Full Metal Jacket



Cockney Mackem said:
In fact, it's even better than that

"R. Lee Ermey went to director Stanley Kubrick and asked for the role of Gunnery Sgt. Hartmann. In his opinion, the actors on the set were not up to snuff. When Kubrick declined, Ermey barked an order for Kubrick to stand up when he was spoken to, and the director instinctively obeyed. Ermey got the role."
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Kubrick was a fanny. The screenwriter for Spartacus was blacklisted. Kubrick said he'd say he was the screenwriter so as not to damage the Oscar potential of the film.
Kirk Douglas beat him up and demanded that this film break the blacklist.
Kubrick backed down and Spartacus ended up winning all the Oscars and breaking the blacklist.
 
The second act exceeds the first.

It might be his most self-referential and Rafterman is mint. Kills are crap, though and miles away. One lad turns the other way after the cut. Donlon is rubbish.
 
rapscallion said:
The second act exceeds the first.

It might be his most self-referential and Rafterman is mint. Kills are crap, though and miles away. One lad turns the other way after the cut. Donlon is rubbish.
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I thought the opposite. The boot camp scenes, which IIRC took up about half the fillum, were riveting and Ermey of course completely stole the show. Once they got rid of him and got ‘in country’ (the Docklands!) the momentum just died for me and there was no real payoff. I saw this when I was in college and one of my gung ho weekend warrior classmates was jizzing off over this film and it didn’t go down too well with him when I said that the main takeaway from this film was that all that bollocks about having your boots nice and shiny and your bed turned down the regulation four inches was a complete load of shite when you’re knee deep in a muddy slit trench and some VC sniper is trying to blow your head off.

Kubrick ordered twenty palm trees and there was an official palm tree ‘dresser’ whose job it was to arrange and reaarange the palm trees around the set as that was all they were able to deploy in order to make the Docklands look like Vietnam!
 
CatRyan said:
Kubrick was a fanny. The screenwriter for Spartacus was blacklisted. Kubrick said he'd say he was the screenwriter so as not to damage the Oscar potential of the film.
Kirk Douglas beat him up and demanded that this film break the blacklist.
Kubrick backed down and Spartacus ended up winning all the Oscars and breaking the blacklist.
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Sounds a tad bollocks tbh.
 
Tex said:
I thought the opposite. The boot camp scenes, which IIRC took up about half the fillum, were riveting and Ermey of course completely stole the show. Once they got rid of him and got ‘in country’ (the Docklands!) the momentum just died for me and there was no real payoff. I saw this when I was in college and one of my gung ho weekend warrior classmates was jizzing off over this film and it didn’t go down too well with him when I said that the main takeaway from this film was that all that bollocks about having your boots nice and shiny and your bed turned down the regulation four inches was a complete load of shite when you’re knee deep in a muddy slit trench and some VC sniper is trying to blow your head off.

Kubrick ordered twenty palm trees and there was an official palm tree ‘dresser’ whose job it was to arrange and reaarange the palm trees around the set as that was all they were able to deploy in order to make the Docklands look like Vietnam!
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Modine stole the show for the war face, alone.
 
Tex said:
I saw this when I was in college and one of my gung ho weekend warrior classmates was jizzing off over this film and it didn’t go down too well with him when I said that the main takeaway from this film was that all that bollocks about having your boots nice and shiny and your bed turned down the regulation four inches was a complete load of shite when you’re knee deep in a muddy slit trench and some VC sniper is trying to blow your head off.
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Couldn’t disagree more. All those things are done as part of your programming. Obsessing over boot-shine and regulation corners/turn downs are subconsciously reinforcing discipline, self-discipline, cleanliness, hygiene and house keeping; all of which are actually more important when you’re in a slit trench than they are when you’re in barracks. Even now in training you may be asked to do (what seem like) ridiculously pointless tasks, but unless they are punishment tasks, there will be a very good reason for being told to do them and do them properly.
 
Bakerlooline said:
Couldn’t disagree more. All those things are done as part of your programming. Obsessing over boot-shine and regulation corners/turn downs are subconsciously reinforcing discipline, self-discipline, cleanliness, hygiene and house keeping; all of which are actually more important when you’re in a slit trench than they are when you’re in barracks. Even now in training you may be asked to do (what seem like) ridiculously pointless tasks, but unless they are punishment tasks, there will be a very good reason for being told to do them and do them properly.
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All well and good.
But then you read about the special forces and they all say all that goes completely out the window. Basic infantry everything is taught to make you be disciplined and follow orders so you don’t question when the order is given to charge.
Special forces requires lateral thinking, creativity, on the spot decision making under pressure, contingencies etc.
Never was this more obvious during Black Hawk Down when the reactions of the Delta were a million miles away from those of the Rangers - and Rangers are considered ‘special forces’ in America.
If you were a squaddie and thought all that shined shoes stuff was beneficial then good for you but I’ve known loads of squaddies, many of whom saw combat, (including my Dad - Lancaster pilot in WW2) and they say it was bollocks.
 
Tex said:
All well and good.
But then you read about the special forces and they all say all that goes completely out the window. Basic infantry everything is taught to make you be disciplined and follow orders so you don’t question when the order is given to charge.
Special forces requires lateral thinking, creativity, on the spot decision making under pressure, contingencies etc.
Never was this more obvious during Black Hawk Down when the reactions of the Delta were a million miles away from those of the Rangers - and Rangers are considered ‘special forces’ in America.
If you were a squaddie and thought all that shined shoes stuff was beneficial then good for you but I’ve known loads of squaddies, many of whom saw combat, (including my Dad - Lancaster pilot in WW2) and they say it was bollocks.
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Special forces are different and I agree with that point but that isn’t what we were talking about. I’ll stick with my view that the subconscious value of the tasks previously mentioned is of great value to a soldier. But as I reiterated, it is subconscious so the individual may not actually see or feel any benefit themselves.
 
Bakerlooline said:
Special forces are different and I agree with that point but that isn’t what we were talking about. I’ll stick with my view that the subconscious value of the tasks previously mentioned is of great value to a soldier. But as I reiterated, it is subconscious so the individual may not actually see or feel any benefit themselves.
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I was in the paras and never bulled a boot.
And only wore light weights when in pt.
 

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