Full Metal Jacket
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Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 military film directed by Stanley Kubrick and set in a
fictitious version of the Vietnam War-era military. Since its first release in June 1987, the film
has consistently performed well at the box office. It has entered the Oscar race for best-adapted
screenplay after grossing over $46 million in its first month. The action centers on a platoon of
American recruits at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island. The film's first part takes
place at basic training, while the second half is set in Vietnam. Pyle and Joker, two trainees, are
the focus of the plot. The Gunnery Sergeant, who also serves as their trainer and drill teacher, is
noted for his strict approach to training. In the sequel, two marine platoons, Hue and Nang, visit
dangerous Vietnamese places. Full Metal Jacket's depiction of the Vietnam War is accurate since
it is based on actual events. Just in depicting numerous events throughout the battle as if they
occurred to just two immigrants may, some odd details arise.
Considering that the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot is situated on Parris Island in
South Carolina, recruits get a fast shave before meeting with their instructor, Gunner Sergeant.
Hartman extensively prepared his men for battle using extreme methods (Kubrick, 1987). Since
he is overweight, one of the film's key characters, Pyle, has trouble keeping up with the training
schedule. When Pyle made errors, he was disciplined more severely than the other trainees, but
Hartman saw through this and treated them all the same. It is easy to see why the recruits would
be upset, and many of them took their frustrations out on Pyle. When the film's secondary
protagonist, Joker, overhears Pyle conversing with his M14 weapon, it becomes clear that Pyle
has lost his mind (Kubrick, 1987). Recruits like Joker are given new roles and duties when they
finish basic training, and he finds himself in charge of the press section. Before leaving the
island, Joker stops by to try to convince him to kill. After killing Gunner, Pyle turns the gun on
himself. In the second part, which begins in January 1968 (Kubrick, 1987), Joker is a sergeant in
the Vietnam War. Yet incompetent. He issues a daring challenge to the adversary and then proves
his martial mettle by taking down a sniper. At the film's conclusion, he realizes his good fortune
in having survived.
Kubrick depicts the military apparatus and the Vietnam War as they occurred. The film
Joker is based on Gustavo Hasford (Spieß, 2013), a war journalist whose book Short Times
inspired the Joker persona. First, it offered proof of the film's historical veracity. Producing a
film from the point of view of a war correspondent gives audiences access to previously
unavailable material. In contrast to previous representations of the conflict, which often
portrayed the United States as the war hero while downplaying the efforts of the Vietnamese,
many reviewers have complimented the film for its accurate depiction of the war. The usage of
M14s and M16s by both sides is one of the few historically accurate details about the combat.
Throughout the war, several types saw heavy employment by the United States Army.
In addition, the Huey Helicopters are remarkably faithful recreations of the actual aircraft
utilized to carry soldiers throughout the war. The way Kubrick masterfully handled the training
pat made it seem like he was telling a PTSD story. In the same manner that Pyle's mental health
deteriorated after he left the military, so did the mental health of the vast majority of veterans.
None of this is unique to the Vietnam War; it is true of every conflict.
The realistic portrayal of boot camp and, to a lesser degree, the media's coverage of the
war contribute to the film's authenticity. In the past, men have joined the military willingly or
because they were forced to. The pupils required a brutal eight-week boot camp, with most of the
teachers being Drill specialists (Carroll, 2017). Several accounts detail the harsh measures drill
instructors used to maintain order among their recruits. American war reporters transmitted
additional transmissions of the Vietnam War home. People notice this when reporters cover
breaking news by traveling to combat zones and speaking with troops. It is impossible to imagine
that the AK-47 could have killed the Sniper (The fighting move buff, 2013). There is no proof
that the AK-47 can fire at such a great distance since it has never been tried doing so.
Full Metal Jacket is an excellent piece of historical evidence since it presents the
American point of view of the Vietnam War. Kubrick's film focuses on more than simply the
events of the Vietnam War; it also depicts the training of recruits to cope with the threat posed by
the enemy. His war movies are some of the most influential ever made. His highly stylized
structure gives rise to a whole narrative that historians may draw upon.
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References
Phipps, Z. (2016). Questioning Reality in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket.
http://mason.gmu.edu/~zphipps/fmjpaper.html
Spieß, P. (2013). Stanley Kubrick's" Full Metal Jacket." The portrayal of the Vietnam War. GRIN
Verlag. https://www.grin.com/document/266468
Carroll, W. (2017). Full Metal Jacket and the personal horrors of war.
https://lwlies.com/articles/full-metal-jacket-stanley-kubrick-personal-horrors-war/
The war Move Buff (2013). This blog reviews war movies with special emphasis on historical
accuracy.
https://warmoviebuff.blogspot.com/2013/06/16-full-
metaljacket.html#:~:text=HISTORICAL%20ACCURACY%3A%20FMJ%20is
%20not,Marine %20boot%20camp%20in%201967.
Kubrick, S. (1987). Full Metal Jacket. Film