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Full Metal Jacket (1987)
In director/co-writer Stanley Kubrick's searing war
film, based upon his adaptation of Gustav Hasford's 1979 novel The
Short Timers,
it was told in
two parts: first, the exploits of a recruited young Marine Corps
soldier during dehumanizing South Carolina boot-camp training on
Parris Island in the late 1960s, and second, the nightmarish, violent
front lines within Hue City - with a cool, unemotional look at urban
warfare on the eve of the 1968 Tet Offensive at the turning point
of the war:
- in the striking opening credits sequence, Marine
recruits had their heads shaved on Parris Island, to the tune
of the country song "Hello Vietnam," performed by Johnny
Wright
- one of the recruits, Private J.
T. "Joker" Davis (Matthew
Modine), wore a helmet labeled "Born to Kill," and provided voice-over
narration throughout the entire film
- during their first training session, their
foul-mouthed, brutal, ruthless, and demanding drill instructor Gunnery
Sergeant Hartman (real-life DI R. Lee Ermey) spewed one-liners:
("I
am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your Senior Drill Instructor. From now
on, you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words
out of your filthy sewers will be: 'Sir!' Do you maggots understand
that?...Bulls--t, I can't hear you. Sound off like you gotta pair...If
you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training, you
will be a weapon, you will be a minister of death, praying for war.
But until that day, you are pukes! You're the lowest form of life
on Earth. You are not even human f--kin' beings! You are nothing
but unorganized grab-asstic pieces of amphibian s--t! Because I am
hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you
will learn. I am hard, but I am fair! There is no racial bigotry
here! I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here
you are all equally worthless! And my orders are to weed out
all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps!
Do you maggots understand that?...Bulls--t, I can't hear you...")
- Sgt. Hartman demanded that the wise-cracking 'Joker'
show his "war
face" and
that the recruits go to bed with their rifles, and he recited a
US Marine Corps love poem; also Catholic-believing
Hartman backhandedly slapped Joker's face when he said he didn't
believe in the Virgin Mary - the impertinent Joker was forced to
change his answer:
"Now you do love the Virgin Mary, don't you?" - but Joker
stubbornly refused to bend, stating: "The Private believes that
any answer he gives is wrong, and the Senior Drill Instructor will
beat him harder if he reverses himself, sir"; impressed by the
courage and "guts" of his convictions, Hartman immediately
promoted Joker to squad leader, but Joker's added duty was to become
the personal instructor of overweight, slow-witted recruit Private
Leonard Lawrence, nicknamed 'Gomer Pyle' (Vincent D'Onofrio)
- while proceeding through the extremely physically-challenging
obstacle course, Private 'Gomer Pyle' couldn't keep up due to
his physical condition and weight; to ridicule him, Sgt. Hartman
forced Pyle to walk behind the platoon with his pants around his
ankles while sucking his thumb
- Sgt. Hartman delivered a speech about the great
Marine marksmen of the past (including mass murderer Charles Whitman
and JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald) - "Those individuals showed
what one motivated Marine and his rifle can do"
- in a very gory scene, insanely-disturbed Private
'Gomer Pyle' went crazy in the barracks' latrine after being hazed
and abused by Hartman and his fellow Marine roommates; in the middle
of the night
in the bathroom as he was suffering from a mental breakdown, he was
ranting about his loaded M-14 rifle (with live ammunition), while
rehearsing one of his training routines - the recitation of the
'Rifleman's Creed': "This
is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle
is my best friend"
- Sgt. Hartman heard the commotion and rushed
in, asking Private "Joker" on duty: "What
is this Mickey Mouse s--t? What in the name of Jesus H. Christ are
you animals doing in my head? Why is Private Pyle out of his bunk
after lights out? Why is Private Pyle holding that weapon? Why aren't
you stomping Private Pyle's guts out?"
- "Joker" replied
to the Sergeant that the gun's magazine was fully "locked and
loaded";
Hartman demanded that Pyle surrender his rifle and then insulted
him when he didn't comply: "I want that weapon and I want it
now. You will place that rifle on the deck at your feet and step
back away from it.(yelling) What is your major malfunction, numb-nuts?
Didn't Mommy and Daddy show you enough attention when you were a
child?"; holding his rifle at waist level, Pyle murdered Hartman
(filmed in slow-motion) by blasting him in the chest at close range
Pyle's Murder of Gunnery Sgt. Hartman
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- shortly after, when Pyle had decided to not kill
Joker, Pyle backed up, dropped down on one of the bathroom toilet
seats, put the gun to his mouth, and suicidally pulled the trigger;
he blew his head off, splattering the wall behind him with his
brains and blood; the bloody death scene slowly faded to black
- the film's second-half followed the exploits
of Sgt. 'Joker' in Da Nang who was working for the the military
newspaper Stars and Stripes; the transition was introduced
by the striking entrance of a hip-swiveling, mini-skirted Vietnamese
prostitute/hooker (Papillon Soo) in Da Nang (viewed from behind
as she walked down the Saigon street) to the tune of Nancy Sinatra's
feminist song: "These
Boots Are Made For Walkin'" - she then propositioned two GI
soldiers-clients at a cafe: ("You got girlfriend (in) Vietnam?...Well,
baby. Me so horny. Me so horny. Me love you long time. You party?");
however, the prostitute was part of a set-up to distract 'Joker'
and his partner combat photographer Pvt. 1st Class Rafterman (Kevyn
Major Howard) so that the latter's camera could be stolen by her
accomplice (Nguyen Hue Phong)
- during the combat unit's
dangerous search for a deadly Viet Cong sniper amongst the ruins
of factory buildings in Phu Bai during the Battle of Hue, 'Joker'
located the sniper on an upper floor, but his rifle jammed and
he was trapped behind a concrete column; his pal Rafterman shot
and lethally wounded the sniper who then begged "Shoot
me!" -
surprisingly, the VC Sniper was a teenaged female (Ngoc Le) (who
moments earlier had killed Texan recruit Sgt. "Cowboy" Evans
(Arliss Howard) who had died in Joker's arms); although hesitant,
Joker was initiated into the exclusive club of those who exhibited
the "thousand
yard stare"
when he performed his first kill - the mercy-killing of the sniper
The VC Sniper - and Joker's Mercy-Killing
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- in the film's final scene,
the surviving troop members of the unit sang "The Mickey
Mouse Club" theme
song as they marched through burned-out ruins of flaming buildings
to their main camp; the 'Joker's' memorable voice-over narration
ended the film: "My thoughts drift back to erect nipple wet dreams
about Mary Jane Rottencrotch and the Great Homecoming F--k Fantasy.
I am so happy that I am alive, in one piece and short. I'm in a
world of s--t - yes. But I am alive. And I am not afraid"
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Opening Title Credits: Head Shavings For New Recruits
"Joker's" Boot Camp Training with Sgt. Hartman
Hartman's Backhanded Slapping of Joker For Not Believing
in the Virgin Mary
Pyle's Failures on the Obstacle Course
Private Pyle's Suicide
"Me So Horny" Prostitute in Da Nang
Combat in Vietnam
The Mickey Mouse Club Theme Song
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