Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie, But DVD Issue
Review: Although the U.S. theatrical aspect ratio of this movie was 1.85:1, while the DVD aspect ratio is 4:3, this is not a "Pan&Scan" DVD. In other words, almost none of the original theatrical image has been removed for exhibition on a 4:3 television screen. The film negative aspect ratio was 1.37:1 (almost 4:3), and for U.S. theatrical exhibition, the image was "matted" (partially covered from the top down and bottom up) to produce a 1.85:1 image. For exhibition on a 4:3 television screen, the "mattes" have simply been removed. So the DVD exhibition actually shows 25.9 percent more image than the theatrical exhibition. Director Stanley Kubrick reportedly filmed many of his movies this way so that the theatrical image wouldn't be butchered on television by the "Pan&Scan" process, and (not reportedly) because he didn't foresee the current state of the home video market, where consumers prefer movies presented in their theatrical aspect ratio, rather than in a ratio in which the image will fill up their 4:3 television screen (if there is a difference). This DVD presents the movie in the aspect ratio in which director Stanley Kubrick wanted people to see it on a 4:3 television, but it does not present the movie in the aspect ratio in which Kubrick wanted people to see it in a U.S. movie theater (for that, the DVD would have to present the movie in a "matted widescreen" format). If you're okay with that, enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: First of all....many Marines say that the first 30 minutes of the movie about boot camp is THE most accurate depiction of Parris Island in cinematic history. And of course Lee Ermey himself being a former Marine drill instructor tops it all....his profanity laced tirades are totally outrageous. Second of all, the latter half of the movie deals with a subject not covered in Vietnam movies, a squad getting lost and having to face a lone sniper. Its a radical departure to be sure, but Kubrick in his usual cinematic mastery makes it very gripping. So if you like Vietnam movies that are a bit different but still as strong as Hamburger Hill and Platoon, check this one out....its fantastic.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Great Kubrick Work...
Review: Firstly, I've always loved Stanley Kubrick's art works. From 2001 to A Clockwork Orange to Barry Lyndon to The Shining, Kubrick's films have always been unique and outstanding. Concerning Full Metal Jacket (FMJ):
I saw this film when it first appeared, and I thought I was a little let down. I've recently seen it again on DVD, and I now truly see its intrinsic excellence. FMJ appeared after The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now, and so at the time it seemed that Kubrick had arrived a little late, and was covering similar territory of 1980s post-Vietnam cinema.
Now, however, with some distance, and in the wake of the urban warfare of Iraq, FMJ is revealed in all its glory. One of the funny things is that the first third of the film at basic training is basically realistic--except for the shattering climax. I had a drill instructor at basic which spouted the same hackneyed expressions, sang the same PT (physical training) songs, etc. Moreover, the language used by the GIs is the same stilted dialect we used. And the exercises, obstacle course, shooting range, marching, mopping the toilets, etc.--that's all exactly what it was like.
The second two-thirds of the film--in Viet Nam--as mentioned above, look more real since the current Iraqi War: earlier, it had looked less good when compared to the lush greenness of Deer Hunter or Apocalypse Now; now, however, it looks about right (compare with We Were Soldiers). The dryness of the trees and the shattered urban lanscape look okay now.
One other note: the use of rock 'n' roll tracks on the sound track--for a sense of irony--was also used by Coppola in Apocalypse Now, but it must be remembered that at the time it was something of a new innovation. Now, of course, it's passé.
Rating:
Summary: very real
Review: Full Metal Jacket is almost to real.The boot camp scenes with R.Lee Ermey who was a real life drill instructor for the Marines are unbeleivable,the things that he says will make you laugh but know that what is going on on the screen is what really goes on in boot camps maybe not as extreme any more because they cant hit anymore but they yell,they use extreme foul language and crude insults,they break spirits,and they motivate.You may think that R.Lee Ermey gets what he deserves at the end of the first half of the movie but realize that he was just doing what he was supposed to do and the mental torture he puts the recruit(D'nofrio) through he humiliates him,he turns the whole Platoon on him,but thats only to motivate him so don't think the Ermeys charater gets what he deserves because it's all part of the Marine Core training.Now the second half is some of the most unbeleivabley tense,funny,and just horrific scenes of war ever on screen.Now this is a movie that will stick with you especially the first half just beware.Very disturbing,violent,sad,and funny all at the same time hell it's alot like the war itself.
Rating:
Summary: BORN TO KILL
Review: Full Metal Jacket is the gritty, psychologically disturbing tale of the process that turns humans into trained killers. The film is essentially diveded into two halves, with the first taking part during marine recruit training where the would-be soldiers are molded into remorseless killing machines. The performance by Vincent D'onofrio highlights this intense first half. The second half follows Private Joker to Vietnam and the combat of Hue City. Surprisingly, the violence of war pales in comparison to the dehumanization process and build-up of the recruit training. Despite losing some momentum(which would have been almost impossibe to keep up) it completes the story by showing how the training has effected them mentally. The combat scenes feature great cinematography among the backdrop of countless burning buildings. This is a welcome change from the scenery of the jungle of most nam films. The end is cold, calculated and surprising, culminating in an extrordinary experience. The film also contains a unique feel to it, credited to director Stanley Kubrick. The acting of Mathew Modine carries the film and the now infamous character of Sg. Hartman make this an unforgetable film. Definitely worth the purchase for the fact that it can be viewed many times because of its deep layers of meaning. The Stanley Kubrick Colection also features the origional cinematic trailer. In short, if you're looking for a film about vietnam then skip this, but if you're looking for a film about the dehumanization of war then this classic fits the bill. The film was nominated for best adapted screenplay and was voted second best picture of the year by the late critic Gene Siskel.
Rating:
Summary: This is my rifle, this is my Gun!
Review: Full Metal Jacket, Stanley Kubrick's take on the Vietnam war, is essentially two films packaged as one. The first half is an amazing piece of cinematic work, while the second half is not quite up to snuff. This gives the film a disjointed feel and leaves one wondering what is the point of the second half. Honestly I would have been happy had he ended with the graduation from Parris Island, even if it would have meant a 45 mintue film.
The first half, as I said, is amazing. R. Lee Ermey turns in an Oscar winning performance (too bad the liberal Hollywood elite failed to even nominate him for an award)as Gunnery Sgt. Hartman, the drill instructor who has the task of turning the Marine Recruits into fighting men worthy of the name U.S. Marine. There are so many memerable moments in Ermey's portrayal that I couldn't list them all here. Suffice it to say you will find yourself watching the boot camp sequences again and again.
The second half of the movie drags on, although we are following the main character, "Private Joker" through the rest of his time in the Marine's (or at least the most important part, his tour in 'Nam). Not to take away from Matt Modine's performance, but I was unable to care about his character once he graduated from boot camp so I found myself drifting off during the second half of the movie.
Having said that, I still find myself being forced to rate the film at 4 stars, that's how great the first half of this film is. If you've not seen it, then I suggest you rent it first.
Rating:
Summary: Movie gets 5 Stars the DVD gets 0 stars
Review: I can't beleive they released this full screen version rather then 16:9. Totally lame DVD - But what a great movie!!!
Rating:
Summary: Hmm... think, think, think...
Review: I remember back in my Senior year of high school (only two years back), I've read and heard about how great this movie is. One of my friends in particular loved this movie. And on the back cover of the DVD, some critic hailed this as "The Best War Movie Ever" (quote may not be exact). And I've read that about how critics call this the best war movie. And, yes, I've seen other war movies like "Apocalypse Now," "We Were Soldiers," "Platoon," "Saving Private Ryan," etc., etc. So, naturally, I figured it'd be high time to finally view the movie for myself. I caught it on tv one night and Leonard Maltin came on and praised the movie for all it's worth. My expectations rose. After the movie... I was rather... puzzled... and a bit... disappointed...
Not that I didn't enjoy the movie. As just about everyone says here, the movie is two stories that talk of dehumanization that war (not just Vietnam in particular) brings about to some. The first half revolves around boot camp, and the second half is the war itself... Blah, blah, blah... I'm just repeating what everyone already said... but continue on.
R. Lee Ermey plays the hard-ass drill instructor Sgt. Hartman. He just about shouts put downs that would disgruntle or sickingly humor anyone who's anyone. His basic job is to train Marines to fight and kill. But he gets his kicks by shouting obscenities to his men, especially one in particular named Gomer Pyle (played by Vincent D'Onofrio), a lazy fat guy that can't do much right. His laziness results in punishment for everybody else. So the rest of the men take their anger out on Gomer in a very disturbing scene involving bars of soap. Then... Gomer goes crazy. He kills his drill instructor as well as himself.
Watching the first half of the film, I was led to believe that it would focus primarily on that subject, but then the film rapidly shifts to Vietnam. Now the central character is "Joker" (Matthew Modine). Then again, the movie is told from Joker's perspective, but he is rarely seen in the first half. He's now a journalist working for Stars and Stripes and he is then sent out into combat to get a good story, later to be in actual combat for the first time. From here, this section of the film seems out of place and the Vietnam setting doesn't necessarily look quite like Vietnam. Sure, the gunfights are loaded with action and explosions, but it's... unconvincing. Partly due to the fact that the movie wasn't filmed in Vietnam (or a similar locale), but rather at some studio in England. And at times, it seems that Kubrick was trying to mimick Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" (one scene had a film crew making a documentary of the war... just like in "Apocalypse Now"). But unlike how "Apocalypse Now" was primarily in the jungle, "Full Metal Jacket" is in towns that lay in ruins.
In one sequence, the reckless gunfire of the soldiers fire recklessly in the same direction a man of their own runs towards. I wonder how lucky that one soldier (among few later) wasn't hit by ANY of those bullets...
Aside from these minor qualms, the action is still brilliant... just don't expect "Private Ryan"-style.
Joker's story is his boot-camp training coming to full effect in the second act. It develops slowly over time as he experiences the deaths of soldiers (including a friend of his), but then develops at the end when he kills a Vietnamese woman. He faced quite a conflict, but he managed to pull through.
The showing of the dehumanization of soldiers isn't particularily anything new. "Apocalypse Now" showed that, only better (even "Platoon"). And I felt that Kubrick was trying hard to make his own version of Coppola's classic. The only thing Kubrick pulled off well was the first half of this movie. The harshness of boot camp at the time and what effect it had on one person. It may have been exaggerated, but it still shows this character's slow descent into madness triggered by the drill instructor (in truth, he might've just packed up and left rather than kill his drill instructor and himself). And R. Lee Ermey steals the movie even from its main character (Joker).
The movie kinda misled me and the Vietnam setting wasn't too convincing. "We Were Soldiers" was filmed in California (I think...), and it looked more like Vietnam than how "Full Metal Jacket" portrayed the place. But nonetheless, Kubrick still gave one heck of a war movie, even if it didn't focus on the war itself (which it didn't). Rather, the focus is what war has on the human mind.
Watch, but don't expect something better than "Apocalypse Now" or "Saving Private Ryan."
Rating:
Summary: Quite Possibly "The Greatest War Movie Ever Made"
Review: If not the best film about war in general, then "Full Metal Jacket" is undoubtedly the most vivid and realistic (if not sometimes disturbing) portrait of the Vietnam War. Based on the novel by Gustav Hasford (who also co-scripted) "The Short-timers," the film follows an everyman, nicknamed Joker (played by Matthew Modine), from the hell of bootcamp, then to life as a military journalist in Vietnam, and finally to life in combat.
"Full Metal Jacket" contains the most realistic bootcamp sequence of any Vietnam War film, depicting the spiteful Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (the infamous role of Ronald Lee Ermey) and his cruel treatment of the Marines--particularly that of an overweight slip-up (Vincent D'Onofrio) cruelly nicknamed Gomer Pyle by the unbearable Sergeant. The film truthfully depicts how the recruits are trained to think (to kill). The descent into homicidal madness of Private Pyle is one of the most disturbing and unforgettable, yet unfortunately realistic, aspects of the film. In country, we meet even more soldiers who proudly dub themselves killers, grimly bringing to life Vietnam the way it truly was...without turning the entire film into anti-war propaganda. The image of a helmet with "Born To Kill" written on it with the contradictory peace symbol is the classic physical basis for the "Duality of Man."
"Full Metal Jacket" is the greatest war film of all time, not only because of its harsh realism, but oddly enough, because of what it does not attempt to be; glory films full of long speeches and cliched character studies. Truly contradictory in itself, one of its strongest qualities. Sheer brilliancy.
Rating: 
Summary: Important film -- disappointing DVD treatment.
Review: Others here have summarized "Full Metal Jacket's" plot. Let me just add for the record that it's pretty clear Kubrick never intended to make a realistic film about what "actually" happened in Vietnam. Instead, his movie explores the psychology behind the war. In classic misanthropic fashion, Kubrick presents humanity as a hopelessly twisted species who've fetishized violence to the point that soldiers literally fall in love with their guns. As he sees it, Vietnam was the biggest sexual dysfunction in history.
A pretty bleak vision... and in my opinion, a little simplistic. But as the last film made from beginning to end under Kubrick's exacting specifications ("Eyes Wide Shut" was completed after his death), "Full Metal Jacket" is definitely worth watching. Especially the taut first half, which ought to be on every filmmaking teacher's curriculum as an object lesson in telling a story with brutal simplicity.
A film this important deserves an archival-quality DVD release. Sadly, this ain't it.
Yes, the picture clarity and sound quality are top-notch... but the film is presented in "full screen" pan-and-scan format only. That's particularly awful when you consider Kubrick was reknowned for paintakingly composing shots; framing and symmetry were of utmost importance to him.
I'm told he gave the OK to have his own film amputated like this. Maybe it was his way of forcing folks who want the true, widescreen experience to make the extra effort to see it as intended -- in a movie theater. If so, Stanley -- wherever you are -- Mission Accomplished.
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