Full Metal Jacket (1987)

full metal jacket 1987

Full Metal Jacket is an American motion picture directed by Stanley Kubrick and released in 1987. It stars Matthew Modine as Private First Class ‘Joker’ Davis, Vincent D’Onofrio as Private ‘Gomer Pyle’ Lawrence, and R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The title of the film refers to the casing on bullets used by US Marine riflemen.

Full Metal Jacket begins by depicting basic Marine Corps training at Parris Island. The opening scenes show recruits being subjected to a barrage of insults and intimidation from senior drill instructor Sergeant Hartman. Various aspects of basic training are also shown.

One recruit, Private Lawrence, overcomes issues with his weight and fitness to adapt to Marine Corps routines. In the process, however, he is psychologically disturbed by Hartman’s bullying. After completing basic training, Lawrence confronts Hartman in the barracks bathroom and shoots him dead.

Full Metal Jacket then switches to the war in Vietnam. Its main character, ‘Joker’ Davis, is serving in Vietnam as a war correspondent. Davis has a flippant and cavalier attitude both to the war and his fellow soldiers. This leads to confrontations with officers and soldiers like Sergeant ‘Animal Mother’, a machine gunner who takes pleasure in killing the enemy.

In early 1968, Davis is caught up in the opening attacks of the Tet Offensive and the Battle of Hue. The movie concludes with an attack on Davis’ unit by a Viet Cong sniper. The sniper turns out to be a teenage girl and, in the film’s final scenes, Davis is forced to kill her. Despite earlier professing to be a “killer”, he finds this a difficult task.

Full Metal Jacket received critical acclaim and won several awards, chiefly for director Kubrick and R. Lee Ermey (Hartman). Rather than leaping head first into the Vietnam conflict, Kubrick first shows the difficult and dehumanising process endured by Marine conscripts. Not all are cut out for this tight discipline, as the fate of Lawrence shows.

Full Metal Jacket offers some insight into the problems faced by American soldiers, including adjustment, psychological trauma and the moral dilemmas thrown up by the Vietnam War. Through Joker’s cocky idealism and cynicism, Kubrick asks important questions about the Vietnam War, the involvement of American soldiers and what they were meant to achieve.

Full Metal Jacket is rated ‘R’ for bad language and sexual content, so may not be suitable for younger students.


Content on this page is © Alpha History 2018-23. Content created by Alpha History may not be copied, republished or redistributed without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use.