Full Metal Jacket

For the type of ammunition, see Full metal jacket bullet.

Full Metal Jacket
File:Full Metal Jacket- 1987.jpg Theatrical release poster.
Directed by	Stanley Kubrick
Written by	Novel: Gustav Hasford Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick Michael Herr Gustav Hasford
Produced by	Stanley Kubrick Jan Harlan
Starring	Matthew Modine Adam Baldwin Vincent D'Onofrio R. Lee Ermey Ngoc Le
Cinematography	Douglas Milsome
Edited by	Martin Hunter
Music by	Vivian Kubrick
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	June 26, 1987
Running time	116 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Languages	English, Vietnamese
Budget	$17,000,000 (estimated)

Full Metal Jacket (1987) is a film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford. The film is named after the full-metal jacketed bullets used as military ammunition.

The film portrays the Vietnam War from the point of view of the U.S. Marines. Recurring themes are the contradictions of war, a constant feeling of being out of one's depth, and the idea of combat in Vietnam being part of a different world, with its own rules and customs. The confusion and angst of the new world begins in boot camp, and spirals down into bloodshed before even landing in Vietnam.

The movie was shot in England, at Bassingborn Barracks in Cambridgeshire and Beckton, in Newham, East London. The derelict Beckton Gasworks site became the runined city of Huế. The open country is Cliffe marshes, also on the Thames, with palm trees imported from Spain. While this was a reasonable enough approximation of Vietnam (especially the ruined city), it was also influenced by Kubrick's aversion to air travel.

Tagline:

• In Vietnam the wind doesn't blow, it sucks.

Plot

The protagonist of the film is Marine recruit J.T. Davis, nicknamed "Joker" (Matthew Modine), who is part of the 3092 platoon beginning recruit training as a Marine on Parris Island, South Carolina.

The brutal command of Senior Drill Instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (former Marine Drill Instructor R. Lee Ermey, in a performance which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor) shows the harsh indoctrination of Marine recruits. The training is depicted as designed to eliminate the recruits' individual fears and transform them into a team of killers (to "keep Heaven packed with fresh souls"). This first section of the film focuses largely on the physical and psychological mistreatment of overweight recruit Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio). GySgt Hartman seems to take personal offense at the dim-witted Lawrence, and singles him out for punishment. As the film progresses, GySgt Hartman eventually appoints Joker to try and help Lawrence improve. Joker manages to make some progress, and he receives less abuse from Hartman for a time. However, one night during an inspection of the recruits, Hartman discovers a contraband jelly donut in Lawrence's foot locker, and decides that collective punishment for the platoon is in order. After several incidents of collective platoon punishment, the rest of the recruits severely beat the hapless "Pyle" in a nighttime blanket party. They use bars of soap in towels to pummel the man, who is restrained in his bunk and gagged. Joker eventually joins in this activity, and afterward, goes to sleep covering his ears to try and ignore Lawrence's pitiful moans of pain in the bunk above.

File:Full metal jacket screenshot.JPG

Crazy Earl expresses his views of the war.

The next morning, it becomes apparent that Lawrence has had a psychotic break. He shows skill in his marksmanship, impressing even Hartman, but Joker becomes concerned when "Gomer Pyle" begins to talk to his rifle, whom he has named "Charlene." The recruits eventually complete their training, and everybody is assigned a Military Occupational Specialty, the most common being 0300 -- Infantry. The last night on Parris Island, Joker is assigned the overnight fire watch. During his rounds, he discovers Lawrence in the Head (bathroom), loading "Charlene" with a magazine of live rounds. Joker warns him that if he is discovered, he'll be "in a world of shit". Lawrence replies that he already is in "a world of shit", before standing up, performing the manual of arms, and shouting. His crazed behavior wakes everyone up, including GySgt Hartman, who bursts into the bathroom. Joker informs Hartman that Lawrence's rifle is loaded. Hartman tries to convince Lawrence to place it on the ground. When Lawrence doesn't comply, Hartman begins shouting insults: "What is your major malfunction, numbnuts? Didn't your Mommy and Daddy show you enough attention when you were a child?" Lawrence immediately shoots his tormentor, killing him. Lawrence then sits down, puts the rifle in his mouth, and commits suicide. This completes Joker's recruit training on Parris Island.

The second part takes place in Vietnam in 1968, opening with "Joker," who is now a Sergeant and a Marine Combat Correspondent assigned to Stars and Stripes in a Marine public affairs unit, and his new partner, a Marine Combat Photographer nicknamed Rafterman, being propositioned by a Vietnamese prostitute. The action is relatively quiet until the Tet ceasefire is broken, and the American military forces are overrun. During the night Joker fights his first battle when NVA attempt to overrun the base, but are killed and captured. Next day the entire staff learns about the situation after Tet cease fire is broken. In an attempt to regain public support for the war, Joker and Rafterman are sent to cover the ongoing Tet Offensive. A former Notre Dame football player-turned-Marine named Lt. Walter J. "Touchdown" Schinoski, leads them to a mass grave full of civilians murdered by the N.V.A. Joker's helmet decoration — the written slogan "Born to Kill" and the Peace symbol pin on his uniform — exemplify his moral ambiguity. Joker is soon confronted by a Marine Corps Colonel (Bruce Boa), demanding an explanation of the symbols. Joker dryly replies that they represent the duality of man, as theorized by Carl Gustav Jung. The Colonel is not amused.

Joker links up with "Cowboy," his friend from boot camp, who is second in command of the Lusthog Squad, and accompanies Cowboy's squad on patrol in the city of Hué. A vicious battle breaks out, initially resulting in the death of Cowboy's platoon leader which leaves a Marine nicknamed Crazy Earl the new squad leader. Earl leads the Lusthog Squad through a ruined section of the city. One of the film's standout sequences shows the squad being interviewed individually by a television news crew and expressing their thoughts on the war. They also stand over the dead bodies and in remembrance of Lt. Schinoski and a Marine nicknamed Hand Job, so named because "he was jerkin' off ten times a day." When the photographer Rafterman suggests that they are fighting for "Freedom," Animal Mother corrects him: "If I'm going to get my balls blown off for a word, my word is 'poontang'." As Joker is interviewed, his quote is even more memorable and ironic: "I wanted to see exotic Vietnam... the jewel of Southeast Asia. I, uh, I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them. I wanted to be the first kid on my block to get a confirmed kill."

The squad is called up for patrol again, this time north of the Perfume River (which divides the city of Hué), where Viet Cong forces are believed to be hiding. Crazy Earl comes across a stuffed animal and picks it up. The toy is a booby trap, and the ensuing blast kills Earl and leaves Cowboy the reluctant squad leader. The squad quickly becomes lost in the ruined city, and a sniper wounds two of their comrades (Doc Jay and Eightball) with the intention of drawing more of them in. As the squad moves up to try to locate the hidden position, the sniper gets Cowboy too. With his Marines by his side, Cowboy dies in Joker's arms. Using smoke to conceal their movements (effectively depicted with a hand-held camera running alongside the Marines), the squad closes in and Animal Mother assumes control of the remaining Marines. As they fan out through the likely building, Joker finds the sniper. At the critical moment his rifle jams and the sniper, a young Vietnamese girl, opens fire, pinning Joker behind a column, making it impossible for him to escape or shoot back. Suddenly, the girl is riddled by shots and falls; Joker's savior turns out to be lowly Rafterman, the rookie photographer who had earlier expressed a desire to get some "trigger time." As Joker, Rafterman, and Animal Mother gather around the girl she begins to pray, then begs the Marines to kill her. Joker and Animal Mother argue over leaving her to suffer and die slowly. Animal Mother, now the ranking Marine, prefers to "leave her to the rats." Ultimately, he allows a mercy killing, but only if the combat-deprived Joker performs it. He does.

The film concludes with the Marines' ironic rendition of the theme song to the Mickey Mouse Club as they march into the night. This final sequence is an inside joke, as a military parody of the song exists, replacing the chorus with "F-U-C K-E-D A-G-A-I-N," and other variations on the lyrics.

Cast & characters

• Matthew Modine as Private / Sergeant James T. "Joker" Davis: The film's protagonist and narrator who claims to have joined the Corps to see action and to kill. He witnesses Pyle's insanity growing during boot camp but ostensibly becomes a "squared away" Marine. He later becomes an independent-minded combat correspondent and links up with the Lusthog Squad to report combat incidents from the field. (His proper name is only shown on the back of his sweatshirt during basic training, it is never actually spoken, everyone simply calls him "Joker")
• Arliss Howard as Private / Sergeant "Cowboy" Evans: Cowboy is a Marine from Texas who goes through boot camp with Joker. He becomes a rifleman and encounters Joker later in the film having become a rifle squad leader. (Cowboy's last name is revealed on his PT sweatshirt during recruit training.)In the book, Cowboy is killed at the very end when Joker shoots him in his left eye. He was badly wounded from a sniper and already dying.
• Kevyn Major Howard as Rafterman: Rafterman is a combat photographer with the Stars and Stripes office with Joker. He requests permission to accompany Joker into Hué.
• Adam Baldwin as Animal Mother: The nihilistic M-60 machine gunner of the Lusthog Squad, Animal Mother is contemptuous of any authority other than his own and rules by intimidation. At first, he is contemptuous and scornful of Joker as a rear echelon Marine. Animal Mother believes victory should be the only object of war. (In the novel, he comes from New York City, and joined the Corps as an alternative to prison for auto theft.)
• Dorian Harewood as Eightball: An African-American in the Lusthog squad, not sensitive about his ethnicity (as shown when he describes himself as 'a nigger behind the trigger'), and an ally of Animal Mother. Shot and killed by the female sniper.
• Jon Stafford as Doc Jay: A Navy corpsman attached to the Lusthog squad. Shot and killed by the female sniper while attempting to drag Eightball to safety. Nicknamed "Doc Jay" due to having medical training, as is the tradition of Armed Forces medical personnel.
• Marcus D'Amico as Hand Job: A member of the squad nicknamed for his attempt to receive a Section Eight discharge by masturbating en route to see a head navy psychiatrist. Hand Job is shot and killed by machine gun fire shortly after Touchdown is killed, then finally appearing with the members of the Lusthog Squad standing over his now dead body commenting on his disposition.
• Gary Landon Mills as Donlon: An African-American RTO (radiotelephone operator).
• Kieron Jecchinis as Crazy Earl: The squad leader, he is forced to take charge of the platoon when their platoon leader (Lt. Touchdown) is killed. Later killed by a booby-trapped toy.
• Sal Lopez as T.H.E. Rock: A Latino member of the squad.
• Stanley Kubrick as Murphy: An unseen member of Cowboy's platoon coordinating fire support.
• Ed O'Ross as Lieutenant Walter J. "Touchdown" Schinoski: The platoon leader of the Lusthog squad, Touchdown played college football at Notre Dame.
• No-Doze and Stutten: Two other Marines in the Lusthog squad.
• R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: A stereotypical, abrasive drill instructor at Parris Island who mentally abuses his recruits to turn them into trained Marines. In the novel, the author named the character Gerheim, giving him a potbelly. For the film, Kubrick revamped the character, renaming him "Hartman" and making him exceptionally fit. The novel reveals the squad's drill instructor as a veteran of the Second World War, particularly the brutal and bloody Iwo Jima, as insight into his motivation. Hartman's platoon had 2 assistant Drill Instructors, but while visible onscreen in several scenes they were not given speaking roles.

File:Full-metal-jacket-901.jpg

Private Pyle finally snaps.

• Vincent D'Onofrio as Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence: An overweight, clumsy and slow witted recruit in Joker's boot camp platoon, Pyle becomes the focus of Hartman's abuse for his incompetence and weight, and as a scapegoat for the platoon. After being beaten severely by the rest of the platoon for failing almost everything in boot camp and getting everybody else in trouble, he "snaps" and starts to talk to his rifle, Charlene ("Smooth, Charlene"). Yet he begins to become the most disciplined recruit. In the novel, Leonard Pratt is a skinny and awkward Alabama native, and shoots Gerheim, then himself, in front of everyone in the bunkhouse section of the barracks. In the film, he shoots Hartman in the bathroom and then himself right in front of Joker. The name "Gomer Pyle" originates from a homespun character (Jim Nabors) on the Andy Griffith Show who became the star of his own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., after joining the United States Marines Corps.
• Peter Edmund as Private "Snowball" Brown: A black recruit in Joker's boot camp platoon, ironically nicknamed "Snowball" by Hartman and briefly Joker's squad leader.
• Kirk Taylor as Payback: A veteran correspondent with the Marine PIO unit, Payback brags that he has been "out in the shit" (combat) and tells Joker and Rafterman about the Thousand Yard Stare.
• Costas Dino Chimona as Chili & Gil Kopel as Stork: Other members of the PIO unit.
• John Terry as Lieutenant Lockhart: An officer and the head of Joker's PIO unit who acts as assignment editor. He has some experience reporting on combat but uses his rank to avoid going back into the field because of the danger and bugs, rationalizing that his duties keep him where he belongs, "In the rear with the gear."
• Bruce Boa as Pogue Colonel: A Marine colonel who encounters Joker near the grave of executed civilians and reprimands him for wearing a peace symbol button, suggesting that Joker be more enthusiastic about winning the war. Notably, "pogue" is a military slang term for non-infantry servicemembers. It often carries derogatory connotations when used, especially when being used by an infantryman (or grunt) toward a non-infantry troop. (Pogue is the pronunciation of the acronym POG, People Other than Grunts)
• Papillon Soo Soo as Da Nang Hooker: This character is a hooker who only played a very minor role in the film, but uttered the famous phrases me so horny, me love you long time and me sucky sucky.

Response

An often seen criticism of the work was the setting, many critics feeling the use of locations in England being inappropriate to the film.

The episodic makeup of the film also comes under criticism, as in Roger Ebert's review in 1987.

The movie disintegrates into a series of self-contained set pieces, none of them quite satisfying. The scene in the press room, for example, with the lecture on propaganda, seems to reflect some of the same spirit as "Dr. Strangelove." But how does it connect with the curious scene of the Vietnamese prostitute - a scene with a riveting beginning but no middle or end? And how do either lead to the final shoot-out with a sniper?

Ebert's review of the film is the only negative review listed on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics also feel that the boot camp scenes in the first 45 minutes are the best parts of the movie and that the film loses momentum once they go to Vietnam.

Music

All of the music used in the film was written and recorded before 1968, as to be accurate to the time period the film is set in. The music included in the film is as follows:

• Hello Vietnam - Performed by Johnnie Wright
• These Boots Are Made for Walkin' - Performed by Nancy Sinatra
• Wooly Bully - Performed by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
• Surfin' Bird - Performed by The Trashmen
• The Marines Hymn - Performed by The Goldmen
• Chapel of Love - Performed by The Dixie Cups
• Mickey Mouse Club Television Theme
• Paint It, Black - Performed by The Rolling Stones

Other production information

• The movie has only two opening titles, the display of the movie's title itself and the mentioning of Kubrick as director.
• Stanley Kubrick provided the voice of Murphy, the Marine on the other end of the radio communication in the latter part of the film.
• Vivian Kubrick, Stanley's daughter, had an uncredited guest role as a News Camera Operator at the Mass Grave and contributed several tracks to the film's score under the name "Abigail Mead".
• Vincent D'Onofrio deliberately gained 70 pounds for his role as Pvt. Pyle, breaking Robert DeNiro's movie weight-gain record (60 pounds) for Raging Bull. This stood as the record for the most weight gained for a major role in Hollywood until Christian Bale shattered it by gaining 100 pounds for his role as Batman in Batman Begins (having lost 60 pounds for his previous role in The Machinist).
• Former U.S. Marines Drill Instructor R. Lee Ermey was originally hired to give Tim Colceri, who was originally hired to play Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, the basics of giving a realistic performance as a Marine Drill Instructor. He performed a demonstration on videotape in which he yelled obscene insults and abuse for fifteen minutes without stopping, repeating himself, or even flinching, despite being continuously pelted with tennis balls and oranges. Stanley Kubrick was so impressed that he cast Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman instead and cast Colceri as the Doorgunner. Ermey has done several parodies of this character: the pilot to the TV series "Space: Above and Beyond" featured him in person, and in "Toy Story" and "The Simpsons" he lent his voice to characters in the military.
• To make Gunnery Sergeant Hartman's performance and the recruits' reactions as convincing as possible, Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio and the other actors playing recruits never met Ermey prior to filming, and Kubrick also saw to it that Ermey didn't fraternize with the actors between takes.
• Kubrick allowed Ermey to improvise his lines, a rarity in his movies.
• Beckton Gas Works was used for the Vietnam scenes, The palm trees were imported and the buildings were painted to look Vietnamese, Biggles: Adventures in Time was also filmed here a year earlier. Two years before, the Gas Works site had been used during the filming of 1984 (film). RAF Bassingbourn was used for the bootcamp scenes.
• To create the effect of Pvt. Pyle committing suicide, the special effects team originally planned to tape a squib to the back of D'Onofrio's shirt. But Pyle's wound was to be on his head and this first idea had to be abandoned. Then the team decided to fashion a metal plate to the back of the actor's head, and then attach a squib to the plate. After attempting several iterations of this on volunteers from the crew, the results were disappointing. Finally, Matthew Modine suggested to Kubrick that he watch To Live and Die in L.A. In that film, a person is shot at point blank range in the face. Kubrick studied the scene and realized how to achieve the special effect. When Pvt. Pyle pulls the trigger of the gun with the barrel in his mouth, a volley of fake blood and skull fragments are flung into frame from off camera. By cutting one or two "tell-tale" frames, the desired head-wound effect was achieved.
• At the climax of the movie when the sniper turns to shoot at Joker, the brief shot of Joker's view of the sniper turning toward him and firing was shot with a camera that was specially modified so that its shutter was slightly out of sync with the film's movement through the camera. Because of this, the film was partially exposed while in transit through the camera, resulting in vertical streaks of light in the image. Kubrick used this to heighten the intensity of the moment but was inspired by the similar accidental effect that can be seen in some actual combat footage and was a result of the hard abuse combat cameras took. Although seemingly unnoticed by filmmakers at the time of the movie's release, this effect became common in television commercials and movies starting in the late 90s when it could be simulated digitally and added in post-production.
• This film was banned in Vietnam for portraying the Vietnamese in a negative light.
• Cowboy's line "I'll sell you an ARVN rifle. Never been fired, only dropped once." referred to the American sentiment that their Vietnamese counterparts offered little resistance against the Viet Cong.
• Anthony Michael Hall was originally considered as Joker, but dropped out over financial disputes.
• Pvt. Cowboy's height, 5'9", is the actual height of Arliss Howard, who plays him.

Quotes

• Gunnery Sargent Hartman
  • "The best part of you went down the crack of your mama's ass and ended up as a brown stain on the mattress!"
  • "You look like the kind of guy who'd fuck a person in the ass and not even have the God damn common courtesy to give him a reach-around!"
  • "I like you. Hell, you can come over to my house and fuck my sister!"
  • "I want that head so clean that the Virgin Mary herself would be proud to take a dump in it!"
  • "Only steers and queers come from Texas, Private Cowboy. And you don't look much like a steer to me."
  • "I am hard, but I am fair! There is no racial bigotry here! I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless!"
  • "What is your major malfunction?"

External links

• Full Metal Jacket at IMDb
• Full Metal Jacket script at the Internet Movie Script Database
• Full Metal Jacket at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford - original text
• "An Analysis of Background Movement, Symmetry in Full Metal Jacket" essay by Jason Cangialosi
• "Long Distance in Full Metal Jacket" essay by J. S. Bernstein