Full Metal Jacket
Movie, 1987, The '80s, Set in Parris Island to Huế
Full Metal Jacket is #12 of 13 in release order and #12 of 13 in chronological order in the Stanley Kubrick.
The story
A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
Full Metal Jacket recap
Full Metal Jacket (1987) follows a group of US Marine recruits through boot camp on Parris Island and into the Vietnam War. Stanley Kubrick adapted it with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford from Hasford's novel The Short-Timers. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) drills and humiliates the platoon, renaming them Joker (Matthew Modine), Cowboy (Arliss Howard) and, for the overweight, slow Leonard Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio), Gomer Pyle. When Hartman punishes the whole platoon for Pyle's mistakes, the others beat him in the night. Pyle becomes an expert rifleman, then on the last night shoots Hartman dead and kills himself in front of Joker. The second half finds Joker in 1968 as a reporter for Stars and Stripes, sent to Huế during the Tet Offensive, where he joins Cowboy's squad and its machine gunner, Animal Mother (Adam Baldwin). Full Metal Jacket follows The Shining and comes before Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick's last film.
Full Metal Jacket ending explained
Full Metal Jacket ends with the squad marching through the burning ruins of Huế at night, singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme. A sniper picks off several men, including the squad leader Cowboy. Joker finds the shooter, a teenage girl, but his rifle jams; Rafterman shoots her. Wounded and praying, she begs to be killed, and after an argument with Animal Mother, Joker shoots her. In voice-over Joker says he is glad to be alive and not afraid. In Hasford's novel, Joker himself kills the wounded Cowboy to stop the sniper.
Post-credits scenes
No. Full Metal Jacket has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket is streaming on MGM Plus, YouTube (free), and HBO Max in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.2/10, Rotten Tomatoes 89%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Shining, before Eyes Wide Shut.
- Chronological order: after The Shining, before Eyes Wide Shut.
Cast
- Matthew Modine as Pvt. Joker
- Adam Baldwin as Animal Mother
- Vincent D'Onofrio as Pvt. Pyle
- R. Lee Ermey as Gny. Sgt. Hartman
- Dorian Harewood as Eightball
- Kevyn Major Howard as Rafterman
- Arliss Howard as Pvt. Cowboy
- Ed O'Ross as Lt. Touchdown
- John Terry as Lt. Lockhart
- Kieron Jecchinis as Crazy Earl
- Kirk Taylor as Payback
- Tim Colceri as Doorgunner
Directed by Stanley Kubrick.