All Movie Guide

Stanley Kubrick's return to filmmaking after a seven-year hiatus, this film crystallizes the experience of the Vietnam War by concentrating on a group of raw Marine volunteers. Based on Gustav Hasford's novel The Short Timers, the film's first half details the volunteers' harrowing boot-camp training under the profane, power-saw guidance of drill instructor Sgt. Hartman (R. Lee Ermey, a real-life drill instructor whose performance is one of the most terrifyingly realistic on record). Part two takes place in Nam, as seen through the eyes of the now thoroughly indoctrinated marines. Ironically, Full Metal Jacket was filmed almost entirely in England. Hal Erickson

All Movie Guide

His first film since 1980's The Shining, legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick turned his attention to this adaptation of Gustav Hasford's The Short Timers, a harrowing Vietnam war picture that was one of the last of the slew of war films being made in this period in the late 1980's. Widely described as a two-act film, with the first being a gripping look at Marine basic training and madness, the second covering more conventional battleground territory. As with any Kubrick film, though, it has more on its mind than typical war sentiments, as it is a vital addition to his body of work illustrating the poisoning of the human spirit and the cruelty men are capable of. Shockingly, the film was shot in England (as virtually all of Kubrick's modern films have been), which doubles for both sections of the film quite convincingly. The film had the misfortune of debuting after Oliver Stone's Platoon had just swept the Oscars, and many felt it didn't resonate with the same emotional force as that more straightforward picture. In another bizarre footnote, the film contains a passage of dialogue that found its way into a smash hit for the notoriously lewd rap act 2 Live Crew titled "Me So Horny," an odd occurrence given Kubrick's infamously meticulous handling of his films and their content. Jason Clark

Product Details

• UPC: 085391186274
• Source: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Special Edition, Subtitled, Dubbed
• Time: 1:57:00
• Sales Rank: 2,568

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Stanley Kubrick

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