A war film that has been described as gripping, heartbreaking, and a masterpiece is currently streaming on Netflix. Full Metal Jacket, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick, boasts a high score of 90% on film review website Rotten Tomatoes and is one film that enthusiasts should tune into. The 1987 film is based on Gustav Hasford’s, the Marine Corps veteran, autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, as well as the last film of Kubrick’s to be released during his lifetime.
It follows a platoon of U.S Marines through their boot camp training during the Vietnam War. The one-hour and 56-minute film is split into two parts. The first part focuses on privates J. T. Davis and Leonard Lawrence, nicknamed Joker and Pyle, and their struggle under their abusive drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half portrays the experiences of Joker and other Marines in Da Nang and Hue during the Tet Offensives of the Vietnam War.
The film received many positive reviews from critics, with the consensus on Rotten Tomatoes describing it as “intense, tightly constructed, and darkly comic at times.”
Globe and Mail wrote: “Full Metal Jacket is violent, caustic, ironic, and cold, an amoral object formed from a camera gliding majestically across slow-motion carnage while refusing to blink an eye or shed a tear.
While FlickDirect said: “Kubrick had a way of making the audience become invested in the characters of his film and created some truly memorable ones.
Chicago Reader labelled it Kubrick’s “most tightly crafted film since Dr Strangelove.” They also compared it to his 1980 psychological horror The Shining, adding that Full Metal Jacket “accomplishes most of what The Shining failed to do.”
As well as top critics praising the film, fans have also commended the war film, with multiple claiming that it is the “best war/military movie ever made.”
Echoing the review, G C wrote: “Is there a better war film than this? Nope.”
The film got approval from a war veteran, who rated it five out of five stars. They added: “A truly perfect movie. You have to appreciate every bit of it. As a Marine Corps veteran, it’s super accurate.”
Full Metal Jacket remains clutching the attention of war fans, with Daniel Z, who watched it just this month, calling it a “gripping, twisted, and heartbreaking film.”
Those who love war films must watch this one, with Jackson87 A dubbing it a “cinematic masterpiece that stands the test of time as one of the most iconic war films in history.”