Stanley Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET (1987) - Reaction & Commentary - This Movie's Insane!
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
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Hope you enjoy my first time watching Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987) starring Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio and R. Lee Ermey.
Please watch the original content on Prime Video or Crave (in Canada).
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"Peace in your heart. Born to kill in your head. Joker is not a killer."
BAM
That's the morale of the movie right there. Under the right circumstances, we can all to be made to be one.
Or was he the only one of them kind enough to end the terminal suffering of a teenaged girl?
In a world where the most humane thing to do is commit an act of murder, you really gotta wonder what that world is worth, and who put you there. "Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me M.I.C.K.E.Y. M.O.U.S.E."
@@edwardmckenzie6988 Ok this made me think. nice comment. My grandpa was a Marine in WWII my uncle was a Marine in Vietnam and I was a Marine in Iraq and I hope we are fighting to end that kind of world but 3 generations and we are still fighting. So maybe the best we can hope for is to keep that world away from our families. Really good comment.
The peace sign slowly disappears when Joker executes the sniper. Joker is a killer.
One of the very interesting things that is unsaid about this film is the way it portrays a very real program that the US Military ran from 1966 to 1971 called Project 100,000...Private Pyle is clearly meant to represent it, though Kubrick and D'Onofrio have never specifically stated that, as far as I can find. As more and more US troops were sent to Vietnam, the DoD calculated that they would not have enough to both escalate the war and meet their needs elsewhere. So Project 100,000 was initiated to see if the normal standards for IQ and physical/mental fitness to be inducted into the US Military could be broadened at all...to see if people who did not meet the old standards could still be turned into useful soldiers/sailors/airmen/Marines etc....the program was variously nicknamed "McNamara's Folly" "McNamara's Morons" and "McNamara's Misfits." 🖖💯✌
absolutely. There is also slight reference I think to the useful patsy for domestic events (think of the drill seargant's glowing review of ex-Marine domestic assasins / mass shooters) -- the method of wiping a human beings fundamental ideas and beliefs (and subsequent behaviors) and and re-programming them with a different set, where they still think they act ethical when murdering civiians (chopper gunner was no different than any domestic mass shooter) well that also relates to MK Ultra which Clockwork Orange and The Shining references. It was a topic heavily on Kubrick's mind
I am a former Marine MSgt. 1972-1985. Gunny was a real DI and he took no shit from anyone, even after retirement.
WOW…😳 understood 😑
“Well-made and painful.” Damn, that’s a very concisely accurate description.
I know every bit of this film. Having been in the army, in a combat arms job, for 9 years, I assure you nothing in this film is absurd.
This is one of my favourite films. A lot of people say it's not as good when they leave the training, but I think the second half of the movie is still as good. Some really powerful imagery throughout.
This was filmed entirely in the UK, amazing how a ship load of imported palm trees made England look like Vietnam. The urban battle scenes were filmed in a disused gas works in the middle of London before the area was redeveloped, it was also used for filming Empire of the Sun
We do have palm trees in the UK, but down south where it’s a lot warmer!
All locations were filmed within 30 miles of Stanley Kubriks London home, the barracks scene was a real British Army barracks, the Vietnam Town scene was another location and the final sniper scene was filmed at Beckton Gasworks which was the largest gasworks in the world at the time. Kubrik didn't care for flying and didn't want to leave his wife and 3 daughters while filming in America so decided to film entirely in England instead.
Apparently Kubrick wanted to "build reality", rather than go to it. Also, it was cheaper to film in UK and just build everything lol.
@@OblivionGate I’m pretty sure the Vietnamese town was just a great big exterior set -scratch built.
Aliens was also filmed at the gas works.
For me, the Mickey Mouse heme reminds us that these are boys, who have been turned into killers, just as their training was intended to do. If you haven’t seen Paths of Glory, you should, it’s Kubrick’s towering damning indictment of war.
The battles were filmed in docklands, London. The huge industrial area was in the process of demolition, so they took advantage of that to totally destroy the place while filming.
Yes, the urban war scenes were filmed in the vast abandoned gasworks at Beckton, on the north bank of the Thames just to the northeast of what is now London City Airport.
9:37 "Hoooleeee Jesus!" Hahaha
I met Gunny about 15 yrs ago. He couldn't have been more humble and kind to my wife and myself. He was more interested in talking about my service than his own. RIP Gunny.
Thank you for sharing. Rip.
Semper fi
I also loved him in Mail Call and wish I could have met him in person
Ex British Army here and you were right, the "punish the squad, instead of the individual" treatment was commonly used, and in turn the squad would sort out the individual, but I won't go into details.
You’re right I heard my older brother is a veteran he talked about the platoon getting “smoked” for what another man did…he said every platoon has a “Private Pyle” type of guy
Oh look there's Christian Shepard, Jack's dad.
Animal Mother was Pyle born again hard, like Gunny said in training. Animal represented what Pyle might have been…
Visited Vietnam back in 2019. Amazing country, such proud people, with a real understanding of what happened in that period. Really gives you a perspective of the scale and stupidity of the whole war, which Kubrick highlights very well.
I did 3 tours, married a Vietnamese woman and we went back in 1995 to visit her mom and other family members still there. I went to visit different places I had been and a few I hadn’t. At Củ Chi on of the tour guides, an older Communist soldier, started talking to me and we sat for a while talking about life in our respective countries and I asked him what his thoughts were talking to someone he may have faced during the war. He said “that is in the past, we can all be friends now”. Vietnamese people are tough but they have open hearts.
Mickey Mouse was in there three times. Hartman says “What’s this Mickey Mouse shit?!” as he walks into the head, Mickey is on the wall or shelf in the press room, and the song at the end.
Notice how sex and violence are intertwined. The use of prostitutes, interchangeably using phrases such as "Get some" "Boom-boom" and "This is my rifle, this is my gun" thought the movie.
When it comes down to the final showdown. Joker's "gun" malfunctions upon seeing the young girl. Rafterman ends up shooting her, then proceeds to rock (humping) back and forth in excitement over the "kill" and kisses his rifle. At the end of the scene, Kubrick films it in bird/frog perspective. With the girl lying on the ground and with all the men standing above her in a circle.
I have to admit to growing very fond of your channel and listening to your analysis. Kubrick is like a fine wine.
31:42 - ? It was entirely made in England ! The bombed out city was London's Docklands !
First of all, Stanley Kubrick had been living in Britain for years at this time. He had a tremendous fear of flying and went to great lengths to avoid leaving the country. With the exception of a few shots in the Boot Camp sequence, (and apparently, according to the end credits, some shots in Vietnam) everything you see here was shot in England.
The set for the battles in Hue were an actual city in England that had been built by expatriates from what had been French Indochina (now Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) and they had built their community in the same style of architecture as they'd had in Vietnam. That area was gradually abandoned and it was all going to be demolished, so Kubrick went to the officials in charge and got them to let him use the whole place as a movie set. Despite the tremendous job they did of making it look like a tropical hellhole it was actually freezing cold for much of the shoot and if you look closely there are several places where you can see an actors breath coming out all foggy.
As a United States Marine..when I first saw this movie, you couldn't tell me that they didn't actually film a real platoon in Boot Camp! That beginning was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO realistic, especially in 1991 when i saw it
Excellent upload today Neil and I thank you very much for it 👍
The gunnery sergant in the film was a real one. He served and trained marines for Vietnam. He originally had a script, but kubrick let him improvise one scene. And said it was so much better then he could come with
Jokers jokes were all just jokes up until he was the one to pull the trigger. That joke he had about "I wanted to be the first one on my block with a confirmed kill"
He was. But didn't think it'd be a teenager or a little girl. Truly expressing the taxing evil of war. I've seen a lot of marines look at this movie as a way to live. But me being their doc, I see this movie as a warning.
I always took it as a sign that Animal Mother was right about Joker on one thing: He talked the talk, but that was about it, when it came to actually walking the walk, he got nervous and faltered (See the scene with Cowboy where they realize they've missed th checkpoint). His mind has been indoctrinated, but his heart's not in it. After all, Hartman was wrong, Joker is a writer, not a killer.
I saw this the night after graduating MCRD in 87
Best depiction of marine boot camp I have seen
This Bootcamp scene was the closest to my bootcamp experience ever put on film....I love it.
I've seen most of Kubrick's films. As you watch more and more of them you start to notice thematic and visual motifs that recur in most of his films. It's definitely worthwhile to watch them all (there aren't that many) to get a broader idea of what he was all about. Probably my favorites are '2001: A Space Odyssey' and maybe, surprisingly, 'Barry Lyndon'...or maybe 'The Shining'...hmmm, maybe 'Paths of Glory'?
Paths of Glory is one of my favorites, too.
"Mother" is Adam Baldwin who played Jayne from "Firefly".
Knew the lieutenant in charge of the press assignments looked familiar.
It's Hawk the Slayer, AKA Christian Shephard, AKA John Terry (not that one).
btw the marine basic training was absolutely accurate. It was based on a memoir by a vet.
R. Lee Ermey himself said that if he had been caught doing even half the crap he pulled her in this movie, he would've been court martialed.
Joker finally got a confirmed kill.
Yeah and its something that he's going to have to live with the rest of his life.
He's got the thousand-yard stare now.
17:06 - "Ann-Margaret and entourage are due here next week." How weird, just this morning CBS Sunday Morning did a story on Ann-Margaret and she did mention how proud she was of the work she did entertaining the troops in Viet Nam.
Shout out to my old English Teacher Mr Rowels who made us read Catch 22 and described FMJ in detail before aged 12.
From a quick poking around the internet, it seems Kubrick preferred the 1.33:1 aspect ratio but accepted that Full Metal Jacket (and some of his other movies) would be shown mated to 1.85:1 in U.S. Theaters. For DVD home viewing, the 'correct' aspect ratio should be 1.33:1.
[EDIT: After a bit of further digging, it sounds like Kubrick only preferred 1:33:1 because he wanted to protect his films from being altered when they went to home viewing formats on televisions with the 4:3 format.]
great bit of trivia, I was wondering this as well, thank you!
When they go into the song "Surfin' bird (the bird is the word)" that's Kubrick tracking left behind the camera.
Can't wait for the Kubrick catalogue 👍
Nice!
the “get some” door gunner was originally supposed to play the role of the Drill Instructor
I'm copy-pasting a reddit thread.
Anyone who has studied Kubrick knows he cared deeply about aspect ratios. When he filmed 2001 in 2.35, it became a mess when it was pan and scanned down to 4:3 for television (the way most people would end up watching it), losing nearly HALF the original image. So afterwards, he vowed never to shoot at that ratio ever again, which he didn't.
A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon were both 1.66, like Lolita and Paths of Glory before them. Barry Lyndon was changed to 1.78 for the Blu ray, but the new Criterion has since fixed that.
However, once we get to Kubrick's final three movies, things become very, VERY difficult.
The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut were all technically filmed at 1.33 or 4:3, the aspect ratio of television. For the theatrical releases, they were usually 1.85 in America, and 1.66 in Europe. However, on the original home releases, the DVD was 1.33, the full matte. Even more confusing, the Blu Rays were all 1.78, which is pretty much the only aspect ratio we are certain Kubrick DID NOT prefer, as he never released any of his films like that during his life.
R. Lee Ermey was a Marine in Vietnam, but he had studied drama in the Philippines and appeared in movies before this. In fact he appears in 'Apocalypse Now' as a helicopter pilot in addition to having been one of Coppola's advisers. The movie was deliberately shot in 4:3, maybe because most people had seen the war through television screens and 35mm photographs, but in theaters it was matted to widescreen.
He also played a Drill Sgt in the boys of company C. Made in the 70s
Kubrick left the hair shaving scene as last to be shot..so the guys had regrown their hair and then he had them shave it all off to really capture the feelings, lmao.
That line from the general - Inside every g*** is an american trying to get out - has such a cool double meaning depending if you place the emphasis on "American" or "trying to get out".
Great spot on Animal Mother and Pyle looking similar...there's a kind of continuation of Pyles arc from innocent having to kill off his innocence to become the killing machine that is Animal Mother...i'm going to have to rewatch this as from what i remember, Pyles death scene plays out a lot like a dream sequence. There's also stuff that lines up with the sniper being killed and the squad haggling over the prostitute, implying they did something to that prostitute as a group. Kubrick put a hell of a lot of sexual references, dialogue, situations that tied in the idea of the soldiers being indoctrinated to associate sex with violence and conquering. I hope you enjoy going through the rest of Kubricks films, there's some fascinating multi levelled story telling, that gets very meta in some (2001), and just puts a whole new spin on the story (the shining, clockwork orange). Background details are as essential as the characters performing on screen, repeating a scene composition to tie those scenes together, monoliths from 2001 appearing in odd places like Cowboys death scene , choice of continuity edits with errors that aren't actually errors. All the billboards in this film were deliberately chosen (as it was filmed in the london docklands for the vietnam scenes) and when translated, put a spin on scenes. It's crazy the level of details he put in. "Collative Learning" channel has some interesting analysis on his films and patterns of visual metaphor.
good points, there's a lot of topical continuty between FMJ and Clockwork Orange. ACO focused on the domestic and explicitly deals with the scientific technocrats who believed they could reorganize society by tinkering with the human mind and behaviorial outcomes. FMJ basically is extending that to foreign wars, all the mind-reshaping science is hidden but still beneath the surface with the methodical reprogramming that happens through basic training. In both films, individual humans are expendable in a grand experiment for a "greater good"
I read an article of Full Metal Jacket online that I can no longer find - it made a very convincing case that Private Pyle and Animal Mother are mirrors in the two halves of the story - Animal Mother is what Pyle would have become if he hadn't killed himself- the ultimate product of the training and the environment
More Kubrick, please, all films are different and brilliant
I scour the internet for Kubrick reactions. Not enough Barry Lyndon reactions.
Are there any at all?
Dude, you have the best content out there, love your channel and what you do
If you noticed when the tank shot at a building in the distance when the round exploded on the building the sound delay was real not Hollywwood syncing the sound. I like the small touches.
One of my all-time favorite war films. Kubrick could take on any genre and make a masterpiece. One thing I don't know if you noticed or not - the Lieutenant in charge of the Stars and Stripes editorial was played by John Terry, AKA Christian Shephard. Just a fun little Lost connection.
Great reaction Neil! Looking forward to more Kubrick if there's any coming.
Fun fact, R.Lee Ermey, who plays the drill sergeant, was a technical advisor on Apocalypse Now, and he has a small speaking role in that as, I think, a helicopter pilot.
He also played a Vietnam era, marine drill instructor in the 1978 film, Boys in Company C
I find the whole "support the troops not the war" point very interesting. But I grew up in a country that's been through a military coup and decades of a military dictatorship (and that seems to be approaching a new one), where our military arrested, tortured and killed our own citizens - not to mention censorship, economic collapse and all the mess they brought on. That makes it very hard for me to support any troops and any military methods.
Matthew Modine put out a fantastic coffee table book in 2005 called “Full Metal Jacket Diary” that’s full of his own photographs from the shoot as well as his journal entries from when he was auditioning all through production. I’m not sure I’ve read a more vivid account of what it must have been like shooting with Kubrick, for better or worse. The shoot went on forever and Modine’s mindset about doing a hundred fifty takes of everything just about sent him down Private Pyle’s road - sometimes he thought it was Kubrick being brilliant and uncompromising and other times he decided Kubrick had no idea what he wanted and was ready to quit, or even both at once. Very much worth reading if you can find it.
While you’re Kubrick-ing you might want to check out a documentary called “Film Worker” about Leon Vitali, who started with Kubrick as an actor in “Barry Lyndon” and ended up as his assistant, working very closely with him in all sorts of capacities for the rest of his life.
Holy crap the GI jane reference in the first few minutes. You better keep your eyes peeled...
Gunnery Sgt. Hartman was played by the late R. Lee Ermay who had been a U.S.M.C. drill instructor. Afterwards he did become an actor and was in several movies. I had read once he was hired to help teach the original actor who was to play the D.I. however he impressed the director and was offered the job to play Hartman.
First viewing of one of your reactions, and it’s a good one. I like your presentation, editing approach, and comments. Haven’t looked at other selections you’ve posted, but I look forward to watching more.
Welcome aboard!
I think the Mickey Mouse song was expressing the corporatization of war.
Hi NATE - the opening haircut scene is lifted directly from a movie also staring lee ermey called the BOYS IN COMPANY C - a little underrated but very entertaining Nam movie i doubt any of you young folk have seen but i highly recommend . also check out kubrick's masterpiece antiwar film PATHS OF GLORY.
BTW, @CinemaTyler has done a well-researched series of videos on the making of this movie on his channel. He's done the same for '2001: A Space Odyssey', 'A Clockwork Orange, and 'Apocalypse Now'.
I strongly second that recommendation.
The factory scenes were filmed in warrington between Manchester and Liverpool
The Beckton Gasworks in London were partially demolished for this film, to represent the city of Hue.
The same place can also be seen in a music video called 'D'you know what I mean?'
Neil, I kid you not, check out Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1956).
Nothing to do with the movie but I love the PIP Boy sculpture on the shelf behind you.
Regarding the movie I do want to say Joker didn't freeze, his rifle jammed when he tried to shoot the sniper. M16s were notorious for jamming when they were first issued because they didn't supply the correct type of ammo for them.
Its like a frenzy of sharks around a dead whale
Not sure what copy you are watching, looks cropped a bit
1.33 : 1 (television ratio)
1.66 : 1 (theatrical ratio - Europe)
1.78 : 1 (Blu-ray)
1.85 : 1 (theatrical ratio - US & UK)
I was convinced when I first saw this movie, that Animal Mother was Vincent D'onofrio, sent away to lose weight and shape up to play a different role, rather have him in just half of the movie....Then you realise its Adam Baldwin and you just can't unsee thst he's obviously a Baldwin 🤣😂🤣.
This movie always felt like two movies in one, with the first ending in the head. The whole mood just shifts so much from there. The juxtaposition Kinda amplifies the whole duality of man thing joker says.
Adam Baldwin isn't a Baldwin, well he is, just not related to Alec Baldwin et al.
Thanks for explaining why you never saw this. Keeping reactions real wins viewers. So many become 'plastic' instead of 'seasoned'.
Thank you so much!
The round that killed Cowboy went through his heart and hit his dog tags on exit, you can see them fly up.
Have you ever heard a bullet coming uprange? It's like downrange but in reverse. You will never forget it.
A thoughtful reaction! Please consider watching and reacting to the tv series
"Peaky Blinders" as seen on Netflix. About a gang in Birmingham , England. Starts in 1919, the year following the War. They rise from street thugs to politicians at the height of their ascent.
Top tier acting from the likes of Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Sam Neill.
Beautiful cinematography, great script.
Plt 356 1962. We had a guy who didn’t shower. We held him down and platoon used scrub brushes on him. Everybody participated so no one could be held solely responsible.
Good observation about the Pyle/Animal Mother connection. Animal Mother is a reflection of what Pyle was turning into before he flipped out. They easily could have been the same character.
Boot camp scenes are pretty accurate. When I went through the DIs weren’t supposed to hit you, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen on occasion.
Kubrick : when your consciousness makes a film.
The whole film was shot within 50 miles of London, England. The sniper was a 12 year old girl. Sidney didn’t like to fly.
You mean STANLEY.
@@BrotherDerrick3X Yes, you are correct. Stanley didn’t like to fly and the Vietnam scenes were shot first in the winter before the haircuts.
the urban cimbat scenes were filmed in a disused industrial area on the east side of London
My father (a Korea era Marine) has said the boot camp scenes were very authentic.
Kubrick knocks it out of the park again. Great reaction man!!!
When he brings up "I support the soldier, but not the war." It reminds me of the whole "I hate the sin, but not the sinner." bs. It's very hard to separate the 2.
My thoughts are that if you gather so many men together, you will get the worst of man and the best of man, just through sheer odds.
My dad, a Vietnam vet, always called Apocalypse Now, A Pile of Sh!t Now lol
The overall theme of the movie is mentioned twice, once by gunnery Sergeant Hartman saying "What is this Mickey Mouse Shit" and second time by Private Joker when he said to Poge Colonel, "I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man Sir". At the end of the film the mention Mickey Mouse was reprised. Paths of Glory is another good by Kubrick.
Know where the Wei City scenes were filmed? At a derelict power station on the outskirts of London. The palm trees were loaned from Kew Gardens for the scenes. Note at the start of the second part of the film the bill board with the smiling man? You see that again in Wei City! Look closely as the platoon passes through the city.
Paths of Glory is another outstanding film that was made by Kubrick after Kirk Douglas constantly badgered him to make the film. Kirk thought that this film was that important. Colonel Dax's (Kirk Douglas's) walk along the trench line before going over the top to lead the attack on the Anthill, and the attack itself, must be considered one of the finest re-enactments of a WW1 trench attack ever put on film. It equals the scenes from the old version of All Quiet on The Western Front, a film made in the 1930's that won an Oscar. It is an absolute must watch for you.
You will note that Kubrick has a habit of making a two part film. It was like this in Full Metal Jacket (two distinct parts) and Paths of Glory. We see the attack, and then the aftermath. Genius film makers come along every now and then, and Kubrick is definitely in that category as was Sergio Leone, Don Siegel, John Houston, Orson Welles, Sam Peckinpah etc. Ever watch Cross of Iron? Another great film. A little melodramatic in places, but the action sequences are superb......Sam Peckinpah was one for realism, and he certainly hooked me on that in this film.
Full Metal Jacket was filmed in Beckton Gasworks, London, United Kingdom, Parris Island, South Carolina, and Isle of Dogs, London, United Kingdom,.
The scene where they beat him with soap is called a “blanket party”. It was still used when I was in the Army in the late 80’s. While it is brutal, it works.
I remember when I was working retail an ex-military marine guy was working with us and he was actually in the Vietnam War and I asked him what was the most scariest thing back then he said one word
Stupidity
And I immediately got what he was saying people setting off their own grenades people not telling other people when they're going to go take a piss in the middle of the night coming back and getting shot stupid things like that accidentally shooting your own guy maybe that's what Kubrick's trying to get across that the war is stupid
Of course, all war is intimate for the infantry man. I am not a soldier, but I’ve read a little about it. And one thing that books written about by privates have in common is they say They don’t know anything about “the war” they only know about what’s going on 10 feet to the left of them and 10 feet to the right of them.
I immediately want you to compare it to his "Paths of Glory" 1957
and "Lolita" 1967 is why I miss James Mason
my father went through Parris Island near the end of the war and said other than the homosexual references the D.I.s opening greeting was fairly accurate.
he also said at one point he got to the point he wanted to kill his sergeant the next time he walked by...
I've always felt 'full metal jacket' is what the marines intended to encase each recruit in and what Joker achieved at the end.
Have you seen much of Sydney Pollack's work? I have mentioned before Robert Redford's mountain man movie "Jeremiah Johnson" 1972 but now I think the way to entice you is because I think it is one of the best things Pollack directed.
I liked Jeremy Irons better as Humbert.
It was made before Platoon but released almost a year later.
Mother Animal is such an interesting character. He's a racist asshole, yet was absolutely willing to die trying to save a black soldier. Definitely shows the bond that forms between soldiers like nothing else can do
the duality of man right there, dehumanizing the "other" while at the exact same time considering that other an equally dignified member of the group worth risking your life for
Hue city was Beckton gasworks in London. The helicopter shooting at civilians was over the Thames or Medway estuary nearby, probably close to Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey.
The many curving waterways are distinctive.
The training base was RAF Binbrook airfield, dressed up to look more like Paris Island.
The Tet Offensive was the turning point of the Vietnam war. The north Vietnamese brought the war to the cities in the south. Joker and his crew are fighting in the legendary Battle of Hue.
90% of the Drill Instructor's dialogue was completely improv ... He had previously been an actual drill instructor ... He was actually hired to be a consultant to the actor that was going to play the drill instructor, but he did such a great job demonstrating what needed to be done, he was hired for the role.
R. Lee Ermey’s first movie roll was playing a Vietnam era, marine drill instructor in the 1978 film, Boys in company C. Great movie. There’s a bunch of clips on YT. Good stuff
Ermey didn't repat himself either. Every take had diffrent insults, the actors playing the recruits never knew what was coming.
the original person that was going to be the drill instructor is the guy in the helicopter shooting random civilians
I like your analysis of this movie - While alot of older war movies glorified and glamorized war, 2 other movies like this one are "The Siege of Firebase Gloria", which, incidentally, starred R. Lee Ermey (the drill instructor from this movie), and "Hamburger Hill".
Movies like this kept me out of the military.
I think this is a far superior film to Platoon (which is still a decent movie).
The bombed out buildings were shot in London , a disused Gass Works and in winter.
I kinda emparhize with the gir, she has true grit, she is John Wayne though he would have said,, Give me a cigarette.
Don't worry about the 4:3 aspect ratio. He shot it that way because he knew it'd be shown on cable TV. He protected for widescreen, so if you like, just put masking tape over the top and bottom of your monitor, and you'll see what was theatrically released.
I just realized that the one guy between 17:00 and 17:30 is the young actor of Dr. Christian Shephard! 😳😁
the urban fighting was filmed on the Isle of Dogs in London
The door gunner in the chopper was originally cast as the gunnery sergeant, but R. Lee Ermey pushed for the part.
What happened to Private Pyle was called a "blanket party", and the Drill Seargents would sometimes condone it, or at least look the other way, supposedly to "motivate" a soldier or marine that was screwing up.
I never saw it actually happen during basic training or A.I.T. but I did hear stories, true or not.
Absolutely, my older was a veteran he told me a guy got a “blanket party” in the bunk above him!😳he said his bed was vibrating😅😅
Usually you would have to fuck up real bad repeatedly for something like that to happen though.
Pyle = Animal Mother
Pyle ceased to exist after the beating. The Gunny makes a reference to Pyle being born again. Pyle and Animal Mother look alike and have the same slow pattern of speech. Jokers reference to the Jungian thing. This whole movie is a collection situations that show the duality of man. Stanley Kubrick literally has the characters in the movie break down the meaning of the movie in their own words.
I don't know why I get strong catch-22 vibes from Full Metal Jacket, but I do. The insanity of war? "Surreal stupidity" "Ridiculously vile" Says Neil? Yeah that very much applies to both these war stories.
Yep. 4:3 is the correct aspect ratio.
Edit: It was filmed in 4:3, and matted to 1.85:1 in theaters.
I enjoy how different this one is from "Apocalypse" and "Platoon", especially the music score. Those other films utilized acid rock and (frankly pretentious) classical music like Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings". "Jacket" used Spike Jones and "Boots are Made for Walkin'" and other novelty hits of the 60s. You've mentioned already the urban setting for war, and the meta/journalist focus. One can like this or not, but one can't say it's like the other Vietnam movies.
All the music in the film was from the era of Vietnam . Having grown up in a military family , I did protest the war . However I never blamed the soldiers ,they did what they were called on to do . The age of the men who served in the war was younger on the whole than in past wars . The US didn't lose any major engagements , the government wanted out so they came up with " Peace With Honor " and walked away . Which sent the message that all those who served , were wounded or died did so in vain . McNamara sold Kennedy on expanding the war , after the Bay of Pigs . But it was in 65' that Johnson totally ramped it up after staging the Gulf of Tonkin incident .