight at a high level, he didn’t spend nearly as much time as the other guys preparing for it.
I was in the USMC from 1969-1972. This is about as close to real life as one can get. Unless one has been to war, one cannot judge what others do. I was in-country from 1971-1972. and was sent home for an AK-47 round to the thigh.. The biggest thing you have to understand is that nobody wanted to be there. We were there because that's where our politicians and generals wanted us to be. In the 8 months that I was there, I was credited with seventeen confirmed kills. Even now, I see each and every one of the faces in my nightmares. I know your channel is for entertainment, but before any criticisms can be assigned, fact checks should be done. Look at the whole picture, friend.
Thank you, and I'm sorry you had to go through that.
@@jacobyoung729 I think you, but that was just how things worked way back then.
The Vietnam War was pretty funny ked up. You would know as much as anyone. I wasn't alive at that time but from everything I've learned it wasn't right that you guys had to go through that. Thank you for your service and I hope you're doing ok man.
'Fucked up I meant.
What did he say that was so wrong
If you're looking for more genuinely fantastic war movies, 'Come and See' from Russian director Elem Klimov, and 'Platoon' by Oliver Stone are absolute must-see titles.
And We were Soldiers
You mean Apocalypse Now, which is a superior film to Platoon.
Those films (Come and see; Platoon) portray the horrors of war like no other.
@@dunhill1 all three movies have their strengths in portraying the same general theme: the sobering horrors of war. On that I think we can all agree.
I would add the german movie Das Boot to the list.
Wow, that was a ride on a first watch! I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to yell my agreement or disagreement with your analysis of one scene and then loudly reverse my position in the next scene when you adapt to new details... and then reverse my position again when you adapt to new details…
I’d call this one for Kubrick. Loved the ride-along, bruv.
Mate I was proper confused and conflicted and weirded out yet enjoying the shit out of the movie..so watching that commentary I’m all over the place..but appreciate the love ❤️
Joker is one of the few people that are questioning the war, like you are as you watch the movie. Most other characters just accept it and go along. That is why he has "Born to Kill" on his helmet but a peace sign on his vest. He sees the insanity of it all. He sees the ridiculousness of the idea that america is there to help them and the way they do that is by killing them and destroying their country. It is the same for every war that the US has been in since Korea.
I had the "This is my rifle, this is my gun" as my ringtone and misplaced my phone at work. Called it a couple times to try to find it. Turns out I left it in the bathroom, someone turned it in and it was sitting on a really hot dispatch ladies desk. Hard to not chuckle to myself when I picked it up.
How to get a HR complaint 101!!!
It's not explicitly mentioned but the entire Pvt. Pyle plot arc is a general reference to an unofficial 'program' run during the Vietnam war sometimes referred to as "McNamara's Morons"- an attempt to enlist and train "low intelligence" individuals for combat that had a number of extremely easy to predict issues in execution. The fact that only two people died as a result of the incident in the film may actually be a better alternative than some of the outcomes had in real life, entire platoons of troops may have been put out of action because of things like forcing people who have no right or reason to be in the military to serve- even small mistakes in the field can easily cost dozens of lives (as any reasonable person might assume!) It didn't stop with enlisted grunts either- many officers in the war were basically scooped up straight out of college and the 'upper class' and made into 2nd Lieutenants and put in charge of infantry companies and shoved into the thick of it.
You've probably heard the term "Frag" or "fragging" before right? Well, the origin of that term is from a practice that was shockingly commonplace during Vietnam where leadership who were considered incompetent or otherwise dangerous in some way to their own troops would have a frag grenade thrown into their tent at some point during the night- to solve the 'problem' of poor leadership. Vietnam was the real fucking deal.
Oh so….WWI or WWII wasn’t the real f•cking deal then?
Christ get over yourself …..Vietnam wasn’t the most violent war…..
It wasn’t the most of anything….o sorry it was the BIGGEST failure, the most POINTLESS and. Well the war where we found out just how ROTTEN, CORRUPT and DISGUSTING plenty of supposed stellar servicemen were shown to be….well a bit LESS THEN.
So yea….I wouldn’t brag about that war like it’s some grand historical honor to have been in it.
I mean…..are you 1 of those delusional men who worship the military cuz you couldn’t get in it? 🙄🤮
This one and russian "Come and See" are the best war movies of all time in my opinion. War is not an adventrure, its blood&guts. If everyone on Earth would watch both of them, may be we would have no more wars.
Come and See is an insane feat of cinema. Still my favorite child performance of all time and not once did I feel like I was watching a film. It just felt like watching real life.
Surely this is a joke...
and Platoon. the people who were actually in the war make the most brutal war movies.
Come and See should be next
The reason the Drill instructor is so good is because he IS a retired Drill instructor. He was originally hired as a consultant but was "Too Good" not to put in the movie. There are documentaries on youtube about him (I can't remember his real name), but yeah, he was a real drill instructor in real life.
I mean, as fucked as our involvement in the Vietnam War was (and there and the Korean War were the first ones where a LOT of Hollywood really portrayed a much more critical view of wars we were involved in, but that also largely followed much of the American public's view of the war).
But at the same time, WW2 was more complex than simply knowing "They're Nazis, they're evil." Yeah, there were some indications of stuff like the Holocaust going on, but the full extent of stuff like the concentration and death camps were largely not discovered until near the end of the war. In terms of widespread political will, Americans were kinda divided on getting involved until Pearl Harbor, which quelched the collective sentiment of isolationists and noninterventionists who had been winning out until then.
I actually read a book about the impact of aircraft in WWII, specifically in the Pacific. But there was just a bunch of information both the US and Japan's history between themselves and each other. That was the thing that fully convinced me just how evil war was. And especially that there's no good guys ever involved. The US dropped incendiaries on wooden towns, fired two nukes and rattled people's heads with enough bombing to last a lifetime while the Japanese practiced cannabalism, public execution, mass suicide and a ton of rape.
@@owenmaleski2203 There may not be any good guys, but do not pretend that the Japanese and the Americans were equally bad. They weren't. Not even close to it.
I’m a marine corp veteran.. I joined in 1991.. This movie still has the most accurate depiction of a marine corp drill instructor to this date. I love and hate this fact. Great reaction Ash! Been subscribed to your channel for nearly a year now.. keep rockin it dude! Hi from San Diego California… we have the west coast boot camp here at MCRD. In San Diego… the movie was filmed to be Parris Island . The only other boot camp for marines!
Back in the day, advertising slogans for products(toys) aimed at children, they would often say, "Be the first kid on your block to get yours!"... Joker was being sarcastic.
I once heard someone say they thought that "Animal Mother" was what Pyle would have turned into if he hadnt died.
I thought that was interesting.
Hartman was actually right in thinking Joker would be a good fit for Pyle cause he was figuring that Joker would add enough levity to Pyles training between the drill instructing that it would help him adjust better. Unfortunately Pyle was someone that couldn’t take the punishment even with the levity
I don’t mean any disrespect, but I can tell you were never in the military. Private Joker was actually an ideal soldier, whereas Pyle was a psycho case. I was in the Army for ten years. I went to basic training in 1985. By then, they weren’t allowed to beat trainees anymore. The only exception was the live fire ranges. One of our trainees were killed when he accidentally blew his skull off by putting his M-16 into the foxhole. That was a huge no-go. It went off. And another guy who threw his live grenade straight up in the air. The drill sergeant body slammed him behind the barrier and saved his life. It’s definitely no joke. We even had a nut job who opened fire on an Apache helicopter as it flew overhead during training. I went to Desert Storm but it was not anywhere near as bad as Vietnam. That was my dad’s war. He did three tours there.
(Edit). I do respect your ability to realize how screwed up the war was and the fact that this movie was much more realistic than most other war movies. But again, Joker was not a screw up who took nothing seriously, he just knew how to not get too wound up, because that makes you freeze at the moment of truth. He was able to keep it light and that’s why he survived. War is not a joke but if you get wound up too tight, you will not make it. Joker had the right mentality.
Okay, to give you the context you need for this, we didn't straight up invade Vietnam. You need to look at this in the context of the Cold War as a whole. Much like the Korean War, America's involvement in Vietnam was a result of the Communists in Russia and China inciting an ideological revolution in the country. Vietnam used to be a French colony, and this essentially came in the form of the newly armed natives driving the French out, and since America was an ally of France, as well as the ideological conflict between east and west that composee the entire Cold War, hence why they decided to get involved. Then you've got all these kids being drafted into the army against their will, as well as those being convinced to enlist because they're being promised they're going to come back as heroes of their country just like their fathers in WWII and Korea to an extent, and then watching their friends and brothers getting killed, while their own commanders have no idea who their allies and enemies are, and of course it makes them hardened, resentful tiwards the locals, and yes, mentally and emotionally broken; all because they were made pawns in just one war that was a result of the world's biggest political dick measuring contest that was the Cold War. This whole scenario was far more complicated than the black-and-white summation of America just straight-up invading an innocent country.
I think technically it wasn’t even a “war” as no official declaration was made. The US was asked to aid as a policing and advisory force for the non-communist faction. Because of that, the primary goal was to hold territory, not gain and push back the enemy. They did that during Korea, and got so close to China that they jumped in as well. So they wanted to avoid that happening again.
Such a conflict is not going to be pretty. It is going to lead to the quagmire that it became.
@@marine6680 thank you for clarifying, I just knew I was giving as simplified a description as I could about the events leading into Vietnam
Communism wants to subgate the world, would have made more puppet govs in southeast Asia for the soviet union. US fighting there help with the Chinese soviet slipt, helping to end the cold war.
Most of the vietnamese didn't like Communism for how brutal it was towards its own citizens. For the US to effectively fight Vietnam War, we would had to invade the surrounding countries to stop the supply routes.
Russians, Chinese, and Cubans were there fighting as well on communist side.
Yes, Vietnam was basically the "line drawn in the sand" to occupy and stall out the spread of communism in the region.
Despite all the obvious problematic issues, the "conflict" was a success in that none of the US allied nations had to deal with any real insurgency or destabilization from the Soviet influence on their home soil.
I hate to be that guy, but these are all the things that history books tell you. And while much of it may be true, there's been ulterior motives for going to war or an invasion on a grand scale since pre WW2. Military industrial complex and all that jazz. It's almost always tied to the interests of those in power...An example in this context, do you know how much heroin came into the US from Vietnam and the surrounding countries post conflict? Was that a coincidence? 🤔
I was active duty USMC from 2003-2007, while its true (mostly) that drill instructors cant/dont physically strike recruits, during Vietnam things were much more.... unpredictable. That said, even these days DI's have all sorts of creative ways to make up the difference. I remember one time one of my DI's was walking around and 'adjusting' peoples hand position during 'attention', which in his case was done by basically punching your hands if they were in the wrong position. That same DI used to randomly go around during things like rifle cleaning time and grab 6-10 recruits at a time and bring them outside to "the pit" and make us do various pit-appropriate activities like high-knees, getting covered in sand and sand fleas, and other unpleasant things. Doing something 'wrong' was not a prerequisite of getting pitted randomly.
They did coming up to Vietnam. Including Ermey, who himself said they were.given leeway because they had to train so many soldiers on short notice. Much of this was taken directly from his own actions.
The PIT was random punishment for the goofiest random stuff but it was great conditioning for the long haul...as much as I hated the PIT and we called it being smoked at Ft. Bliss TX. This was in 1986 It really did get me in the best shape of my life
It's always fascinating to see what people in other nations with different backgrounds think about US history. The Vietnam War is one of the most brutal and complicated wars of the 20th century. It was not simply the US invading Vietnam. The war as most people know it was a North Vietnam backed by the Soviets, Chinese, North Koreans, and other communists fighting a guerilla war against South Vietnam which was backed by the US, Australia, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand. Many Americans know at least one person who served in that war (of the top of my head I can name 5, 4 Americans and 1 who fought for South Vietnam), all of them were or are very quiet about the subject. The two that spoke openly about it both felt betrayed not just by our government but by our country as a whole. One talked about how when he and other veterans from the war wanted to be in a Independence Day parade they were forced to march at the back and were banned from carrying any banners or flags while everyone else could bring what ever they wanted. He was never given a "welcome home" until he a group of soldiers who came back from the First Gulf War walked at the back of the parade with them out of protest against how the Vietnam veterans were treated. The second was a customer at my work who had a mental breakdown seeing the shit show that occurred at Kabul airport back in 2021 when NATO pulled out completely. He was in the US Navy during the final hours of the war in 1975 when hundreds of thousands of civilians tried scrambling out to the sea to avoid the North Vietnamese army, most didn't make it.
There is a documentary I highly recommend called "The Vietnam War" by Ken Burns, it is the best piece of media about the war in Vietnam and covers just about every aspect. Part of me would like to see you learn more about the war as the series goes on and how it shapes your view on the subject. However, to say it is bleak and at times beyond sad would be an understatement so doing a reaction could be in poor taste. What ever your choice is I hope you at least check it out in private.
So here’s a few things that may help put in context a few things for you:
1. The Drill Instructor at the start is played by R. Lee Ermey who was a real life DI for several years and was brought on as a technical advisor for this movie. However when Kubrick saw how much of a real life performance he could give to the character he have Ermey the role and gave him full right to improvise the dialogue - as yes this would the type of stuff you’d actually hear.
2. The removing of the hair ain’t done to represent nam, but to represent there loss of individuality as it is in real life. The military don’t want individuals, they want people who can work together and think together and know what each person is thinking at the same time. They don’t want a John Rambo running off and getting killed, they want someone who can follow the orders they are given and fight and work with their brothers as needed.
3. The beatings and harsh punishment would be quite common to this era of the marines. A lot of them weren’t always volunteers but draftees not wishing to fight but conscripted. As such they required to break these people down harder so they’d be less likely to go in with a worse mindset and get themselves or others killed.
4. The reason Joker is given pile ain’t because he’s bad. It’s cause Joker was the best out of his unit, meaning the DI wanted him teaching the worst to raise him up.
Because that failed, he though he could get pile by having his unit force him to fix himself by making him feel bad for getting them in shit - and in turn getting the unit to force pile to fix himself too.
5. The whole scene of “they don’t appreciate us fighting for them” isn’t actually completely off. South Vietnam’s government that was sponsored by the US side of the Cold War was highly corrupt and incompetent. It’s soldiers the ARVN were very poorly lead, trained and had fuck all morale… and were quite corrupted and good at killing people they believed were VC… this usually led to lots of South Vietnamese people disliking there government and the US troops coming to protect it - note the US troops didn’t know this type of political background shit outside of seeing it first hand or seeing the ARVN in “action”.
As such to them it came off as them fighting for a government these people wanted (which many still did) but were completely happy in treating those who came to do it poorly (which they also did).
6. Shrapnel my dude. For all games and movie make it that all you have to do to avoid it is move like 3 inches to the side and you’ll be fine.. yeah no. It can be absolutely random in where it goes and how it gets you. The fact the Lt was at the front of the pack was… strange as it would usually be a lower enlisted man appointed as a point man (and no this ain’t because the lower enlisted were more expandable, it’s if someone low down the ranks is injured you still have a full on intact command structure to rely on and help coordinate everyone - plus have the higher intel and coordination to call in support alongside his NCO’s)
7. Something you’ll find quite interesting in that interview scene is the different response between the front grunts and the POG’s who stay on base.
Joker and Raptor both have the usual propaganda like speak of the war while the Tex’s squad has been at the front of the war so have highly differing views of everything. They’ve seen the shit and felt it, they don’t care for who wins just getting home.
8. Yes traps like that were common. It was designed to hurt morale as well as taking out important individuals. Tho it would be uncommon at this time for troops to lift that type of stuff up (especially an experienced one) without having someone check it over first. Tho being human stuff like that does happen.
9. The scene where the medic and animal mother run out is kind of why the military don’t want soldier acting independently. As it leads to worse situations when others can live. Getting pulled into a literal snipers kill ground without an idea on how to take em out ain’t going to help no one especially when there’s no plan initially.
While it’s horrid to say, sometimes casualties are completely acceptable under circumstances and you just have to write some people off as it’s less likely to end with several others killed and wounded in the same situation than one guy.
10. The scene inside the building very much sums up Jokers arc. He hoots and hollers about how he’s a killer throughout the movie and while he does put the finishing shot in, before that he outright hesitated and almost got himself killed - remember heartman taking about needing the heart of a killer to live - as such it’s the transformation in his story. From a person who wants to be a “hero” like in the movies and comics, to someone who actually now sees the truth in war.
11. The book is also a good read tho… the authors anti-war sentiments can come through quite heavy handed at times and some scene because of it are quite jarring.
I.e. in the book after the final scene, Raptorman is completely obsessed with talking about his first kill… that he gets run over by a tank.
Yes they struggle to see and you can get quite distracted but even that irl is a heavy thing to have to “uh huh” at.
You horrendously misunderstood Joker’s character
Best film about the Vietnam war. Anyone that says the second half is "boring" just don't understand it.
Film is awesome. But IMO platoon is best Vietnam movie
@@RamsayboltonSnow I can't stand Platoon unfortunately lol
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot episode was aired as the season finale of the fourth season of its parent series on May 18, 1964. The show ran for a total of 150 half-hour episodes spanning over five seasons, in black-and-white for the first season, and then in color for the remaining four seasons. In 2006, CBS Home Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD. The final season was released in November 2008.
Boring 2nd half?!?! No part of this film is boring. Absolute master piece! Loved your words Ash, Beautiful
R. Lee Ermey was 100% in his element. The real deal. He didn't need a script, the man lived it for years.
R. Lee Ermey made up his own material, and it was so good that the control freak director let him do so. Ermey made a recording of his patter, after which it was transcribed, and he and Kubrik got the best ones for his performance.
I went to Afghanistan in my time 🤷🏾♂️ it’s all the same, Marine Bootcamp is now longer than this (also I swear it was worse than that) never got choked but got hit and kicked by “accident” a few times.
There is a reason why drill instructor Hartman looks natural in that role, probably because that is R. Lee Ermey, who was an actual drill instructor for the marines. He came in as an advisor and Stanley Kubrick thought he was the perfect fit for the role and it came to fruition. He also did many other movies after this while still being in the marines. He was in the movie Se7en you guys watched as the police chief. He was also amazing in Saving silverman...
"Give her $20".
Most grunts were making about $100 a month back then $20 was a big bite out of your pay.
Back in the 60's it was still permitted to "physically" train recruits. Another great boot camp movie is Heartbreak Ridge with Clint Eastwood. For a great comedy boot camp movie watch Biloxi Blues.
Still happened in the 80's too.
2 great movie options
You need more Stanley Kubrick in your life. Paths of Glory, Barry Lyndon, hell, pick any movie from the list and it’ll be one of the best movies you’ve ever seen. Just watch them all.
11:00 That actor was a drill Sargent in the military and was helping the actors, and Kubrick decided to cast him for this part. He improvised or helped with his dialogue
The whole movie is great, but the first half and second half are very different in tone and the message they convey. They are meant to be like two halves of the same coin.
The first half is the setup showing the indoctrination and training… The second is the grim reality of war… And how ultimately both dehumanize those involved.
I think you would love Snatch (2000) with Jason Statham, Brad Pitt
9:59 - I think the point of this scene is showing that Pyle can learn under the right guidance but what Hartman is giving him is not the right guidance. You think Joker is not right because he's not hard but the movie literally shows you the contrary (to an extent).
11:01 - If you know who Bob Ross is, just imagine that he was a drill Sargeant too. I can't imagine him shouting like Hartman.
13:42 - Notice how Joker is one of the few who hit him repeatedly instead of once.
14:44 - It's more showing part of the brainwashing: they praise terrorists because they were Marines while downplaying their terrorist acts.
24:08 - That's because it's not an American movie.
Your reaction to this masterpiece makes me happy , angry and sad all at once.
Only Stanley Kubrik can potray idiocy in this fantastic way . I remember very well the chaotic Vietnam war and the heavy wild protest here in Sweden. Absolutely impossible to understand how people think the second part of the film is boring ? Have seen the film a number of times for various reasons . Partly to show my boys one of the most senseless wars in modern times and to experience Kubrik's directorial genius , and already certainly Stanley Kubrik's greatest masterpiece : Year 2001 A Space Odyssey from 1967 , and The Shining 1980.
Before the war broke out , it was said a week to ten days would be enough to defeat the Vietnam !
It took almost eleven years to lose the war and still bears the sacars of the loss.
One is drawn into your clear reaction to hell on earth, the war ! the battle where everyone is a loser.
Thanks....
As a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, I can tell you that Boot Camp is EXACTLY like this, at least it was in 1982 when I received my training at Parris Island in 3rd Battalion, H Company.
I thought the opening 'symbolism' of the cutting off of the hair was more like an initiation... a stripping back of your personal identity, your previous life to enter a new life where you were considered the same as everyone else, taking you back to a primal state in such a cold environment to make or break war heroes. You had to earn your identity back or craft a new one. Just my take.
All the different hair, all the same bald.
My grandfather went through MC bootcamp in 1942, They were hardcore and put people in the infirmary, He understood that screwing up in the field could get his buddies killed, Many died at Guadalcanal, when I did it it wasn't close to that hardcore but still harsh (1989)
Lmao love this movie! I'll never forget watching this the day before I went to Parris Island for recruit training! Shitty at the time but I look back at those memories fondly now!
Yeah, I hated basic at Ft Knox, but I look back at basic & AIT with a certain fondness now.
Top reaction mate.... A classic and much studied movie from my youth...
Some of your words/reactions were so honest & fresh...
Ash - You brought some new & honest perspectives to my appreciation of this classic... .. .
Long-time watcher of your reactions but have never subbed (I rarely sub). But for months now, I have been looking forward to your productions.
Classic (CLASSIC) movies with you & your better half. Brilliant work guys.
Subbed & Belled... .. .
Also another very good Matthew Modine movie that you and Hannah would really enjoy is Vision Quest. It's a story about a wrestler challenging himself to greater things, a b line love story, musical appearances by Madonna before she blew up in fame. All around a fun film.
Gomer Pyle was was a comedy series in the 50s. The title character was basically a screw up private in the USMC.
When my father went to Vietnam, he told me that the children would bring clay pots or figures to the US military tents and because it rained almost everyday, the rain would wash the clay away to reveal a grenade without the pin in so it would detonate in their tents. For him it was a very tough time as a Marine.
The drill seargant stole that "Did your parents ever have any kids who lived" insult from Stand By Me tho.
The beating, also known as a "blanket party" was also a grim reality of bootcamp.
When Joker is being interviewed and says "I want to be the first kid on my block to get a confirmed kill" he isn't being serious. His coping mechanism is sarcasm and humor and he's using satire to expose and criticize the stupidity of the war. He's actually very intelligent but it comes across like he's being a dick. He can just never not see the insanity of it all. The pointlessness of it all...and I think realizing that and essentially laughing instead of crying to get through the horror is all he can do.
I also think the drill Sargent chose Joker to take Pvt. Pyle under his wing because guys like Joker were typically singled out to lead due to their independent thought. The military wants non-thinkers who'll run into gunfire without a thought. 18-25 is ideal recruitment for foot soldiers and grunts because they're less likely to question orders. Whereas guys like Joker who display critical thinking are promoted. As annoying as Joker was the sarge ultimately respected him and left him alone. Their interactions were almost banter compared to Pyle who basically was seen as a non-critical thinker who could broken down and reprogrammed. Hard to do with smarter, more aware soldiers. So they tend to move up and lead.
The scene with peace symbol pin I find very interesting. When Joker gets confronted about it it's viewed as inappropriate. Like it has no place being on a soldier's uniform and I think some audience members might agree but in reality there is no better time or place to promote peace than in war. Just funny that it was seen as a negative when ultimately that's what could stop all wars. Guess the point is many soldiers and governments don't even want it. What's a soldier who doesn't kill? What's a government that doesn't exploit people to maintain itself? Anyway. Symbolisms!
Imagine being 17, getting a letter in the mail, then 2 weeks later being dropped into a foreign jungle full of insane animals etc, plus they’re trying to constantly kill you….Vietnam Vets deserve our utmost respect and honor…can’t even imagine
Basic Training was 8 weeks long plus your A,I.T (Advanced Individual Training. ) for infantry it was 8 weeks. After 2 weeks of Basic Training You haven't even fired a weapon yet. There is no way two be dropped into Viet Nam only after 2 weeks. I do wholeheartedly agree with the statement about the respect and honor part. The shameful part is it took decades, not as soon as they came back to acknowledge respect.
Love the reaction Ash! 🧡✌
crazy stat:
THE PHRASE "FULL METAL JACKET" APPEARS NOWHERE IN THE BOOK UPON WHICH THE MOVIE IS BASED.
While Kubrick was enthralled with Vietnam veteran Hasford’s book "The Short-Timers", he was concerned about using the book's title as the movie title. .Kubrick discovered the phrase “full metal jacket,” which describes the casing of a bullet, in a gun catalog. 👀👀🤣🤣😎👍
Kubrick gave his audience so much more than what is presented at face value👀🔥
I love all the things you have said here, man. That's what is this film is about.
I watched this film for the first time when I was around 10 or smth. I couldn't enjoy almost any war movie after that. That's why I missed "Fury" and some other reactions at your channel.
I'm not saying other war movies are bad, but I just can't watch some romantic war adventures about heroes and all that stuff after "Full Metal Jacket".
In that case, give Apocalypse Now a go, especially the Redux edition.
Ash @4:25 "Gomer Pyle" was an American TV sitcom in the 1970s. Gomer was an extremely dumb (although very nice guy) private in the US Army. He was also very goofy and inept. So, that's the meaning of the Drill Instructor nicknaming that guy "Gomer Pyle." He was essentially saying he was an incompetent idiot.
@10:50 The "actor" playing the Drill Instructor, R. Lee Ermy, was an active duty Marine in real life for over ten years, reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant. He played many similar rolls to this after this film as well as few where he broke out of the type-casted roll of a DI. You may not recall he was the supervisor of the two Detectives in "Seven."
@26:31 Joker is not being serious here. When he states he "wanted to meet people from an ancient culture and kill them" and that he "wanted to be the first kid on his block with a confirmed kill," he's being sarcastic about how stupid and pointless the war he's been drafted into is. He's a military reporter speaking to a cameraman from his own unit. Obviously he knows that footage is never going to see the light of day. Same reason he has "born to kill" on his helmet and wears a peace button, just a statement on the pointlessness of that whole war.
The Vietnam war started because the French company Michelin needed rubber to feed Europe's tire market in the early 1900's when masses of cars and trucks came on the scene.
The French colony of Indo-China forced huge rubber tree plantation on the locals. They were mistreated and paid slave wages to produce rubber.
Eventually this created the Viet Minh (communist rebels). They fought the French until WWII when the Japanese took over European colonies in Asia.
The Viet Minh started fighting the Japanese with weapons supplied by the allies. When the war was over France tried to pick up were they left off before the war. But now the Vietnamese had training and heavy weapons to put up a real fight against the French.
By the late 1950's the French were losing their colony to communist forces. The US was worried about all of Asia turning communist so they started fighting to stem the tide.
turning communist meaning turning independent. Empires don't care about "-isms".
@@emilianosintarias7337 Yes, because everyone in China is so independent. Pol Pot made Cambodia "independent" and it only cost a million or so lives. The USSR was so independent they put up an Iron Curtain to keep it in.
Remember when the USSR fell, remember all the Soviet satellite states that remained communist to retain their Independence?
Yeah, me either. Those countries had every opportunity to do the failed experiment "right". But, not a one stepped up to "do it right". (I wonder why?).
Communists just trade one cruel master for another. The difference is there isn't even an illusion of free thought or action.
Communism = I don't own anything and I want to share it with you.
Capitalism = I got mine you better get yours.
@@rburns9730 Do you want me to debunk all of that, or are you happy with that alternative reality?
@@emilianosintarias7337 Please debunk away. Make sure to explain why there are only 5 communist countries today. Also name all countries in the USSR that remained communist after the USSR fell.
@@rburns9730
There actually was a referendum in the USSR at that time, and the majority actually voted to stay in and keep the USSR (of which i don't support). Over 80%. The majority regret the end of the USSR which unicef says killed 10 million people, you may remember Yeltsin, taking orders from Clinton fired on the Russian parliament. That killed around 3000 people. And the communist party is the 2nd most popular in russia today. The collapse of the USSR did not work out, and even before this war, the Ukraine had the GDP of an african country.
Khmer rouge were CIA backed and China (who mainly supported other countries based on geopolitics only) backed too, but don't have any coherent ideology, they were a cult who came in after the US murdered hundred of thousands of cambodian civilians. The vietnamese communists took them out.
MCRD San Diego 2014, I remember DIs used Friggin and Trash instead of fucking and shit. Don't know if it was like that way before.
He called Joker because of that single incident on the first day. He gave everyone a nickname. It didn’t mean that he wasn’t serious about being there. He learned well and was a good teacher. Hartmann also had him teach to give him experience as a leader. I think Hartman respected him.
The US didn’t invade Vietnam. They sent money troops and advisors to help the South Vietnamese govt.
They did invade though.
@@SSD_Penumbra north Vietnam invaded south Vietnam. You can make an argument that the US instigated the conflict between the two, but not that we invaded. We didn't have to fight to get into their borders, we were fighting for the south Vietnamese government.
@@SSD_Penumbra repeat sophomore History.
@@SSD_Penumbra I’m not gonna argue semantics. By your logic when we sent troops to France in WW1 we were invading France
Russia INVADED Ukraine, Germany INVADED Poland and France. The intent was to conquer and annex these countries. We went to Vietnam to shore up and strengthen the South Vietnamese against the invasion of the North.
@@dan2007kohn Massing troops to "liberate" a country that doesn't want to be liberated is an invasion. The South Vietnamese wanted to take over the North and the US agreed to help them because "communism bad"
We fought the same war in Korea, and it worked out. dont forget that
My dad was a drill sergeant in the Marines during the Vietnam war. You can imagine what growing up was like for my brothers and I. My dad told me about his boot camp experience. He said he was meticulous about not fucking up. On the last day, his drill instructor took him aside and said, “I haven’t hit you yet, have I?” “Sir, no, sir!” And then he got punched in the head.
Dayuum
Hey ASH, I forgot to mention earlier: the combat scenes were filmed in the outskirts of LONDON, England (!)... in an abandoned business park. The palm trees were brought from SPAIN and planted around the destroyed English warehouses. 😂
Ash you should check out the new Predator movie “Prey”. It was surprisingly good and lots of people been talking about it.
Yes that scene where he takes out all the colonists has to be top 5 most badass predator moments
I watched it today!! It was the best one out of the 5 yet!! It was brilliant
@@martinmoolman5754 I think Arnolds is the best but id put “Prey” right after it, which is extremely impressive because “Predator” is arguably the greatest sci-fi movie of all time.
@@8JFJK8 yes granted.. the first Predator is iconic.. let me put it this way, Prey is the best sequel in the francise
@@martinmoolman5754 100% agreed
🤣did the director die during the movie…Ash with the reaction and comments always comedy. Let’s get you to a million subs🙌🏾
Damn Ash, I've never seen a bigger misread of movie than you in the first half of the film
I went to Marine Corps Recruit Training at San Diego, California in Oct 2011- Jan 2012 and can say that while not as intense as this film, my Drill Instructors still found ways to properly train us to be Marines. R. Lee Ermey actually served in the Marines as a Drill Instructor during Vietnam and played a different Drill Instructor in the 70's film The Boys of Company C. The purpose of Recruit/Basic Training is to instill discipline, uniformity and unit readiness to be able to survive and succeed in any stressful situation
My father was in the Marine Corp and said this film was the most accurate depiction of boot camp. Yes. This really happened.
I am old school Army, and my drill sgts were definitely Vietnam Era carry over. This movie is as real as basic training gets.
Ash, I think you misunderstood the both Drill Sergeant HArtman and Joker. The drill sergeant was not there to show them tactics that for their in field comanding officers. Hartman was there to get the Marines in the right mindstate of follow the instructions and do things right. So when you get in the field and you are given orders you will follow them to achieve the objective. Hartman is also there to weed out any phony tough pissants who think they are ready for combat. That's why he was so hard on Lawerence.
As for Joker, he was a good solider, followed in strustion and did things well, which is why Hartman promoted him to squad leader. Joker was showing the fight that we all have to conform to when inside of such a rigid system as the military. He's not weak or a bad solider, he's just trying to express his own individuality. Which is why he wore a peace symbol yet ahd Born to Kill on his Helmet.
Ash's face during the sucky sucky scene
🤣🤣
At the end of the movie when Joker's gun jammed he was not being a weak solider he was having normal human reaction when faced with death and the thing that fails you fails. We would all freak out for moment but then he grabbed his pistol. However the girl started shooting at him so he was caught defenseless. You built up preconcieved notions about Joker thoughtout the movie and applied them to situations without giving himthe benifit of hiis humnanity and indivuality.
Fun fact, R Lee Ermey would go on to be the voice of Sarge from Toy Story
He was also in the texas chainsaw massacre remake. I only looked up that he was sarge in toy story, was shocked when I looked it up. He is absolutely terrifying in that film
Ash where the fuck is Hannah
I know! Hannah is right, Ash always finds a character to have a vendetta with. I need her sensibility!
When a bomb blows up it doesn't just hurt and kill people where it Explodes, Shrapnel from them goes flying everywhere so you don't have to be near the Bomb to get hit
they went to war in Vietnam to prevent the north from expanding into the south. think of it it like north and south Korea except Vietnam came out on top and as soon as they did they threw everyone who didn't agree with them into camps and tortured them into being obedient.
This film was entirely shot in England. Kubrick was American but settled in over there, did not like to fly, so he shot all of his later films over there. The palm trees, were just flown in and planted, Crazy Genius director.
You are overreacting like a silly nancy! There were several factors going on that made bootcamp harsh. 1. We had the draft (do you really think most of those kids woke up one day and said "Yeah, I think I will go to Vietnam, sounds fun"? 2. The training pipeline was shorted from 12wks to 8wks because they needed bodies in Vietnam. That put a major strain on Drill Instructors who felt responsible for getting recruits ready to be Marines and send them off to the battlefields of Vietnam. The Marine Corp. remained pretty harsh up until the late 80's and maybe early 90's I am guessing in terms of physical chastisement.
Totally agree. Anyone who thinks the 2nd half of the film is bad just didn't get the symbolisms. The hard cut between the first and second half was very intentional also. The night Pyle died, was Joker's last night in training. He shipped out to Vietnam the next day.
Not sure if this was posted already but i think the Sergeant in a way likes Joker’s guts coz in a way he was honest with himself and even when he slapped him, Joker did not change his answer. I think that’s how he got that respect from the Sgt.
KR,
Some Bromley dude
Just think Ash.. somewhere on the other side of Vietnam, Forrest sitting with his back against Bubbas so they don't have to lay with their heads in the mud.
Why would you say that!! That scene destroyed me man 😂
The drill sergeants real name is R. Lee Ermy. A real life Marine corps gunnery sergeant who has passed away in the last few years but he was a real a real hard ass Marine but a real kind human being who had a comedic side. He spent a lot of time building homes for wounded veterans. Much respect to him and may he rest in peace.
@5:05 my drill instructor never choked me but he did beat the shit out of me quite a bit