War Movies Series Post 3: Full Metal Jacket

Stanley Kubrick is a fantastic filmmaker.  Although I have not seen A Clockwork Orange, I have seen Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Shining, all of which I loved.  I am not, however, a big fan of Full Metal Jacket.  Like From Here to Eternity, I find it vastly overrated. The first half of the movie I do love.  The first half is the fabulous training camp sequence.  It also includes some of the most terrifying, most affective performances of all time: Vincent D'Onofrio as Pvt. Pyle and R. Lee Ermey as Sgt. Hartman.  Pyle is a disturbed man, teased and mocked by all of the other soldiers at the camp.  Hartman is the terrible drill sergeant who takes no prisoners when it comes to verbally abusing his trainees.  I honestly believe that one of them should have been given an Oscar.  Unfortunately, the two both end up dead by the end of the first act.  Then the film goes downhill.  

All characters other than Pyle and Hartman are completely 2 dimensional, and not

 the least bit likable or relatable.  I understand that the characters are supposed to be depicted as heartless killing machines, but I don't even get the least bit of an impression left on me from their characters, and, more importantly, I didn't care.

The battle scenes are not very good.  I mean, the camerawork is okay and you can understand what is going on, but that's about it.  The battle scenes are not groundbreaking like many people say they are, and even if they are, they don't hold up today.

The only scene after the first act that I enjoy is the last scene.  It consists of the "mindless killing machines" walking into the sunset singing the Mickey Mouse club song.

So, that's about it.  I liked about a third of the movie total.

Full Metal Jacket - 2.5 out of 4

-Ben