Full Metal Jacket; Kubrick's 1987 war movie. The first half of the movie, the story arch all
taking place at the boot camp, is really good. I think it would make a really
strong short film on its own. But I think Hollywood told Kubrick “No! We want a
movie long enough to have a theatrical release so we can make money! Add more
to it! Chop, chop!” That’s what the rest of the movie basically feels like.
It’s kind of a bloody mess. Yeah, the Vietnam War was a bloody mess, but the
movie doesn’t really accurately convey that. A lot of the soldiers are
portrayed as horny psychopaths, as if it’s saying all of the soldiers in
Vietnam lost their humanity and became total monsters. Yes, I’m sure a lot of
them did, but not all soldiers become serial killing rapists. If you compare it
to other war movies, they often show the pain soldiers go through and the
trauma they experience in killing people and seeing their friends die. This
movie seems to think soldiers all just go insane and end up actually enjoying
killing people. This is neither accurate nor is it particularly respectful to
Vietnam veterans. It's basically how the American public viewed the soldiers fighting in Vietnam. To me, it’s another very basic movie about how war is bad.
Yeah, everyone knows that, would you like to add more to that message? Or
expand on it a little? No? Okay, pointless violence it is then. I would only
recommend it if you’re a hard core Kubrick fan and just want to say you’ve seen
all of his movies. Or if you like violent war movies in general and don't want to watch one that tries to tug at your heart strings, then this is
for you. 6/10
