# I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648 "2012-02-03T14:11:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/61 "2012-02-04T15:52:27Z")
R. Lee was the real deal at that time: the filming of that episode would have coincided with the final days of his DI career, and shortly before he shipped off for his own tour of duty in Vietnam. So: unlikely. Dude was busy with other things. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/62 "2012-02-04T15:52:38Z")
What I think would be magnificent would be a remake of [Elmer Gantry (1960)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053793/) with R. Lee in the Burt Lancaster role! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/63 "2012-02-04T16:24:42Z")
I laughed my ass off at a movie where R Lee got a big juicy kiss from Jack Black . Gunnery Sergeant Hartman never seemed scary after that. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/64 "2012-02-04T16:46:14Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > From IMDB: > > > [@](#): > > > > According to director John Boorman, Stanley Kubrick wanted to cast Bill McKinney in the role of Gunnery Sgt. Hartman. **However, Kubrick was so unsettled after viewing McKinney’s performance in Deliverance that he declined to meet with him, saying he was simply too frightened at the idea of being in McKinney’s presence.** Kubrick then hired Tim Colceri to play Hartman. Colceri never got to play the role, as former US Marine Corps Drill Instructor R. Lee Ermey, consultant for the Marine Corps boot camp portion of the film, performed a demonstration on videotape in which he yelled obscene insults and abuse for 15 minutes without stopping, repeating himself or even flinching - despite being continuously pelted with tennis balls and oranges. Stanley Kubrick was so impressed that he cast Ermey as Hartman. Colceri was bitter but accepted Kubrick’s consolation prize of a small role as a helicopter door-gunner. Hmm, I guess Kubrick really did think McKinney was the kind of guy that would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the common courtesy to give him a reach-around. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/65 "2012-02-04T17:58:53Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > What I think would be magnificent would be a remake of [Elmer Gantry (1960)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053793/) with R. Lee in the Burt Lancaster role! R. Lee played the bad guy fake faith healing televangelist in the movie Fletch. Good performance, as I recall. But who’s got the testicles to tell him he’s giving a bad performance? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/66 "2012-02-04T19:49:13Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > … But who’s got the testicles to tell him he’s giving a bad performance? 😉 Now there’s an idea for a movie in and of itself! One of those “behind the scenes” Hollywood expose’ things like _A Star Is Born_ or what have you. The next issue is who has the balls to write such a script? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/67 "2012-02-04T20:17:19Z")
In the Marines. Outstanding. Those individuals showed what one motivated Marine and his rifle can do. And before you ladies leave my Island, you will all be able to do the same thing. Did I dream it or did R Lee Emrey host SNL? I remember him doing the whole DI skit but without any 4 letter words and it was just as awesome as FMJ? Anyone else remember this? I did a quick search but couldn’t find it. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/68 "2012-02-04T20:25:04Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > “…and then you will become dead Marines, and then you will be in a world of shit, because Marines are not allowed to die without permission.” That could be from Warhammer 40K! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/69 "2012-02-04T20:34:14Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > …One of the hilarious things about it, though probably apocryphal, is that it’s supposed to be an illustration of how dehumanizing and horrible the military can be. And yet from what I’ve read, after the movie came out, many USMC recruits wanted and expected their D.I.'s to act like Hartmann. The DIs themselves appeared to agree. The first time I saw _Full Metal Jacket_ was at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton when I was there for [CORTRAMID](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortramid) as an NROTC midshipman in the summer of 1988. A USMC gunnery sergeant who was in charge of my group put the movie on for us. I remember thinking that it was ironic that a gunnery sergeant would put on a movie for a bunch of midshipmen in which a gunnery sergeant gets killed by a recruit, but I guess that Ermey’s outstanding performance as a DI outweighed this consideration. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/70 "2012-02-04T22:42:16Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Did I dream it or did R Lee Emrey host SNL? I remember him doing the whole DI skit but without any 4 letter words and it was just as awesome as FMJ? Anyone else remember this? I did a quick search but couldn’t find it. I think you dreamed it, I never saw it and I checked the IMDB and they don’t list him. I have seen him do a clean version of tearing someone down though as a skit on one of the Late Night Shows and of course his time as a therapist was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/71 "2012-02-05T00:52:28Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > [Sgt Hartman calls some stores](http://www.snarkrocket.com/blog-archives/2006/03/full_metal_jacket_prank_calls.html) Anyone who couldn’t identify that voice in two responses deserves to get punked. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/72 "2012-02-05T00:57:24Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > > [@Sitnam](#): > > > > “…and then you will become dead Marines, and then you will be in a world of shit, because Marines are not allowed to die without permission.” > > That could be from Warhammer 40K! A battle report for a Space Marine vs. Tyranid game ended with the Space Marines winning and the sentence, “Acceptable casualty figures at 96%” That about sums up that game. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/73 "2012-02-05T01:23:26Z")
This must be one of the truly great performances in the history of film, because one does not dare parodize, deconstruct, or even really _discuss_ it. One simply quotes it, chapter and verse. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/74 "2012-02-05T01:51:22Z")
“Do not move your head around the ice cream cone, move the ice cream cone around your head.” Okay, it’s actually a rifle instead of an ice cream cone, but I think of this line every time I have one. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/75 "2012-02-05T03:31:12Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Did I dream it or did R Lee Emrey host SNL? I remember him doing the whole DI skit but without any 4 letter words and it was just as awesome as FMJ? Anyone else remember this? I did a quick search but couldn’t find it. Matthew Modine hosted on November 5th, 1988. The pre-credit sketch was called “Drill Sergeant” which as I recall had Phil Hartman (no relation, I assume) as the title character, ripping into a bunch of recruits in parody of Ermey’s Hartmann, with the joke being that he wasn’t very good or imaginative at it. Drill Sergeant: From now on, your name is… [looks recruit up and down]… Mister Feet-Attached-To-Legs! ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/76 "2012-02-05T05:13:15Z")
His performance in Boys in Company C was just as powerful as FMJ. And I always thought he was screwed out of a best supporting actor award. Sometimes people are so good, they defy belief. Plus, the Academy is anti military. “Private Pyle! Whatever you do, don’t fall down! that would break my fucking heart!” Do you suck dicks? Are you a peter puffer? Bullshit! You look like you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose! One of my favorite roles for him was mayor in Mississippi Burning. Mayor Tilman - “If the entire Secret Service couldn’t protect the President of the United States, how the HELL are _we_ supposed to protect a few negroes! It is nothing more than some poor white trash drinking too much cheap alcohol. More likely paint thinner and snake juice because this state’s as dry as a martini, and we’ve got the alcoholics to prove it.” ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/77 "2012-02-05T06:01:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Private Pyle, you are definitely born again hard! Vincent D’Onofrio has some great acting range. From fat body Pyle, to Edgar the giant cockroach in Men in Black, to his Law & Order: Criminal Intent role, you would never even think it is the same guy. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/78 "2012-02-05T06:32:54Z")
Huh. A blooper I’ve never noticed: when Hartmann punches Joker in the gut in the opening scene, he pretty clearly starts the punch with his left hand. The camera angle changes mid-punch, and he finishes with his right hand. ---
**Author:** ![Mole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/79 "2012-02-05T06:38:44Z")
Holy Jesus! What is that? What the fuck is that? What is that, Private Pyle? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648/80 "2012-02-05T07:17:26Z")
The most memorable Hartman line, for me: “Today is Christmas. There will be a magic show at zero-nine-thirty!” For years, I wondered why the fuck they would have a _magic show_ for Christmas. It wasn’t until a few months ago, when I was reading a web page about Marine Corps slang, that I learned that “magic show” means a religious service. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-gunnery-sergeant-hartman-your-senior-drill-instructor/611648.md?page=5)