Full Metal Jacket Film Analysis

Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket” is a hard-hitting film set during the Vietnam War that through strong imagery, theme and characterization shows the harsh reality of war balanced with the human psyche. The film has been a pop culture phenomenon since it released in 1987 that has many famous quotes that you will hear men say amongst themselves in bars. In the time of an unpopular war, civil rights battles, the birth of hippies, and the Cold War you get taken back in time with an extraordinary group of young United States Marines from boot camp to the battlefield. Crude language and violence is abundant in a fast-paced situation that is far from a typical war film. This film helped a lot of people understand that they have no idea how …show more content…
Pyle is a simple character but, Kubrick’s ability to show him develop into a scary mentally damaged killer is genius. You see him slip almost in stages from scene to scene as Private Joker is shown to lose patience and become frustrated with him as he’s been placed to mentor him. The film is broken down into what is almost like two separate films. I believe it was meant that way to show the importance of the harsh boot camp that prepares Marines for the brutality of war. Private Joker’s character is shown to keep his compassionate and comedic presence in Vietnam. He continues to make jokes in active duty while, showing care for human life which is not shared by the rest of the characters in Nam. He has a new sidekick as a journalist with Raptorman who is a young and eager for combat journalist. They are paired with seasoned combat Marines with a character named Animal Mother who is a vile, racist killer with a lot of narcissistic traits. This character is the epitome of war in that he shows the cruelty of it in his …show more content…
When Private Joker asks him how he can shoot women and children he quips “it’s easy, you just don’t lead them so much”. Animal Mother is a character cut from the same cloth as he appears as blood thirsty and enjoys the opportunity to kill that on the opposite end of the spectrum of Joker’s character. Janet Maslin of the New York Times wrote, “The basic training episode in “Full Metal Jacket” will have that same long lasting impact, as will the extended combat sequence near the films end, that culminates in a transcendent image of war and its horror.” (Maslin, 1987) I feel like Maslin’s statement sums up what Kubrick intended to show through art. She compares the film to Oliver Stone’s Platoon which, was an anti-war film and shares the sentiment that Kubrick may have had no political feelings on the film other than simply attempting to capture life through art. I must agree that just showing people life’s cruelty is impacting politically. Kubrick shows the cruelty of man and that all men in war are different as in the final scene where Animal Mother refuses to end the female sniper who killed their friends suffering. The peaceful Joker shows the complications of war as he is forced to fight for his enemy among his own team. Some might see this film as anti-war but, there is no real slant to it like in Platoon. It’s just

Show More

Dental Question Bank Essay

Lyndon B. Johnson and Vietnam War Era Essay

Moby Dick Essay

Nebosh Diploma Note Unit C Essay

United Arab of Emirates Country Notebook Essay

Business Journalism in India Essay

Managing Information Technology (7th Edition) Essay