The Marine's don't want robots - they want killers. This is the journey undertaken by Private "Joker" J.T. Davis, from brutal training camp to Vietnam itself. As most people know by now, Full Metal Jacket is divided very much into two different halves, halves that to me show the best and worst of the talented director, Stanley Kubrick. For the first part we are subjected to the training regime inflicted on wet behind the ears boys, boys soon to become Marines out in the harshness of the Vietnam War. This is real dehumanising stuff, frighteningly essayed by the brilliance of drill instructor R Lee Ermey's performance. We know, see and feel that the boys are primed to be killing machines, unemotional killing machines at that, with Kubrick astutely weaving the brutality of camp into the moral quandary that was the war itself. One particular recruit, Private Gomer (a heartfelt and unnervingly great Vincent D'Onofrio) is the film, and Gustav Hasford's (writer of the novel and co screenwriter here) point of reference in this incredible first half. It's with this strand that "Jacket" burns itself into the soul of the viewer, to hopefully set us up for what will be Private "Joker's" (Matthew Modine) preparation for the Vietnam conflict. Then it's that second half... Where do we go from here? We already know that "Joker" and his mentally brutalised colleagues have been stripped of their basic humanity. Soldiers primed to kill, it's harsh, but true. But Kubrick has already chilled our blood and bludgeoned us repeatedly courtesy of the "Boot Camp" set up. Modine's (who isn't strong enough to carry the picture) "Joker" is now the film's axis, a clever, most definitely articulate character, who is thrust into the murky and muddled battle of the Tet Offensive, yeah and so? All it amounts to is a prolonged series of rationale and philosophical musings on the false war. Kubrick even shifting to safe mode with a clumsy narration segment spouted by "Joker". Full Metal Jacket is a truly fine film, but it's not the brilliant one it really should have been. If one can take the time to venture deeper with the second half, then it doesn't deliver on the already made point promise of the first part. Technically it's flawless, incredibly designed, with Douglas Milsome's cinematography stunningly effective. But I'll maintain to my final day that Full Metal Jacket finished up as being bloody and pretty instead of being a poignant and horrifying masterpiece. 7/10

**_Kubrick emphasizes Marine Corps boot camp and urban warfare in Vietnam_** A high school journalist (Matthew Modine) goes to boot camp on Parris Island where he helps a struggling recruit (Vincent D'Onofrio) before serving as a chronicler of the war. In Da Nang he witnesses the start of the Tet Offensive before going 58 miles northwest of there on the coast to experience the Battle of Hue. “Full Metal Jacket” (1987) went into production six months before “Platoon” in August, 1985, but took a full year to shoot and so “Platoon” beat it to the theaters by six months and stole its thunder. The interesting thing is that “Platoon” cost five times LESS to make ($6 million compared to $30 million) and is the all-around superior movie. Yet this has its points of interest. The first act’s boot camp sequence is probably the most realistic rendition in cinematic history (speaking as someone who has been there). R. Lee Ermey is effective as the drill instructor, but he’s too hard on ‘Pyle.’ The switch to Vietnam is jarring, yet it is interesting to see a Vietnam War flick that doesn’t focus on jungle warfare, but rather urban combat. The ending is haunting (what Joker does), but it rips off what Capt. Willard did in the riverboat massacre scene of “Apocalypse Now” and just isn’t as potent. There are two vulgar scenes featuring Vietnam prostitutes, particularly the second one, which I could do without. But I guess they’re just portraying the sad reality of life in these situations with war weary grunts in their late teens or early 20s. It runs 1 hour, 56 minutes, and was shot in England (too many places to name) with a couple of archival shots of Parris Island, SC. GRADE: B