Full Metal Jacket (6)

This is another famous film that I hadn't yet seen. By Stanley Kubrick, this is a fairly chilling portraying of war, and of course the Vietnam war of which it was set in. During training the new Marine recruits chats "we are not robots" but is the brutal training and ritual that turns them into robots and strips them of identity. And in the war, they do their job... kill. The story was interesting, the filming was straight forward and not intrusive. There was no emotional appeal, no heroes to cheer for or enemies to boo against - which is probably just what it was trying to show. 6 (I enjoyed it - it is not a war action film, it about turning guys into war machines and the insanity of war).

The first half is of the brutal training by the Hartman - a Sargent who all future Sargents are probably based on. His continuous yelling, verbal and mental abuse pushes them all to the limits, and one beyond with deadly results. Private Joker passes his training and become a reporter in Vietnam where he is soon battling in bombed cities. A film crew interviewing interviewing the men produces some of the most insightful lines in the film. Then as Joker's men are pinned by a sniper, conflict on how best to proceed leads to him executing a sniper - some are elated, some are angry, and his partaking the horror has now switched from outsider to those with the "1000 yard stare".

What is most outstanding about this film is how it is so true and applicable to today's war in the deserts and the mountains of the Middle East. The characters believe that they are doing good for the country, where they Vietnamese can choose either "freedom or death". But they don't really know what's going on, they are just there to kill. This could have been filmed today and it would identical in every way - for a film that is 20 years old, it is up-to-date.

This is a fantastically cleverly done anti-war film without being obvious or in any way preachy about it.