Customer Ratings & Reviews

stops playing several times, played first time with new dvd player and stops over and over. very bad quality never had this happen before and i payed a lot for it. played first time and too late to return, not a happy customer.

Bad product, no digital code with this movie, tried to return but was turned away. open package.

This is a film that I can see interpreted in multiple ways.  To some, it could be seen as two separate stories bound together with only the main character, Private Joker as named by the Gunny, as the connective tissue.  To others, it’s more the chronicle of the journey of Private Joker from basic training to soldier in the field.  I’ve watched this film several times over the years and my perception has revolved dramatically over the years. For a long time, I saw this film as two films strung together with Joker being the only connective tissue.  There’s very little that’s carried over from the first half of the film and the tone is dramatically different.  The basic training portion of the film is made extremely funny by the always amusing Lee Ermey.  He consistently and unrelentingly picks on Private Pyle, as also named by the Gunny.  This half of the film leads up to an event that is still referenced and iconic. Several years ago, I suddenly saw something new in the second half of this film that very much ties the first half together with it in a way I never considered. In the basic training portion of the film, the Gunny constantly asks Private Joker to show him his “war face” and he provides an answer that I believe most would.  At the climax of the film, the idea of the war race returns in an unacknowledged way.  When this revelation came to me, it instantly elevated the film to a new level.  I can’t say whether or not Kubrick has planned this or if it’s just an observation by an idiot, AKA me, but if it was intended, I think it’s genius. While many don’t consider this his best film, to me it’s a great example of what Kubrick could do.  I would highly recommend Full Metal Jacket, and in addition recommend multiple viewings.