along with the publicly recog-
nized veteran journalist Michael
Herr. The relationship between
these men shaped Kubrick’s vi-
sion of what a war movie should
be. This vision involved a rigor-
ous realism, as Kubrick portrayed
a Marine boot camp on Parris Is-
land, South Carolina; the Tet Of-
fensive; and the battle for the city
of Hue—the major parts of the
film.
The film takes a great part of
its meaning from its juxtaposi-
tion of basic training with active
combat, as it is unclear which is
worse. The stock characters—
bookish, oafish, macho—become
trained killing machines, as their
drill instructor (played by R. Lee
Ermey) dehumanizes them and
strips them of their individuality
to prepare them for war. The
trainees become incorporated
into the squad, the company, and the machinery of
war. After an incident of extreme violence at Parris
Island, they ship out to Vietnam, where more vio-
lence awaits amid the destroyed palm trees, the kill-
ing fields, and the ruins of the Holy City of Hue,
where a chaotic battle with a sniper marks the sec-
ond denouement of the film. Kubrick juxtaposes
horror with irony to capture the madness of war, and
the surviving Marines march away from Hue singing
The Mickey Mouse Clubtheme song.
Impact As inPaths of Glor y, Kubrick’s portrayal of
war inFull Metal Jacketemphasized the extent to
which soldiers find themselves simultaneously un-
der attack—albeit in very different ways—both by
enemy troops and by their own military. By captur-
ing this predicament, he decisively altered the his-
tory of war films. Careful to give voice, through
onscreen interviews, to a broad spectrum of political
viewpoints on Vietnam, he nevertheless crafted those
viewpoints into a very personal vision of the nature
of war and of military service. As one of soci-
ety’s most biting critics, profound visionaries, and
fierce satirists, Kubrick produced perhaps the most
compelling vision of war since Robert Altman’s
M*A*S*H(1970).Further Reading
Bolton, John. “The War Film.” InAmerican Cinema/
American Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
Gianetti, Louis.Understanding Movies. 10th ed. En-
glewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 2004.
Hasford, Gustav.The Short-Timers. New York: Harper,
1979.
Herr, Michael.Dispatches. New York: Knopf, 1977.
Mason, Bobbie Ann.In Countr y. New York: Harper,
1985.
Melling, Philip H.Vietnam in American Literature. Bos-
ton: Twayne, 1990.
O’Brien, Tim.The Things They Carried. New York:
Houghton, 1990.
James F. O’NeilSee also Academy Awards; Action films; Film in
the United States;Platoon; Stone, Oliver; Vietnam
Veterans Memorial.396 Full Metal Jacket The Eighties in America
Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, the new recruits’ abusive drill instructor, in
Full Metal Jacket.(AP/Wide World Photos)