• Full Metal Jacket (1987)

    Stanley Kubrick's take on the Vietnam War follows smart-aleck Private Davis (Matthew Modine), quickly christened "Joker" by his foul-mouthed drill sergeant (R. Lee Ermey), and pudgy Private Lawrence (Vincent 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...

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Full Metal Jacket
76
metacriticBased on 19 Critics
73
Based on 480 Users

Release Date: June 26th, 1987

DVD Release Date: June 29th, 1999

R |1 hr 56 min

Plot Summary

Stanley Kubrick's take on the Vietnam War follows smart-aleck Private Davis (Matthew Modine), quickly christened "Joker" by his foul-mouthed drill sergeant (R. Lee Ermey), and pudgy Private Lawrence (Vincent 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.

Cast: Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Arliss Howard, Kevyn Major Howard, Ed O'Ross

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Genres: Historical drama , War

Production Co: Natant, Warner Brothers

Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures

Keywords: Rise, Murder, Dark, 1960s, Transformation, Quest, Fall

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Ratings & Reviews

  • 50
    Duane ByrgeThe Hollywood Reporter

    While far too much of the film is staged discussion and smug political jousting, there is savage and lethal black irony. show more

  • 100
    David SterrittChristian Science Monitor

    What makes the film stunning is less its metaphorical scheme than its cinematic style. Always a matter of flowing camera movement, Kubrick has photographed much of the action with long "traveling shots" that capture time and space as a seamless whole, not fractured into the bits and pieces of standard editing techniques. [26 June 1987]

  • 100
    Jay ScottThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)

    May be the best war movie ever made...Different is Kubrick's artistry and control, and his almost perverse, but philosophically progressive, refusal to impart to chaos a coherent narrative contour. show more

See all critic reviews on metacritic.com

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Awards

Nominated Writing (Screenplay - Based on Material From Another Medium)
Oscars Academy Awards (1987)
Nominated Best Performance By an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Golden Globes (1988)
Nominated Sound
British Academy of Film & Television Arts (1987)
Nominated Achievement in Special Effects
British Academy of Film & Television Arts (1987)