Product description

Full Metal Jacket [1987]

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Average customer rating: 4.0

Binding : DVD
EAN : 7321900211543
Label : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Release date : 2006-06-01
Title : Full Metal Jacket [1987]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Suitable for 18 years and over
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Original release date : 1987-01-01
Region code : 2
Running time : 112
Studio : Warner Home Video
Theatrical releaseDate : 1987-06-26
Number of discs : 1

Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of a series of revisionist Vietnam cinema released in the late 1980s, Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket is essentially split into two stories linked by a number of characters. The film follows new recruit Joker (Matthew Modine) and his fellow soldiers through their basic training and into combat in Vietnam. The first half is a chilling portrayal of military brutality and de-humanisation, mainly at the hands of Sgt Hartman (played at a level of staggering intensity by ex-Marine Lee Ermey), that centres around the tragic character of Private Pyle, a young man pushed to the edge of his endurance. The tone of the film is no less harsh when transported to the combat zone as we see the results of the training process in action: the young men turned into unquestioning killing machines. Joker is perhaps the one exception, a soldier with "Born to Kill" written on his helmet who also sports a peace sign on his lapel. But the film finds itself caught in the trap of many of the war movies of the time--how to create audience empathy with characters who are essentially in the wrong. It's a dilemma that Full Metal Jacket never really solves, although as a spectacle the film is a masterpiece. Made in the days before CGI became the norm, the battle sequences--filmed, rather bizarrely, in London's Docklands before its redevelopment--are hugely realistic and are perhaps the key moments of the movie, heightening the disorientation and fear felt by the soldiers. By offering no more than a snapshot of the Vietnam conflict (the action deals with one individual skirmish), Kubrick cleverly leaves any judgement on the war to the audience, although clearly attempting to influence them. The fate of the characters who survive is also left in the balance, but we can perhaps imagine what awaits them.

On the DVD: Part of a series of Kubrick DVD reissues, Full Metal Jacket has been treated to the full remastering and restoration treatment. The battle sequences have benefited the most, gaining a new audio and visual crispness and clarity that adds to their already impressive sense of realism--you can almost feel the heat searing from the screen and the explosions detonating around you. Maybe not the best war film ever made, as some may claim, but certainly one to take you right to the heart of the action. --Phil Udell

Customer reviews

review by: usman khawaja date: 2008-11-10 rating:

innovative -ingenious intelligent war epic
the most influential and seminal work to come out of hollywood on modern day warfare .
it is both stunning and philosophical with a very pluralistic look at the vietnam conflict where it has no sentimental observations about the victims but just a non chalant attitude to the protagonists who are involved in war as a casual everyday necessity.
it is neither patronising nor glorifying just seeking to express the perceived truth from the makers viewpoint and it reaches a celestial height both creatively and artistically .
matthew modine gives a great performance but the limelight is stolen by the cameos and short -lived but memorable characters played by a terrific cast of gifted actors .
kubricks definitive look at twentieth century war with an innovative narrative which inspired later movies like saving private ryan and numerous others ,but none ever achieved the brillance captured by the master in this masterpiece .
the sequence with a sniper in a derelict ruin is one of the greatest moments in cinema history both harrowing and thought provoking yet blessed with a strange surreal passion for life in it's horror that you feel redeemed of your demons afterwards .
kubrick's last masterpiece with a great score which shows his musical genius and how to capture the audio with visuals in a unique style which can never be reproduced.
usman khawaja

review by: date: 2008-06-08 rating:

Fine film, with a superb performance
I've finally got around to watching this film, the first 45 minutes were excellent, this covered the training of the recruits who were being prepared for their stints in Vietnam, this concentrated on 2 characters in particular, Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R Lee Ermey), both put in fine performances, especially R Le Ermey who's in superb form, in a way it comes across as more a comedy than anything else during this time, but there's no harm in that.

We then follow the recruits as they go to war, I felt a little let down by this part of the film, it's still good and well worth watching, but maybe it did not feel totally real at times.

There's also some really good music throughout the film.

This is a worthy addition to my film collection and I'm very pleased to have finally purchased this, it's still not as good as Hamburger Hill, but it does come pretty close all the same.

review by: date: 2008-05-31 rating:

Very Poor War Movie
I found this film terribly boring/. The majority of the film is about the units training at the barracks..... I found nothing interesting or entertaining about this part. The next part was when they had gone off to vietnam. There was one battle which was nothing compared to other way films ive seen. The most amusing part for me was when a prostitute was trying to sell herself to the soldiers!

These are just my opinions and i realise that many people dissagree, but if you are wanting a war movie with great battles and realism, this is not for you.

review by: mccanns23 date: 2008-05-27 rating:

good/bad
Full metal jacket is another of a fairly long list of vietam war movies of the mid to late 80s,and it is very highly rated,some say it is the best of them all,certainly director kubrick gives the film something that few can rival but this is a film split in two and the second half is pretty average and at times very poor,the first half and we all agree on this is masterful,comical,cruel,brutal,raw and appears to be very real looking and sounding from what i understand.
The first half deals with the training in drill camp of several young men and their drill commander played with a glowing brilliance by r.lee ermey,he is quick witted,nasty,razor tongued but above all he wants the best for these lads as they face an uncertain future should they be drafted for war,these parts as i have said live long in the mind and contain some very memorable dialouge.
The second part features the war,this is when the film suffers,trying to pass across some badly thought out message with characters who you dont really care for,there is no real depth to many featured in the second part and this holds the film down.
This is an uneven film so my rating of 2.5 will serve as a reminder that a film can be good and bad.

review by: date: 2008-04-25 rating:

Pedestrian recruits-into-soldiers film
Despite the presence of the outstanding Michael Herr in the writing team, this is one of Kubrick's least satisfactory films. The two halves -- recruits training and Tet Offensive warfare -- are linked only by a couple of soldiers. The ending (the killing of a female Viet Cong sniper) is inconclusive. The ubiquitous palm trees look artificial throughout the battle scenes, as indeed they were, stuck onto the concrete of London Docklands.

This never feels like Vietnam. 'Apocalypse Now' did that far better, and that was filmed in the Philippines. I just don't see why Kubrick bothered with this script -- there are several better recruit abuse films. And the subsequent 'Saving Private Ryan' contains much better battles scenes and sniper episodes.

It feels like Kubrick gave up at the end.

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