Description
Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war drama film that was directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. The film is based on Hasford’s 1979 novel The Short-Timers and stars Matthew Modine, Lee Ermey, Vincent D’Onofrio and Adam Baldwin.
The storyline follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their boot camp training in Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, primarily focusing on privates Joker and Pyle, who struggle under their abusive drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half of the film portrays the experiences of two of the platoon’s Marines in the Vietnam War. The film’s title refers to the full metal jacket bullet used by military servicemen.
Warner Bros. Released Full Metal Jacket in the United States on June 26, 1987. The film received critical acclaim, grossed $46.4 million against a budget of $16 million, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Kubrick. British television channel Channel 4 voted Full Metal Jacket fifth on its list of the greatest war films ever made. In 2008, Empire placed the film at number 457 on its list of “The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time”. In 2010, The Guardian ranked it 19th on its list of the “25 best action and war films of all time”. The film is ranked 95 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years… 100 Thrills list, published in 2001.
