Rating: 
Summary: Deadly Apparel
Review: Based on Gustav Hasford's novel The Short-Timers and directed by Stanley Kubrick who co-authored the screenplay, this film answers two questions: What was it like for a recruit to go through Marine boot camp during the Viet Nam War, and, what was combat like in that war? Unlike a previous Kubrick film, Paths of Glory, Full Metal Jacket neither makes nor implies any anti-war statements. Rather, in my opinion, the two separate but related portrayals "tell it like it was." When I first saw this film 25 years ago, my reactions resembled those of Private Benjamin during her own boot camp training: shock and denial. Having never served in a military service, I simply could not believe that Marine recruits are subjected to such abuse, both physical and verbal. One of my sons served in the Marines and confirms what other Marines of my own generation assert, that Full Metal Jacket is about as realistic as a film could be. Older friends who were involved in D-Day make the same claim for Saving Private Ryan. In any event, the primary plot during the boot camp sequence focuses on Leonard Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio), nicknamed "Gomer Pyle," and his struggles to survive constant humiliation by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey, a former Marine D.I.) Played by Matthew Modine, J.T. Davis ("Joker") does everything humanly possible to help him. Months later while on an assignment for Stars & Stripes magazine, "Joker" accompanies a squad in the Khe San area. Once under attack by a Viet Cong sniper, most of the Marines react according to their boot camp training. Of special interest to me is the character Animal Mother (Adam Baldwin) who has become a highly-skilled (probably psychotic) warrior. He defies authority with the instincts of a ferocious animal but, at the same time, reveals a sincere and endearing concern for the welfare of his comrades. It remains for each person who sees this film to determine to what extent (if any) it is "anti-" anything. And perhaps at least a few will share my own initial reaction: Full Metal Jacket consists of two separate but inseparable films which share the same title. Together, they have enduring dramatic impact.
Rating: 
Summary: 5 Star Movie, 2 Star DVD
Review: This is a fantastic movie, but please read other reviews regarding the acting, camera work, plot, storyline, etc. This review is only about the DVD version. The DVD itself is a major disappointment. Poor transfer, no extras, no surround sound, full screen only, and hardly even a menu or chapter selection. Like the other Stanley Kubrick DVDs in this white-box series, this Full Metal Jacket is pretty much a VHS dub of the movie - only thrown together onto a DVD. I'm suprised that it's not double sided like the original commercial DVDs were. Given the advances in DVD technology when this disk was released there was no need to sell such a lackluster product, besides trying to get as many Stanley Kubrick movies as possible into one big boxed set before Christmas of 1999. This movie, The Shining, and to a lesser extent, A Clockwork Orange all suffer from this same exceedingly poor DVD treatment. Hopefully soon this movie will be re-released in a better DVD package, much like Goodfellas or The Shining needs. Until then, buy this DVD only if you're a huge fan or if it's laying in the bargain bin.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie -- DVD is missing something
Review: I was disappointed to discover that all versions of Full Metal Jacket are full screen, especially the Special Collector's Edition. Most DVDs are released as widescreen these days but even in the beginning both formats were often offered. For this reason I can only give this DVD 3 stars. Were I only rating the movie it would get a full 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Another Intense Kubrick Flick
Review: Another intense film from Stanley Kubrick. The best part of the movie is the bathroom scene, in the beginning of the film. The rest of the film is good, even though it was over after the bathroom scene for me!
Rating:
Summary: widescreen or standard (full frame)???
Review: Well, to: "A Viewer from California" you are correct and incorrect
Spartacus and 2001: A Space Odyssey were the only films he shot using a "widescreen" format All the rest were shot full frame.
However, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon were shot full frame and released in most theaters in the matted 1.66 : 1 widescreen ratio, and The Shining, FULL METAL JACKET and Eyes Wide Shut were shot open-matted (or full-frame/standard) and matt-framed for a theatrical release in the American standard ratio of 1.85 : 1. On the dvd case of FMJ it says standard (full frame) version , but you are not missing any of the shot as you would if it was shot widescreen and then cropped for tv format, So you see everything that was actually filmed!!
Rating:
Summary: The real deal...
Review: As a veteran of Marine Corps boot camp circa 1964, I can attest to the reality of the first half of this film. I literally had flash backs while watching. Whether one agrees with the methodology of the training or not, it was very real and in fact worked quite well. I would not trade the experience for anything. I don't think I'd like to do it again though... Once was enough.
I believe the actors were well chosen for their roles and the movie is a winner and a part of my film library. The Vietnam segment did leave a bit to be desired, but there was more reality to it than any other Viet Nam era movie that I have seen to date. I recommend this film to anyone interested in finding out what Marine Corps boot camp was really like back in the "Old Corps".
Rating: 
Summary: for those who always wanted to be in the corps
Review: The quintessential Marine Corps movie! Kubrick created a masterpiece for those who want to ride along with a group of marines from boot camp thru Vietnam. Matthew Modine is an excellent cast as a young, idealistic, joking, pseudo-hippie who learns what war is all about! A fine job of casting for the different characters you would see in the Marine Corps. Kubrick is able to show the brotherhood that exist among marines and show the senselessness of what we were fighting for, yet display the loyalty and devotion to duty that makes the Corps the best fighting force ever!
Rating:
Summary: Realistic boot camp?
Review: Oh my God! I am so sick of hearing about how realistic the Paris Island segment is and what a great job R. Lee Ermey did playing the drill instructor. I've never seen any portrayal of military basic trainiing that was terribly realistic. The best two would have to be "The D.I." starring Jack Webb, and "The Boys in Company C." (Featuring Ermey in what I consider to be a MUCH better portrayal.) The one flaw I see popping up again and again with this particular theme is the idea of a single instructor training the whole group by himself. You see that in movies like "Private Benjamin" and "An Officer and a Gentleman." (While I'm at it, why is a Marine NCO training Naval officer candidates? Is that how they do it? I don't know.) In FMJ there are two other D.I.s, but they never open their mouths. In real military training you get off the bus and there are between eight and ten guys yelling at you constantly. And those "pregnant pauses" where some D.I. slowly and silently paces around in front of the trainees until he singles one out, then intimidates them in low hushed tones may make for good cinema, but in the real world the yelling is loud, constant, and usually refering to the speed with which the recruits are moving. (Too slow, of course.) Secondly, as to Ermey's portrayal of a Marine D.I., like I said, he was better in "Company C." In that movie you saw a guy who genuinely cared about what he was doing. He was very concerned with doing a good job because he knew he would be sending these guys to Vietnam. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman of FMJ, on the other hand, was a bullying loud-mouthed jerk who seemed incapable of using contractions in his speech. Any D.I. who handled recruits like that would be sacked. He singled out one guy because he was a screw-up, then kicked his ass for eight weeks without making any real effort to help him. I guarantee that in any group of guys that size you are going to have more than one problem child and the D.I.'s job is to identify the problem with them and fix them. When "Pyle" was climbing the obstacle and froze up at the top, Ermey yelled "Then QUIT! You (bleepedy blah, blah, blah)! Get the f--- off of my obstacle!" A real D.I. would have made him climb over and not let him quit. Finally, they don't do much real training in FMJ. You see them marching, running, doing some PT and running across a muddy field. They are shown at the confidence course and one short scene at the rifle range. But what about instruction in various weapons? The grenade range? What about lectures on mine emplacement, construction of fighting positions, and vehicle identification? What about training in manouver under fire, tactical formations, map reading? I know they had a limited amount of time, but I would like to see a movie about Marine Recruit Training that puts more emphasis on those things instead of the pseudo-ideological b.s.
Rating:
Summary: Singularly disturbing movie
Review: I watch movies such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Event Horizon, and other such gruesome mind-bending flicks, and I have to say that none affected like the boot camp scenes in Full Metal Jacket.
I don't know how realistic any of this film was, and I have to confess that I ceased to watch it after the final scene when Leonard kills the drill sergeant, then turns his gun on himself.
I've rated this 4 stars because it had such an impact on me, not necessarily because I really enjoyed it. I didn't, not in the slightest. But I do appreciate the incredible talent displayed by the likes of Vincent D'Onofrio.
The scenes that have stayed with me the most were firstly the assault on Leonard by his fellow recruits and, curiously, the scene when Leonard began to finally do things right. Ironically, this, along with the assault, marked the beginning of his break-down.
I won't say anymore on this film. I'm hoping that by putting something down of the effect it has had on me, that I'll be able to put it to the back of my mind.
Suffice to say, don't watch this if you don't want to see anything really confronting. Realistic or not, Full Metal Jacket is severe in the worst and best possible ways.
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe the hype; subpar movie about Vietnam
Review: I saw this movie in the theatre years ago and could not believe all the hype about it back then, and neither should you now if you are considering buying this DVD. What blew it for me in this movie was the awful acting. In the battle scenes it seemed to me like the "soldiers" had just come out of their air-conditioned trailers. They acted very punky. They did not seem like they were on the front lines at all. Compare those scenes with, really, any scene at all in Platoon, and you'll see what I mean. Besides that, the movie is over-directed. Kubrick sometimes fell prey to his own sensibilities, and his bad sensibilities are all over this movie. It just didn't need to be done. I mean, this movie didn't need to be done. At all. 2 stars.
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