Image not mine.This week's re-watch is Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (many thanks to friend J for lending me his collection!) It's one of the best movies ever made, i.m.o.
It's a single film dissected into two parts, a sort of a visual-criticism-through-a-narrative on the experiences of a Marine in the Vietnam war. It's linear all throughout, so it feels so simple through the profundity (Think of it this way: It's like Kubrick baked this great, big cake and served it in little bit-sized pieces at a time, and before we knew it we'd finished off most of the cake).
I first watched it when I was around twelve years old, via Betamax, with my parents (I was kinda surprised my folks let me watch it all the way through without their censorship; it's not the kind of movie kids should see), then saw it again a few years later in my teens. Even if I first viewed it some twenty years ago, I never forgot about it and it remains one of my favorite films ever.
Now I'm not giving credit to my memory, but to Stanley Kubrick's genius. This is the kind of movie that you will never forget. Especially if you watched it as a kid. If you've seen it before, you'd know what I mean. Some of the scenes in there aren't just memorable, but indelible.
Such as:
This scene.Who would forget This is my Rifle, this is my gun ... ?
And this scene. And the whole happening just before it. Wow.
And this scene. Especially what comes after it.
And this one. WTF, it's a young girl?!It also has a memorable set of characters, played by an amazing cast. Vincent D'Onofrio was remarkable in there as Pvt. Pyle. R. Lee Ermey was the quintessential Drill Sargeant.
There's also this unforgettable bad**s Marine with an equally unforgettable name, Animal Mother, played by Adam Baldwin - who we would recognize today as Jayne Cobb in Firefly (and Serenity) or John Casey in Chuck.
Adam Baldwin as Animal Mother, 1987
As Jayne Cobb, 2005.Full Metal Jacket has that quality about it that is the right mix of thought-provoking and slightly disturbing. Even if I've seen it before and knew what was going to happen next, it still made me cringe, smile, jolt and/ or go ohmygosh.
Really good flick. Watch it. If you're at least 15 years of age, I mean.
