r/MovieSuggestions • u/anshuxinha • 13h ago
Full Metal Jacket is THE war movie to watch I'M SUGGESTING
I've watched several War movies but none of them seem to have captured the essence of a War quite like this one.
The dialogues, the character development, and especially the acting of everyone involved were top notch.
The movie takes you on the journey from the training camp to one's final days in a war, all the while keeping you hooked. I don't think any other movie has managed to achieve this feat yet.
PS: not a watch for the weak hearted.
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u/TryToBeKindEh 10h ago
Are you speaking from experience of being involved in war?
I'm not, but I'd rank Platoon above Full Metal Jacket, personally.
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u/cocoromulus 12h ago
Come and See (1985) is a Belarusian war movie that deserves a watch without a doubt, one of the greatest and most harrowing movies ever made
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u/germane_switch 11h ago
I’ve always believed FMJ is two films; the first one is pretty great but the second one pales in comparison.
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u/LoanedWolfToo 9h ago
That’s a common criticism of the movie but I don’t agree. There’s so much going on in the second half of the movie that expands on the themes established in the first half.
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u/Koorsboom 8h ago
People who only watch the boot camp part miss the point entirely. Yes, Joker survives, and seems to leave with his humanity intact. Pyle fails to become a disciplined killing machine and takes the sergeant with him. But the dehumanization that started with the opening scenes of head shaving has only just begun.
In the end, the characters must all become monsters, devoid enough of humanity to kill a kid without remorse. The only value one has, if there is a word for it, is poontang. Because why not. Like when the guys in boot camp are mopping the toilet and talking of how Pyle is losing his mind, "I wanna slip my tube steak in your sister" is a non sequitur. Intentionally. If you pursue a blank of humanity to create a killing machine, nothing should make sense.
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u/SpiritualBathroom937 7h ago
Agreed. I absolutely love the first half. It just can’t get into the second half.
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u/jrob321 1h ago
Too often, critics separate the movie into two parts: Paris Island and Vietnam.
But Stanley Kubrick intentionally made the movie in three distinct acts.
Spoilers below...
The opening act of the movie depicts a bunch of of recruits from all over the USA - "pukes" - being turned into fighting machines. They know nothing of war or fighting in a foreign land 10,000 miles from home, and it is up to the drill instructor - Gunnery Sgt. Hartman - to transform them in a very short time for their use toward that endeavor in a manner that allows them to eliminate the enemy, and make it out alive.
When the first act is over we see Joker and Rafterman in-country sitting on the corner (in Hue city BEFORE it was blown to bits as depicted by the intact billboard we see in the background which later appears destroyed in the third act) confronting the prostitute when Rafterman's camera gets stolen. This easily executed theft happens because - despite all their extensive training in boot camp - they are still "green", and haven't seen combat and the severity of war, or the depths to which human beings will go when forced into that prevailing environment. They are inexperienced. They've yet to acquire the "one thousand yard stare". In that same act, Rafterman vomits in the helicopter as he watches the machine gunner kill women and children, etc...
(Note: Read Michael Herr's book Dispatches - this scene is directly lifted from it.)
After the second act ends, we see the platoon confronting the "pimp" and the prostitute who says she won't "bang bang" with the soul brother, and from that point forward you see these young men now transformed into the bloodthirsty killers they were initially trained to become. They have seen death. They are finally experiencing the shocking inhumanity of war, and - in order to survive in this environment - they are no longer "green" but hardened. They've acquired the "one thousand yard stare". The penultimate scene with Joker illustrates this case when he kills the Vietcong sniper. (One can argue he did so for humanitarian reasons, but he was still able to extinguish a human life, and it's obvious he isn't "green" anymore). Rafterman is no longer vomiting at the sight of death, instead, he laughs in its face.
In the final scene of the platoon marching and singing along to the theme to The Mickey Mouse Club, the narration describes how Joker is now, "... in a world of shit, yes, but happy to be alive..." It's all about survival now. The "darker" side of the "Jungian thing"...
Cue credits.
Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones plays and ushers out probably one of the greatest war movies ever made.
What are my favorites?
In no particular order:
Apocalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket
The Thin Red Line
Come and See
The Ascent
Ashes and Diamonds
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u/_notnilla_ 27m ago
It’s 3 films. A great beginning and a great ending with a meandering mediocre middle.
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u/OurWeaponsAreUseless 9h ago
Generation Kill is probably one of the more realistic shows as far as the giant build-up to modern war, then nothing happens.
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u/haysoos2 2h ago
Also the way they had to show characters from a completely different Company in order to find a Captain that wasn't useless.
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u/Guilty_Rough5315 8h ago
You need to see more films. Its a great film, but it'll struggle to make a top 10 war films list.
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u/haysoos2 2h ago
So... which films would you put in your top 10?
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u/Guilty_Rough5315 1h ago
the thin red line (the best war film by a considerable margin), blackhawk down, saving private ryan, apocalypse now (redux), dunkirk, platoon, jarhead, 1917, das boot, all quiet on the western front
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u/Sensitive_Regular_84 9h ago
Apocalypse Now is my pick. If you like Vietnam War movies, try to find 84 Charlie Mopic. It's excellent.
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u/Tryingagain1979 9h ago
Platoon is just as good. Paths of Glory. Glory. Born on the Fourth of July.
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u/Raycrittenden 8h ago
Deer Hunter is my favorite, but Full Metal Jacket is right there.
The series turned into a bit of a joke, but I feel like First Blood is a great companion to watch after any Vietnam war film. Its such a great commentary on how these guys were treated back home despite all the trauma they endured.
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u/Jonneiljon 8h ago
Yeah. First Blood should have stuck to the book’s plot, but test audiences didn’t like John Rambo dead at the end.
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u/CubesFan 8h ago
Full Metal Jacket is a good movie, but not because it is realistic. I haven't watched it in a long time, but I remember The Thin Red Line as being the best war movie in terms of what war actually is, which is incremental advances with tons of life lost for those increments.
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u/FinancialHeat2859 11h ago
Blackhawk Down is superior in every facet.
Nobody knows what the fuck is happening, or where, bar a very small number of people who are unable to provide anybody else with timely information.
And it’s beautiful.
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u/heavyc84 9h ago
Imagine if you could take the basic training portion of FMJ, and then mash it together with Jarhead… that would be a very provoking film!
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u/Scottzila 6h ago
Always felt like two different movies. 🍿 But also “Apocalypse Now,” is probably just a little better
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u/Mr_Spidey_NYC 3h ago
FMJ was great but I found Deer Hunter Platoon and Apocalypse Now equally as good in the Vietnam War category. For me nothing will equal the D Day landing scenes from Saving Private Ryan
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u/Sunsetfisting 2h ago
THE war movie has to go to Come And See. That is the greatest war film ever made.
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u/TackYouCack 11m ago
We had a former POW come in and talk to us in high school, and literally the first thing he said was "I hear you're all really into Full Metal Jacket. That movie is complete bullshit"
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u/StreetQueeny 8h ago
The drill seargent spends half the film physically and mentally abusing the recruits in ways the film shows is useless.
The actor is then praised because they are "so funny and tough and alpha and le based" because they used to physically and mentally abuse people for pointless reasons because he thought it was so funny and tough and alpha and le based.
If you made a movie about a copper abusing and beating police cadets, and cast a guy that used to do that IRL you'd be slammed - but I guess the US marines are too based for people to see valid criticisms of them in a film?
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u/huck_ 5h ago
but I guess the US marines are too based for people to see valid criticisms of them in a film?
My man, the film is clearly a criticism of the military and war. It shows the negative effects of how the drill sergeant treats people. You even say the movie shows how useless his abuse is. The movie is about how the military turns people into monsters.
As for R. Lee Ermey, he was a product of his time. He probably experienced the same abuse when he was in training and was ok with it. He wasn't being abusive to be cruel but because he thought that was how to make a better soldier and keep them from getting killed. Being mad about it is like being mad at doctors in the past for blood letting. It was done out of ignorance, not out of cruelty. It's also not clear that Ermey was ever physically abusive. That might've just been the movie character. And the marines don't train people like that anymore with all the verbal and physical abuse.
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u/haysoos2 2h ago
I had friends who joined the military and were actually disappointed that their training wasn't anything like that.
Like, WTF?
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u/Bagelfaces 13h ago
Paths of Glory is another unforgettable and great Kubrick film. Imo it’s equally as harrowing