Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket is a flawless evocation of war's penalties, of its atrocities and its victims. The film is split in two parts, the first describing recruit training on Parris Island and the second reporting battles in war-torn Vietnam. Neither is forgiving, and the first is as brutal as the second.The film starts with a ferocious intensity; the first forty-five minutes set up a suspenseful introduction that never lets you breathe until it's over. It composes a darkly comic atmosphere that is simultaneously unsettling and disturbing. You might find yourself laughing, but then quickly stop yourself as the horror mounts. The second half is almost as funny and just as frightening. It is the visceral counterpart to the cerebral first. Kubrick uses this symmetry, and echoes it in his shot compositions, to reveal multiple layers of meaning. A thematic analysis seems to be first and foremost in this film's creation. (For further analysis, I have linked a five page paper I wrote on it for class here.)
While Kubrick makes few, if any, cinematic mistakes, I am a bit baffled by some of his choices for dialogue and acting. The macho battle between Joker and Animal Mother when they first meet seems awfully staged and preposterously over-the-top. He clearly intended something by it (it would be impossible for him not to notice), but I just can't figure out what. Additionally, a few shots in the barracks/training scenes didn't quite match up. These complaints detract very little from the experience. After 20 years, it still holds up remarkably well and its easy to see its influence on future war movies. This is one film you don't want to miss.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093058/