Another classic Kubrick!!

Full Metal Jacket is a film that I loved and didn't like which is something that I think is really weird but can't help but think this way. What I loved about Full Metal Jacket was only the first 40 minutes of it involving the training in the army. I found it absolutely hilarious because Drill Sergeant Hartman was a complete bastard and the way he was speaking and what he was saying was hilarious! Also with the sudden screaming of "Sir, yes, sir!" and "Sir, no sir!" I was totally gripped with Private Pyle's character but I was disappointed when he commited suicide because I thought that it was about him but it was more about Private Joker. Pyle's suicide was a very powerful and dark scene. After that moment, I didn't like the rest of the film because I thought it was pretty dull and boring.


I wasn't really interested in Private Joker's character at all to be honest because I think it was mostly because I didn't really like the actor playing him. I thought Vincent D'Onofrio was really brilliant as Private Pyle because he brought out that sensitive, kind-hearted attitude but also his psychological side as well. He was the ultimate bully victim not only to the drill sergeant but also to some of the other privates in the platoon. His name isn't really Pyle. His real name is Leonard Lawrence. The more pressure Pyle was under he became totally twisted which is really tragic because he didn't deserve it. I think his relationship with Drill Sergeant Hartman was absolutely brilliant because they both revealed to the world what sensitive people could be feeling like when in the army with the Drill Sergeant screaming and hitting them. It was good that Hartman was naming all of the privates by something they've said, done or anything else like Private Joker, Private Cowboy, Private Snowball and Private Pyle. R. Lee Ermey was absolutely fantastic! He was hilarious and very cold hearted which is after all the nature of a sergeant/colonel in the army.


Stanley Kubrick's work in Full Metal Jacket is very good. The way Kubrick filmed this film was in a very similar way to his other films. Even if I didn't know that Full Metal Jacket was a Kubrick film I would be able to tell that it's one of his because of the camera angles used within it. The camera slowly zooms out in an impactful event just like it does in A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut as well as Full Metal Jacket. Full Metal Jacket is Kubrick's war film not Paths Of Glory despite that is a fantastic film though.


It is weird because I loved the first 40 minutes but didn't like the rest of it very much as it says in my review. That is the only thing that has happened to me in a film before. I think if I watch all of it again in the future I will appreciate it more. Full Metal Jacket is Kubrick's sixth best film after A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb. Full Metal Jacket is one of the best war films as well as one of the best black comedies.

9/10