Netflix viewers have access to thousands of films and some of those are the best of the best. The platform is currently streaming a popular war movie with a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Full Metal Jacket has been described as the “best film of all time” by fans. It was driected by Stanley Kubrick and released in 1987. The war epic stars Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Arliss Howard, Kevyn Major Howard and Ed O’Ross.
Kubrick adapted the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford’s autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, which was published in 1979. The story follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their boot camp training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. It stars Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey and Vincent D’Onofrio among others.
The film’s synopsis reads: “Kubrick’s take on the Vietnam War follows smart-aleck Private Davis (Modine), quickly christened “Joker” by his foul-mouthed drill sergeant (Ermey), and pudgy Private Lawrence (D’Onofrio), nicknamed “Gomer Pyle,” as they endure the rigors of basic training. Though Pyle takes a frightening detour, Joker graduates to the Marine Corps and is sent to Vietnam as a journalist, covering – and eventually participating in – the bloody Battle of Hué.”
Full Metal Jacket has been praised by critics and fans alike with both rating the film highly at 90% and 94% respecitively. The critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: “Intense, tightly constructed, and darkly comic at times, Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket may not boast the most original of themes, but it is exceedingly effective at communicating them.”
A critic awarded the film five out of five stars and said: “A hard-hitting movie laced with moments of dark humour and brimming with social commentary, Full Metal Jacket is viewed as one of the all-time great war movie.”
One fan on Reddit described the war picture as the “best film of all time”, with another fan via Letterboxd stating: “Full Metal Jacket is one of the greatest films of all time.”
Full Metal Jacket is now streaming on Netflix.