Just watched this all the way through for the first time. I thought it was amazing. I have always loved Kubrick, and I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to seeing this. I’m not especially fond of war movies, but I thought this one was very artfully done.
I thought it was especially interesting how many of the drill sergeant’s insults I’ve heard over time. And the hooker with her “me so horny” bit. I guess I didn’t realize it originated with this movie.
Anyway, thoughts? I have Apocalypse Now coming next week from Netflix, so I’ll have my war movie fix taken care of for a long while.
The tradition of the foulmouthed, borderline psychotic Marine Drill Instructor is as old as, well, The Marine Corp itself. Lee Emery (a former drill instructor himself) did really set that standard by which all others will be judged. But you could also check out the book, Battle Cry by Leon Uris (set in WWII)… it has some similar themes. For movies, The D.I. and The Hill have Emery-esque charaters.
As for the “me so horny” girl, I pretty sure her character can also be found in literature and perhaps movies from the Korean War era.
Finally, I hope you have the original Apocalypse Now on order from Netflix and not Apocalypse Now Redux… IMHO, most of Coppola’s “improvements” in fact, made the film more bloated and pointless… plus it totally ruined one of the the greatest ever movie characters… Col. Kilgore.
When I watched Full Metal Jacket back when it came out, my impression was that the characters and dialogue were rather cliched. Yes, it’s true to life, but the characters and dialogue of the hard-bitten Marine drill instructor and the desperate third-world prostitute aren’t remotely new. R. Lee Ermey was orginally hired as a military consultant on the film. He was trying to make it as an actor after leaving the Marines. He was filmed by Kubrick in a several-minute-long short using the sort of insults that would be typical of Marine drill instructors. Kubrick liked his performance so much that he cast Ermey as the drill instructor in the film.
I disagree. The orignal cut of AN was a result of political pressure on Coppola not to criticize the war. Basically, the studio caved and so did he. The original cut made no sense whatsoever; it was disjointed, rather than chaotic, and left me wondering WTF on more than one instance. The scenes added back in glue the whole thing together.
I would add “Hamburger Hill” as a film that’s worth watching once or twice. The acting is somewhat hammy, but it does a fair job of pointing out the futile nature of war.
You should also watch Hart of Darkness, a documentary on the making of Apocolypse Now.
It’s amazing what they went through to make that movie.
Francis Ford Coppola said, I think making the movie was a lot like the Viet Nam war. We spent way too much money, we were there way too long and by the end, we were all a little crazy.
I love in Full Metal Jacket how when at the end.
When Joker is working up to shoot the sniper and put her out of her misery a shadow moves across him and covers the peace sign as he shoots her.
All this talk about Full Metal Jacket and not one word that the movie was a more-than-usually faithful adaptation of the original novel, The Short Timers by Gustav Hasford.
It’s a great little book, one of the best works I’ve read to come out of that war.
And I knew Gus in the old days, when he was just starting out as a writer. To be honest, none of us thought he was going to make it based on his writing then, but we didn’t realize what would happen if and when he found the right book inside of him.
He died young and without duplicating that triumph. Still, there never would have been that movie without that book. It’s like talking about Lord of the Rings without ever mentioning Tolkien.
> It’s like talking about Lord of the Rings without ever mentioning Tolkien.
Which is exactly what people who are fans of those crappy Peter Jackson movies do. I’ve heard a number of people who like the movies say, “Books? Oh, I tried reading them, but I got bored. Who wants to read a bunch of words?”
He also got run down by a car during filimg and had to do several scenes with a broken shoulder and ribs heavily strapped, which explains his very stiff posture and arm that doesn’t move a whole lot.
When I first saw in the cinema, I walked out at the end thinking “what was that sh*t” - and that from a confirmed Kubrick nut. It took me a second veiwing 15 years later to realise what a grand film it is. What is it with Kubrick and anti-war films?
I’ll also remember FMJ as the film which “gave” us Vincent D’Onofrio, whom I think has done so much great work, but now seems to have settled for an easy paycheck with “Criminal Intent”. Shame
The Short Timers is a great book, and has a far better climax than the one used in the movie. IMHO
Indygrrl… if you enjoy Apocalyse Now I will second Zebra’s recommendation of Hearts of Darkness. It could be argued that Coppola does a better Kurtz than Brando does.
Chefguy… I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree. Beauty (not to mention comprehensabiltiy) is in the eye of the beholder. But come on, was the inclusion of the French Plantation scene really necessary?
Snooooopy… Kilgore still loves the smell of nepalm in the morning in Redux, it’s just that with the inclusion of a couple of additional scenes his character changed from a kind of magnificent monster into somewhat of a joke. For instance, he had one of the all time best exits / exit lines “someday this war’s gonna end”… as he walks off into the fog of battle. Redux has the additional scenes of him chasing after the boat demanding the return of his stolen surf board… the man has become a buffoon.
While I agree that the Kilgore character suffered from the extra scene you mention, I liked the additional layer the Willard character gets. In the original, there aren’t any scenes that have Willard having fun with the guys on the boat. He’s pretty aloof from them for the whole trip. In Redux, the surfboard storyline gives him a chance for some “bonding” with the other guys on the boat. When we get to the part where Willard shoots the injured woman on the boat that the crew has boarded, it seems even more shocking that he’s capable of that.
Oh, you mean those awesome Peter Jackson movies that were based on some books with some really great ideas, but were rather slow-paced and relatively boring by today’s fiction standards?
