Full Metal Jacket
Year: 1987
Rating: R
Length: 159 minutes / 2.65 hours
As a self-proclaimed film buff, I have to admit that it’s almost criminal that I’ve gone this long without fully watching Full Metal Jacket (1987). After all, I have seen most of Stanley Kubrick’s filmography and I understand the importance of his oeuvre. I think my hesitation is that I’ve already seen most of this film just through the memes that it eventually spawned. That, and doing more of a “straight” take on a war movie after the perfect satire that is Dr. Strangelove (1964) felt like a disservice.
Even though this movie is almost three hours long, it really feels like two completely separate films smashed together. I don’t believe any other film before or since has quite captured that “boot camp” feel that the first half of this movie does. It’s spawned so many quotable lines that it stands on its own without a need to follow up. Then we jump into war and it feels a bit more generic—even if it still contains a few memorable lines as well. By 1987, it felt like we already had plenty of these kinds of war movies that show how all the training goes out the window once you get into the field.
The one thing that definitely redeems the second half (and enforces the whole movie, to be honest) is the subtle way that Kubrick shows mastery of cinematography. It doesn’t bring attention to itself, but the little things stand out as different. Like how everything at boot camp is in focus, highlighting how no soldier is special or deserving of specialized attention. Or how a long one-shot introduces so much exposition about fighting on the front lines of the Vietnam War without saying so explicitly. This is the brilliance of Kubrick, and Full Metal Jacket is not immune to it.
Two different films united by Kubrick’s genius cinematography, I give Full Metal Jacket 4.0 stars out of 5.
