Full Metal Jacket (4 Stars)

It's been more than 20 years since I last watched "Full Metal Jacket". I was reminded about it in a recent discussion on Facebook about Stanley Kubrick's films, so I decided to finally buy it on Blu-ray.

It's a stunning film. It doesn't overtly claim to be an anti-war film, but it shows the ugliness of war more effectively than any other film I've ever seen. It's not the war itself that's ugly, it's the young soldiers on the battlefield. They're trained to be ugly. They're dehumanised and turned into killing machines by their drill sergeant.

The film is in two parts. The first half shows the training, the second half shows the soldiers in Vietnam. Let me say something: I'm not a pacifist, but I'm totally against men (or women) being conscripted against their will. The film shows what can happen if a person who's unsuitable for combat duty is forced to join the army. Leonard Pyle is overweight and simple minded. He's mercilessly mistreated by the drill sergeant, who makes the others in his squad hate him. This drives Pyle mad, and he eventually kills the drill sergeant. When the drill sergeant died I had absolutely no sympathy with him. Instead, I felt sorry for Leonard Pyle having to suffer so much.

The scenes in Vietnam are harsh and disturbing. I wouldn't say this is an easy film to watch, but it's a film that ought to be watched.

Strangely, this film is long out of print in America. Or maybe it's not so strange. Maybe the film is too critical of America's recent past to be acceptable.

Success Rate:  + 5.3

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