Review of Full Metal Jacket (1987) by Logan M — 07 Aug 2015

By 1987, numerous Vietnam films have arrived to the silver screen, the most notable example being Coppola´s "Apocalypse Now", "The Deer Hunter", and Stone´s "Platoon". So what could Kubrick offer? The answer: The polarizing "two films in one" movie "Full Metal Jacket".

We follow the training and service of some young men who are eager to "fight the good fight" in Vietnam.

Out of all the short list of Stanley Kubrick films, this is the film that I consider the most peculiar and experimental as I find the choices Kubrick made bizarre but extremely fascinating. "Full Metal Jacket" is this intriguing version of the Vietnam War that has solid acting with the best being R. Lee Ermey in an iconic role and Vincent D´Onofrio; the dialog is extremely sharp edge and vulgar but surprisingly is hilarious at times and mostly memorable, Kubrick´s most distinctive use of music as they are widely popular songs or highly irrelevant to the war setting, an uneven pacing that at times takes you out of the experience but at others it flawlessly works as it literally throws you into the scene, the cinematography is as gorgeous as most Kubrick films, a distant and omnipresent storytelling that creates this cynical style, the themes are executed extremely effectively, some of the visuals are haunting and realistic, and Kubrick provides his most experimental directing as most of the time it is fast and feels like the whole film is a montage. The biggest criticisms the film are that the first half is incredible but the second is dull and forgettable, of course the most iconic and memorable section is the first half and while the second half never reaches that level of quality it also has some memorable moments, particularly the climax of the film. The other criticism is the overall feel of the film (some Vietnam vets consider it extremely accurate but others consider it a fantasy take of the war) because it is not like other Vietnam films where they are set in a jungle and have more moral dilemmas; it is an odd way to present war but I believe that the film is not about Vietnam but about war in generally due to its dehumanization themes (actually the visuals are more reminiscent of urban warfare and the War on Terror, which is scary considering this is a film from the 80´s).

"Full Metal Jacket" is an experimental take of the Vietnam War that feels like two great movies smashed together via montage. While it is by no means one of the Kubrick´s greatest, it is not one of the weakest. It is funny, haunting, heavy on themes, and the most interesting Kubrick film (directing wise).