Thoughts on Full Metal Jacket?

The second half doesn't match the first half which is just searing stuff - and an unforgettable performance by one of my pet favorite actors, Vincent D'Onofrio. The films first half is almost like Dr. Strangelove really - funny in a "should I be laughing at this really?" way and distinct from any other war film or certainly a serious Vietnam film.

Honestly for me I'd rank it ahead of Platoon just because what works, really works but it doesn't feel link a complete film - the second half almost feels...........I can't find the right word but......."academic" would do.

I feel it's one of Kubrick's best. Not on par with Dr. Strangelove and Barry Lyndon - by far my two favorite from him. But it's on a close plane with A Clockwork Orange and Eyes Wide Shut even though I prefer Clockwork maybe by two ladder steps.

You can argue Full Metal Jacket is Kubrick themes and trademarks redone for the 5th time at that point. And it's a fair argument. His reduction of the human race down to scums and dregs is definitely nothing new, and in every one of his movies, a subhuman scumfeces gets revealed. That device employed in every one of Kubrick's films once again gives Full Metal Jacket an appearance of something bleak and inhumane. Another argument I can see is that it's tiring, and Kubrick has become kinda boring at that point.... it's 1987 after all.... 19 years after 2001. However, that was quite possibly his most praised period. From about 1985-1988, Kubrick made a huge leap in the film world. He was considered great before that, but from about 1985-1988 he rose to be considered among the elite filmmakers of all time. And that persisted through the 90s in which he really singled himself out against the likes of Welles, Bergman, Fellini and the likes. Kubrick was one of the major figures of 80s moviedom. 80s moviedom minded viewers usually always have a lot to talk about with Kubrick, and they know what went on back then in the 80s.

And I agree Platoon is a more of a simplistic conflict between two antagonists and it's Lord of the Flies all over. Basically "men are savage outside civilized society." However, you can also argue Platoon is more of a genuine wartime depiction while Full Metal Jacket seems to latch onto an idea of dehumanization, so it does seem like a stand-in podium for an idea. Though I really like Kubrick's ideas, tbh. I feel like there's more of a telescopic vision in there, and Kubrick's surrealism seems to give FMJ a bleak industrial environment, and it's this reason that he's responsible for 5 of the 6 bleakest films ever made. I like Platoon and FMJ, but I prefer FMJ. But both are better than that overrated psuedo-realism wannabe The Deer Hunter.

That's why I feel that Vietnam supplied such fertile soil for different filmmakers with different intents. Coppola wanted to explore the war in macrocosm, how it was without structure and devolved into a sanity-splintering quagmire. Kubrick wanted to explore the psychological element, how combat (and the preparation of same) stripped men down to almost feral automatons, more than happy to ply their trade with abandon without facing the ramifications of it. And Stone tackled the spiritual aspect of it, wanting to tell the stories of his own personal experiences with the war, how it devastated the souls of the men who fought it and who, to this day, haven't left the battlefield.

I'm much kinder to The Deer Hunter than you are, and I give it a lot of props for showing PTSD in a truly visceral, shattering way (much more effectively than Coming Home that same year). That's its key strength, one that only Stone really touched on in Born on the Fourth of July.

I think Apocalypse Now was the closest attached to literature.  It's this classic "man journeys deep into the unknowns" that is prevalent in many ambitious, far-reaching novels, so it does have somewhat of a 2001 feel to it, but it's far better and far less of a stand in automaton - of an idea (once again, a prime Kubrick trait). So in that sense, you can call Apocalypse Now definitely the most intellectual among all of those, or at least... psuedo in the straightforward sense.  Also, with the standard it set in 1979... no wonder it can be seen as the granddaddy of them all, so it does have a special something that makes it stand out against the other war films.

I agree that Platoon is the most autographical, drawn from Oliver Stone's love of the political climate of the period... and JFK is probably his ultimate homage to the 60s period.   And FMJ is mostly Kubrick finding another breeding ground to spring his auteur seed.  I don't loathe The Deer Hunter and it hasn't usually been one of the films I've been the least kindest to during my IMDB tenure.  But it's part of that group of New Hollywood films that I see everyone like, but I don't see the big deal: Dog Day Afternoon, Easy Rider, The French Connection, and... maybe even Five Easy Pieces (I know I'm in the huge minority for that one) are the others.  There may be more, but those are the starting packs for me.  I feel like The Deer Hunter definitely has realism, and during your starting buff film phase, I can see how you can be devasted by the tragedy of it and the friend-save-friend situation DeNiro puts himself in... by going to Vietnam to find and save his friend Walken can be highly emotional.  But I feel that while it's much better than Coming Home, the fact that it's even compared to it, kind of indicates the film it is - which is closer to a Coming Home than to a war classic.  Make no mistake, at least it's not some mushy sentimentality fest, but it feels dragged down by 70isms, repeat motions and a long length, and dareisay.... the DeNiro casting actually hurts the film.      I know you'll be like..."what?"  I could expand on that if you care.... but I don't know how strongly you feel about the film.  Is it the best film of 1978 to you?

It's great, but feels messier, less perfected than most of Kubrick's work. I'd put it last among his three war films. Modine's an excellent lead and I wish he was in more stuff that looked good. Even his small role in Short Cuts was one of the highlights of that movie.

Kubrick does a very convincing job of recreating Vietnam there, and all aspects of the film are very realistic and authentic.

I really didn't like the first half and I don't even remember if I watched the whole thing. I guess I should revisit it sometime.

Love it. Second best Kubrick imo.