Review of Full Metal Jacket (1987) by Kambria S — 26 Nov 2012

If you have ever been to Basic Training, you will laugh your ass off when R. Lee Ermey whooshes himself onto the screen. Maggots! Dumbass! Screwball! Everything that a drill sergeant would say, he says. But when you start to notice the effects, and toll that it takes on soldiers who aren't quite up to par, then you start to wonder.

The movie is carried by the two bunk buddies. Private"Joker" -played by Matthew Modine, and Private "Pyle", as in Gomer Pyle, played by the brilliant Vince D'Onofrio. It's a chilling portrayal of the realities of war, but a masterful interpretation of a soldiers life in the Marine Corps. Even though "Joker" is a journalist, he arms himself with an M16 and fights back against Vietnam insurgents, in what is a scene that seems to bring back an element so familiar in Akira Kurosawa films. That wide, anticipating shot, that proves to be an effective way to keep the audience in suspense.

All in all, this is a perfect war film. Better than - dare I say it - Oliver Stones, "Platoon".