Kubrick's Best Film - FULL METAL JACKET - First Time Watching Reaction

Join Syntell and Achara Kirk as they dive into Stanley Kubrick’s critically acclaimed war film Full Metal Jacket (1987) for the very first time! Known for its intense portrayal of the Vietnam War and the brutal transformation of young recruits, this film is widely regarded as one of the greatest war movies ever made.
Synopsis: Full Metal Jacket follows a group of U.S. Marines as they endure the harsh realities of boot camp, led by the relentless Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. As they transition from training to the horrors of the Vietnam War, the psychological toll of warfare takes center stage. The film explores the dehumanizing effects of war through the eyes of Private "Joker" and his fellow recruits.
Key Characters and Their Roles:
Matthew Modine as Private J.T. "Joker" Davis
R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman
Vincent D'Onofrio as Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence
Adam Baldwin as Sergeant "Animal Mother"
Arliss Howard as Private Cowboy
Dorian Harewood as Eightball
Kevyn Major Howard as Rafterman
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Watch along as Syntell and Achara react to the unforgettable performances, intense military training sequences, and the haunting depictions of war in Full Metal Jacket. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more first-time reactions, in-depth reviews, and discussions on iconic films and classic cinema. Share your thoughts on Full Metal Jacket and let us know how this film resonates with you today!
Get ready for a powerful journey through the psychological and physical scars of war in one of the most iconic war movies of all time. See you in the comments!
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#FullMetalJacket #PrivatePyle #Joker

[@JB-nc7yk]

Remember that the draft was still enacted during the Vietnam War so recruits like Lawrence (Pyle) would have likely been drafted.

[@chrisvibz4753]

@@JB-nc7yk pyle most likely represents “Macnamara’s morons” project 100,000.

[@Tusc9969]

Pyle was not drafted because the Marine Corps is a volunteer organization that recruits, not drafts. The Marine Corps is and always has been solely a volunteer organization!

[@chrisvibz4753]

@@Tusc9969 no my friend 42,000 people were drafted to the marines

[@chrisvibz4753]

@@Tusc9969 Wasnt during vietnam. it draftsd way less than any other branch but they still drafted like 42,000

[@kimmomaki]

A larger proportion of Americans volunteered to serve in Vietnam than World War II.

[@reneadinaro8183]

"...he's got guts, and guts is enough..." Yeah. No truer words have been spoken.

[@OcotilloTom]

That's about how it was. I served 20 years in the Marine Corp and two combat tours in Vietnam. The first tour as a machine gunner (0331) in 1965-66 and the second as a Platoon commander (0369) in 1970-71. I retired after 20 years and had a 30 year career as a California police officer ( Marin County). What I learned in the Marine Corps has helped me all my life. I highly recommend it to anyone needing direction and wishing to learn self discipline . Tom Boyte GySgt. USMC, retired Bronze Star, Purple Heart

[@0626jrp]

@@OcotilloTom thank you for your service

[@desmoove]

Semper Fi, I was active duty 0311 USMC in the mid 80's early 90's then reserve for 6 more years. I have succeeded at every job I've ever held based on my experience in my beloved Corps.

[@josephedric4081]

How could a cop that old be of any use?

[@desmoove]

@josephedric4081 He probably enlisted right after high school at 16/17 and retired at only 36/37 y/o. Still young enough, able bodied and experienced to start a new career in law enforcement. A lot of us (military veterans) leverage our federal time to state government agencies, it’s not uncommon and there is no maximum age in California to be a police officer. Also, Gunny was infantry/combat arms for 20 years, I did the same in USMC for 8, most of my fellow infantry ground pounder veterans I know tend to stay in shape. At 56, I still do the 1986 USMC PFT and while I have slowed down some since I was 17, I’m still holding my own. Gunny was also a cop for 30 years so I’m betting he had to keep in shape IAW police physical requirements.

[@derekschovanec7365]

Thank you for your service

[@michaelallen3894]

Drill Instructors NEVER run out of insults or ways to cut you down.

[@diongray2501]

Fun Fact: R. Lee Ermey wasn’t always an actor he was a United States Marine Corps drill instructor. He served in USMC from 1961-1972. He was promoted to (E-6) Staff Sergeant. In 1961 at the age of 17 he was a troublemaker so the judge gave him 2 choices: join the military or jail time. He chose military service. Went to USMC basic training in California went in as an aviation support field for few years then becoming a drill instructor. In the year of 2002, May 17th, he received an honorary promotion to Gunnery Sergeant (E-7) at the Commandant of the Marine Corps by former 4 star General.

[@dabreal82]

No person has always been an actor...

[@williambillingsly60]

False​@@dabreal82

[@medieval420]

@diongray2501 he wasn't a very smart damn Sentinel, shit let's be honest no danm Sentinel is very bright. They just do as they are told. They are only good at one thing being a Sentinel War Machine. Seek and destroy traditional closed-minded Sentinel. That dumbazz ESTJ Sentinel is basically a snobby azz close minded Sentinel bully.

[@MrGenedancingmachine]

I think everyone and their granny knows this "fun fact" at this stage

[@fedup3449]

So this is a fun fact? Give me a dose of reality please!

[@DefunctGames]

"What made him want to join?" It's the Vietnam War. He DIDN'T join. He was forced to be there. I'm genuinely concerned that younger people have forgotten this part of history (or were simply never taught it).

[@jacobkubacki2719]

Wait until next year! The draft is back to include our daughters.

[@torbjornkvist]

US Marines did not take draftees, only voluntaries. Many guys went to the Marines if they would be drafted anyway, others out of share will. The question regarding Private Pyle's physical condition derives from this. There was a program to widen the intake to the Marines because they lost voluntaries when the draft was implemented. The draft is shit, it lowers the combat qualities massively. The Draft is a political tool for control, that's all.

[@stevecn70]

I volunteered, probably a lot different than being forced, I don't agree with being forced.

[@strawdawgs78]

@@DefunctGames The troops that fought in Vietnam weren't all drafted, especially among the Marines.

[@eatsmylifeYT]

You have to consider that Achara is British-Thai. I doubt if she was taught about American history in her school.

[@randallbollinger9625]

You NEVER leave your foot locker unlocked in basic, no matter how much you trust everyone.

[@edp5886]

Right!

[@MichaelMcMillan-i9p]

@@edp5886 Right!!! It can happen with ANY TA-50 that is given to you. But NOBODY will ever admit it!! 💯

[@midknightmiddleman5887]

@@busimagen not mad. Just, disappointed? 😂

[@michaelolivares6790]

"Let's just see if there's anything missing..." I still get flashbacks... The question as to who gets to carry the guidon, not the flag, is usually the top recruit at that moment. In my time, he was referred to as the guide.

[@randallbollinger9625]

@@busimagen I can understand a bit… I had a roommate(1992) that would steal random crap out of my desk with the fold down door. I didn’t even notice anything until I saw an item, sitting in his fold down desk, that I knew was mine. I reported him and we found several items that were mine. He ended up being moved out and I had the room to myself for several months after that 🤣

[@telemperor]

I was an active Marine 92-00. My father was from 69-73 and he told me this was how his bootcamp was. Mine was similar but the beatings were secret. I had to close my eyes when my DI punched me and kicked me one day for making him laugh. I also promised to never tell. It didn't hurt though it was just a gentle reminder.

[@John_Locke_108]

So, he thought you wouldn't know it was him if you're eyes were closed? Weird. Plus it kinda defeats the purpose. You need to remember that lesson everytime you see his afterwards.

[@telemperor]

@@John_Locke_108 no eyewitness to the crime lol

[@hobblobber3914]

fake ass stories lmao

[@its1ofthosedays562]

I tried to join in 93 but was medically disqualified.

[@neilpatrickhairless]

If a DI was punching you, you were what they call in the military a "Tool", or the DI was one themselves. They don't do that stuff because there's no actual point to doing it.

[@STAkers-ni9jg]

I joined the Marines in 1980 and went through boot camp at Parris Island. This is extremely accurate in terms of training.

[@JohnBham]

I was there a year after you- summer of 81. Semper Fi

[@kennymichaelalanya7134]

Do you guys think training has gotten soft over the years? What have you heard about the training over the years? Sorry, I'm just curious about this.

[@arryonastrong5343]

@@kennymichaelalanya7134 the training now is not like this anymore. It is still extremely stressful and tough tho. But all that punching and hitting recruits is a big no.

[@ramons1967]

I went through Marine Corps boot camp in 1986. They have softened up then since the 60s. There was no more cursing and physical contact allowed (though the DIs snuck them in) and when they dug us, there was a time limit(though we didn't know at the time). It was horrible while going through it, but looking back, drill instructors were the funniest people I ever met. I still hold great respect for them. I remember standing in line trying to hold the laughter in especially during hygiene inspection and when they were ripping on recruits. They were funny! I even caught the DIs themselves holding in some of the their own laughter as we did amazingly stupid crap as recruits. I will say, one of our DIs was court marshalled for abusing one of the recruits in our platoon physically. Lets just say headlocks and a bucket of ammonia were involved. They brought 18 of us back as potential witnesses to Parris Island for the court marshal after we graduated. Then there was an incident between 2 DIs at the rifle range that caused one of them to apologize for their actions to the recruits. Nuff about that. We were a dysfunctional platoon for some reason. Fun fact... My sister a LTCOL in the Airforce is buried in Arlington 50 yards from R. Lee Ermey's grave. I pay him respects every time I visit my sister. No one ever talks about The Siege of Firebase Gloria, but it's on of my favorite Ermey flicks.

[@jjarco]

In 1980 this was very accurate. My DI's were all Vietnam vets and hard as Chinese algebra

[@warriorpitbull1170]

I was there in '86 also. 1st Bat. A Co. Plt. 1084. Good times.

[@MichaelMcMillan-i9p]

​@@jjarcoGlad I joined in the 1990's. We would get SMOKED, but NOTHING like that.

[@peterd788]

The miracle of the film is that Kubrick made the whole thing look authentic even though it was all filmed in various places Kubrick could get to in a two hour drive from his home in England.

[@stewrmo]

Yup. The second part was filmed on the London Dockyards, before all the development. Close to the ex-power station that is now an art museum and is shown on the famous Pink Floyd album cover.

[@gregorygant4242]

@@stewrmo Pinewood Studios I heard Kubrik did a lot of his films over there back then ?

[@donpietruk1517]

He's known for his hyper accuracy. When he made Dr. Strangelove the Air Force was freaked out how he found out about internal procedures inside a B-52 bomber since they hadn't agreed to provide any military advisors.

[@djwalker7823]

@@peterd788 i believe it was filmed in beckton gas works. In east london . It was a very large derelict site that used to be an old gas refinery . I see it when i was younger . Its been all built on now .

[@Cyromantik]

@@peterd788 Wow that's amazing. Some of the Star Wars movies were filmed in the UK as well.

[@davidisbell4033]

The boot camp depiction was about 90% accurate compared to my time at 3rd Battalion on Parris Island in the 1980's. The main differences are that three drill instructors were usually chewing on the platoon at the same time, and post-Vietnam boot camp was 13 weeks instead of 8.

[@GK-yi4xv]

But the racial slurs and physical violence against the trainees have been toned down a lot, I would assume (?)

[@davidisbell4033]

@@GK-yi4xv ​Yes. The Corps has plenty of methods for stripping individuality and creating extremely stressful situations for the sake of building cohesive teams that can function through intense and prolonged combat. If combat is never seen, they are still much better prepared to face the rigors of daily life than your average young teenage/early twenties adult.

[@reneadinaro8183]

I was 1st battalion in 88. 3rd battalion, from the stories I've heard, was ...OOF! They beat the sh*t out of you guys. 3rd battalion rocks. 1st battalion was by mainside. No hands-on, but we had collectively a high asvab score. Engineers, avionics, comm., ...the f*ck f*ck games were there. I've known guys from 3rd battalion, and they should've received a combat action ribbon just for graduating. Anyway, we'll talk on 10 November. Semper Fidelis.

[@megiloth3634]

When I was in (1989-1993), we had the M16 not an M14 as in the movie, but we would also tap the magazine to seat the rounds to the rear in order to prevent jamming when it gets chambered in the rifle. Also, if I remember correctly, R. Lee Ermey put them through a mini-boot camp so they knew how to walk and talk. He was a Marine and a Drill Instructor during the Vietnam years and a technical advisor for the movie, so he wanted it right. Not everyone makes it through Marine Corps boot camp. We started out with around 90 recruits and probably graduated 60 or so. Most of those that were dropped were gone in the first week. For the ones that were dropped because they could not pass the initial fitness test, they were sent to Physical Conditioning Platoon (PCP), or as it was called, Pork Chop Platoon for the "fat bodies", although quite a few skinny kids who had no upper body strength. Once they can pass the physical fitness test, they would be picked up with a new platoon and start training again.

[@jdm1066]

This movie takes place in the1960's when the first M-16 rifles went out. They were prone to failure because of certain cost cutting measures. Joker did not panic his rifle most likely had a failure.

[@stanleylaham8932]

@@jdm1066 We used M-16s in Vietnam also. It jammed a lot unlike the AK-47s the NVA used.

[@ironickismet8113]

Joker’s dark humor was him mocking the system and the present authority. He was feeding back to the system a caricature of what they were feeding him.

[@GK-yi4xv]

But also, I think one point of the movie is that, once he no longer had the luxury of joking and mocking from a safe distance, he had to put some of that away and just do whatever he had to do to stay alive, including killing like everyone else In other words, part of the theme of the movie is Joker's loss of naive 'detachment'.

[@TheAMcDoom]

The Drill Instructor is an actual US Marine. R Lee Ermey was the Military advisor for the movie and he said the actor who was playing the DI couldn't do it right so Ermey got the director to put him in as the DI.

[@jeffclark4870]

Singing cadence regulates your breathing while running.

[@stevencass8849]

Leaving your footlocker unlocked is a big no no, and I can tell you there are thieves in your unit. A bunch of stuff had gone missing from people’s lockers during my Basic Training, so a mandatory search happened, and it was all found in one guy’s locker.

[@Randomizer939]

RIP R. Lee Ermey - The Legend.

[@secludedmisanthrope6388]

I enlisted in the Marine Corps in the summer of 2001 and I was from Dallas, TX so I got shit from my DI's for it right after I stood on those yellow footprints at MCRD San Diego. The DI's were a lot like R. Lee Ermey's portrayal of a Marine Corps Drill Instructor. They weren't able to do things like choke you out in the middle of the barracks in front of everyone, but they were just as good at making your suffer in other ways. It was an unforgettable experience. I was there from October to January, so we "celebrated" Halloween, Thanksgiving Christmas and New Years while I was there. For Christmas they ran us all the way to the base theatre where they allowed us to eat Snickers bars and drink cokes while watching Full Metal Jacket and Saving Private Ryan. Once all of us had eaten our fill of candy and soda the DI's began taking small groups of us outside and into the pits where they PT'd us till we puked up all of the candy and soda, then took us back in to finish watching the movies. Fun times.

[@mr.mcfucken]

holy...😅

[@coolworx]

Best damn snickers bars ya ever ate, I bet. Ex 101st here. Basic training at Ft. Benning.

[@secludedmisanthrope6388]

@@coolworx They made the misery worth it.

[@MsAppassionata]

Excuse my ignorance but what does PT mean?

[@coolworx]

@@MsAppassionata Physical Training. Pushups, situps, pullups, 2 mile run, 6am everyday.

[@joevaldez6457]

I asked my dad--a Navy veteran in 'Nam--the same question you guys did when we watched _Full Metal Jacket_ in '87. Soldiers tapped fresh magazines against their helmets to slot the rounds against the back of the magazine. This is so the rifle bolt would catch them without any jams or misfires. Not sure if this is still a practice, or was one of many things the military learned about equipment in that war.

[@AregPone]

@joevaldez6457 I was in from 93-97 and we still did it then.

[@Roger-ny3lx]

In 02 they told us that it was supposed to be fixed but we still did it.

[@ChefPatrickChase]

With this film Kubrick wanted to absolutely portray the true horrors of war

[@gregorygant4242]

He did a great job especially in Pyle's case , it showed the duality of man making killing machines out of men to go to war while some individuals becoming something that they didn't want to become inhuman and unaliving themselves in the process to end it all . That first 20 minutes very brutal but realistic .

[@lieunh]

The Captain was sending Joker and Raptorman to Phu Bai (not FUBAR). Phu Bai supposed to had some of the hardest fighting during the Tet Offensive of 1968. The helicopter, instead; dropped them in the middle of the Battle of Hue. The reason why the Marines hold of the tanks, because back in Vietnam War, armor tactic was not suitable in city fighting. The Infantry usually go in first to clear out the enemy infantry (often armed with Rocket Propelled Grenade) and then call in the tanks/armored vehicles when needed. Hope this helps!

[@ronnierocha42]

@@lieunh WOW! You just cheared up 20 years of questions I had!! I always wondered why he told him to get "straight up to" FUBAR!! Lol

[@alicestevens8291]

Duality of man. I was young asked him why we have war? And he said "Because without war there can be no peace and without peace there can be no war".

[@RyanToolbox]

It's crazy to me that Pyle was considered Obese at the time this movie was made. Today he is in better shape than most Americans.

[@grandsonofAlbertJohn]

I went to school from '80 to '93, everyone in the surrounding towns had one fat or chubby kid in their class. Processed foods, most of our parents wouldn't buy cheetos and twinkies back then even if we begged

[@Z3333RO]

Why do you write it with a capital?

[@danrumble74]

Same with Chunk on Goonies ..and Vern on Stand By Me

[@rowbearly6128]

@@Z3333RO Looks like an open mouth O

[@gregorygant4242]

I think Pyle was referring to an American TV series of the late 60's early 70's , comedic , featuring a subordinate private called Gomer Pyle on the show .

[@Roadghost1969]

Older white guy from Chicago ( for demographics) here who saw this when I graduated high school in the summer of 1987 with my late Marine father. I had planned to take a year off and then Join the USMC. My father was against it. We saw this and I changed my mind. My father said it was way worse. When my father served he was too young for Korea just made it being too old for Vietnam. At that time you either got drafted or volunteered . My father Volunteered and the Marines was only two years. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton San Diego in 1956 . My father missed many tragic events. One event was two weeks before he entered the Corps. A plane from California enroute to Chicago that was known to pick up and drop off USMC recruits. That Plane had a mid-air collision over the Grand Canyon killed everyone. My father Thankful he was not stationed at the USMC depot at Parris Island The Ribbon Creek incident a Drill instructor got drunk and took his recruits out in the swamp in the middle of the night six recruits drowned. Later on my father was told his Battalion was wiped out in Vietnam. (Thank got he was out). The USMC started not abusing (so they say) My friend who went in the USMC in 1988 told me you were told to report any DI's that abuse you. He was doing push-ups and got a nice kick to the ribs. He did not say anything thinking that it might be a test and they pound on you later. My Late father said he was in with many young men sentenced by a judge for being bad or problem kids, two of them were two guys from Chicago's Little Italy, Another one was a black guy from south side of Chicago that nobody messed with he said he made you think of the song by the late Jim Croce "Big Bad Leroy Brown" You know what the USMC did straighten these guys out My father and all the Chi-town guys were close, like brothers Including "Leroy Brown" ! LOL, as well as the rest of the USMC. My father said the Di's were horrible at first and later mellowed out. He told me of a "Blanket Party" led by the Chicago guys they had on a guy that was stealing watches and selling them. everyone participated. "Don't screw with the brotherhood" as dad said. I always thought Matthew Modine (PVT. Joker) would be the next Huge Actor , He did a Movie called "Birdy" with a young Nicholas Cage It was different but I loved it, He did anther called Visionquest. These are 1980's movie you might want to review. 1 day ago

[@orangeandblackattack]

My uncle told me don't. Use my brain knowing math and reduce chances of dying early. But the respect I have for those who did is forever in my heart.

[@Roadghost1969]

@@orangeandblackattack Well I'm glad your here Buddy! Did you ever think about serving?

[@Nemnex]

The Tet Offensive was a real thing, a series of simultaneous attacks carried out across all of South Vietnam. It was also one arguably one of the biggest contributors to the war losing support from the American public, who'd been led to believe the VC were losing the war and that such a massive military operation wasn't something they were capable of.

[@davidmeir9348]

The year is 1967, because the training is 8 weeks, later Joker complains he's been 2 months in Vietnam without seeing action before the base attack and that attack was the Tet offensive, one, if not THE, major confrontation of the Vietnam War that lasted for most of 1968 and started during the Vietnamese New Year that is about end of January. So January 68, the Tet offensive which makes, in the movie, the training at Ellis Island during 1967.

[@larrypope5142]

R Lee Ermey was a real drill sergeant in the Marines. My dad was a drill sergeant during the Korean War and Vietnam era and it’s pretty accurate. My dad told me you couldn’t hit a soldier unless he assaulted you first, so he would lean into people until they felt like they were going to fall and stood up making contact with him. Then he’d deck them. Plus, Private Pyle could not just quit. He was a draftee. He had no choice. Believe it or not, those Jodie’s he was singing were real. We sang the same ones in my basic training.

[@Brendan1978]

Mercy kills is a war crime. Once she is on the ground and no longer a threat she is to be treated as an enemy POW and they're supposed to provide aid.

[@oleyullah]

@@Brendan1978 "anyone who runs is a VC, anyone who stands still is a well-disciplined VC" . Likewise, anyone on the ground wounded is VC 😄

[@danielaramburo7648]

More like Geneva suggestions.

[@benmoen]

@@Brendan1978 not in Ukraine

[@nathanpark1058]

My late father was gunfire control on the heavy cruiser U.S.S. Canberra which was the first ship to carry remains to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He had bad PTSD and remorse because he has to wipe more villages than he could count off the map with depleted uranium shells because the Viet Cong were using the villagers as cover. They came under fire one day and his shipmate got scared and locked him out of the gun turret, so he was on the deck when the ship returned fire and the shockwave perforated both his eardrums.

[@TheAMcDoom]

Section 8 at the time was a Category of Discharge of Military Service where personnel was deemed to be Mentally Unfit For Service. This also had been applied for Personnel who were LGBT. The Discharge of Section 8 is no longer in practice. There are medical discharges for psychological or psychiatric reasons are now covered by a number of other regulations.

[@hockemeyer1]

This is very much what Marine Corp bootcamp was like in the 60s. I'm a Navy veteran 1967=1971. This bootcamp scene is likely 1966 or 67 as the first battle scene later in the film occurs during the Tet offensive which began on January 30, 1968. I was assigned to a ship that transported Marines during that time.

[@paulp9274]

Yep, Joker says he is 'short' (nearing the end of his 13 month tour) in January of 1968, so the boot camp scenes are late 66-early 67.

[@MarineMT-0312]

I was in the Marines when it was exactly like this. The movie doesn’t even come close to the physical pain back then. We had old school training, from 4am-midnight. They did push you to the limit as during war the stress level is worse then this

[@anonymes2884]

Great movie and reaction. Fun fact: The stuff at the end was mostly filmed in the partly demolished remains of Beckton Gasworks in East London. If Achara's ever been to Gallions Reach Retail Park she might've walked on what _was_ "Vietnam" in "Full Metal Jacket" :).

[@greeneyesinfl9954]

I graduated from Parris Island in November of 1986 and drill instructors never run out of material. Many were drafted during the Vietnam era and didn't have a choice. This is a great anti-war film by Kubrick. I think Pyle was definitely on the spectrum. In the Marine Corps burpees were called bends and thrusts before burpees existed, they were part of the Marine Corps daily 7 exercises. This movie was actually filmed in England.

[@emb145flyer]

8:35 Pyle likely didn't volunteer for the Marines. This was during the Vietnam War and he got drafted.

[@silentc1015]

"Curious what made him join" at 8:47. He was probably drafted, and unfortunately, had no choice! It's one of the themes of the movie - that these young men are thrust into this war with no warning or choice. That's one of the tragedies of the Vietnam War. I'm not criticizing you guys - just sharing some info. Great video, and I enjoyed it!

[@JulianLopez-mh6be]

The real reason he joined was because he wanted to prove he can make it in the hardest branch. Otherwise he would have quit, and even if he was drafted he would have never been an infantry Marine, so he was definitely a volunteer.

[@sluglife9785]

I appreciate in that opening segment that we roll together an expose on marine training methods as well as showing you the sort of things that can happen when you humiliate and exclude someone. Either one on their own would feel worthwhile. Also, I've never thought of R. Lee Ermey as a rapper before. Legit.

[@PurushaDesa]

Achara's face in that thumbnail is hilariously discordant with the material. " _Teeheehee! You put sugar in the salt cellar!_ "

[@finncullen]

"What made him want to join?" - The Government would put him in jail if he didn't. They had the draft.

[@phunkjnky]

This is the answer. We've had an all volunteer army for so long. I think that men still register with selective service when they turn 18, in case they decide to reinstate the draft. I know that I had to when I turned 18; I am especially not surprised that she asks.

[@lunacouer]

@@phunkjnky Of course she asked - she's not from the USA nor did she grow up here. There's zero reason for her to know anything about US conflicts, let alone the procedures for how our military branches get their recruits.

[@Tusc9969]

He was not drafted because the Marine Corps is a volunteer organization that recruits, not drafts. It solely has always been a volunteer organization. It is possible a recruitment officer may have easily convinced Pyle to join due to his childlike mind or was pressured to join by his family.

[@finncullen]

@@Tusc9969 Over 40,000 individuals were drafted into the USMC during the Vietnam war.

[@flacogus]

"Marine Corps is a volunteer organization that recruits, not drafts" Not after 1942 they weren't.

[@jimparis5073]

Rest in peace gunny ❤ one of his best roles both on screen and for real I have no doubt

[@findingpeace4life290]

Many of the men were drafted. All of the male elders in our family who were born between 1937 and 1946 were drafted into the military.

[@kelleychilton2524]

This movie was set in the 1960s during the Vietnam War, the draft was in full swing. The draft didn't end until the 1970s.

[@SWOLEX_1]

Duality.. You got it. Seeing it through that lens makes it make a lot more sense

[@mattmcdonald6267]

I was in Marine Corps Boot camp from Jun 1987 - Sept 1987. My 3 older brothers were Marines as was our Father in the Korean War (joined 1951 and went to Korea). We were allowed to watch this movie along with Ferris Bueller's Day off when we were done with visitors on Sunday (family day) the week before we graduated on the following Friday.+ The Drill instructors finally started to treat us almost like Marines the week before graduation. We all thought this was the closest movie we had ever seen that came even remotely close to our experience. I will say that the drill instructors were close to this verbally, but physically we were not "hit" by our DIs in the open in front of anyone. It still occasionally happened in the supply closet. I was one of the house mouse's (cleaned the DI's office/sleeping quarters) and got to see some of the DI's honest reactions to recruits, usually in the form of laughing their asses off behind closed doors. One of my older brothers was a USMC Drill Instructor years later. Much like the "blanket party" we did occasionally have a motivation session with someone in the platoon who was causing issues for everyone, without the DI's present of course. I felt this was a pretty good overall representation of Boot Camp, even in the 1980s, just a little less hands-on by the DIs. Their job was to break us down from all of our nasty civilian habits and rebuild us as Marines who could function as a team and not look at ourselves so much as individuals, we had about 20 -25% not make it to graduation, either because of injuries, poor performance or outright refusing to train. We were not allowed to refer to ourselves as I (for example, I have to go to the head (bathroom)) but instead, refer to ourselves as "this recruit has to go to the head". For the Marine Corps you have to have people willing to sacrifice SOME of their ingrained learned individualism for the betterment of the unit or the platoon. In other words, you are not any more important than the guy standing next to you. You end up learning selflessness over selfishness. In other words you have to be willing to sacrifice yourself for your brothers in arms, or others freedoms, etc.. That is why there has historically been a very small percentage of people willing to serve (as compared to the total population). It is a duty and a calling, not a requirement (outside of the draft that is).

[@theliesthatblind8884]

I could be wrong but from the banter back and forth, the reactors don't seem to know that the US forces were in Vietnam to aid are supposed allies, the South Vietnamese from the onslaught of the Communist forces from North Vietnam. The ARVN rifles that Cowboy wanted to give the Vietnamese pimp for his girl's favors were not enemy rifles, but those of our ally the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam. The only allies who help us try to contain the Communist threat was South Korea, New Zealand and Australia who all sent combat forces to fight the North.

[@terryd757]

Also, Cowboy didn't have any ARVN rifles, it was an insult aimed at the ARVN solider. Its an old joke about whatever army you want to insult's fighting ability. You want to buy some "insert country or army here" rifles? Never fired and only dropped once, implying the soldiers panicked, dropped them and ran.

[@KrGsMrNKusinagi0]

Yup.. The war was basically no different than the Korean war in that regard.. Except the UN didnt help here. Also we never invaded north vietnam like the north in korea to force an end.. We used carpet bombing etc. Basically which forced the North to the paris peace talks in the early 70s which then led to an end of hostilities. Except when we withdrew all forces between 72-73 2 years later the North Re-invaded the south we had nothing there to stop it and had cut off funding aid to the south basically. The north broke the ceasefire agreement of the paris peace accords..

[@DW.Strangeman]

@@theliesthatblind8884 to be honest, I wasn't entirely aware of that either so thanks for the information. I'm English and when I was at school both WW1 and WW2 seemed to be airbrushed out of history so even in my 40s I'm still learning parts of my own (British) history, so all I know of the Vietnam war mostly comes from film, TV and people like yourself.

[@lsu1992]

Animal Mother & 8-Ball's friendship is special af... Most people completely miss how tight those two were.

[@solitarymaninblack]

"let me see your War face" is the type of dialogue/scene Muse used for Psycho.

[@thekingcobra63]

Army vet here, this is as real as it gets, I am a little younger than these guys would be, but drill sergeants would still F you up in my day.

[@jonathancathey2334]

So my father is a Vietnam veteran ( 173rd Airborne Brigade 1969 to 1970 ). Now in the Army basic according to my father was 8 weeks long, and Drill Instructors were not allowed to hit a recruit with a closed hand (a fist). Now my father's friend Doug is a Marine Veteran of Vietnam. Now according to Doug this basic training sequence is stop on for the training at the time.

[@richardlukesh5807]

Pyle/Lawrence has the "Kubrick Stare." Malcolm McDowell (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE) and Jack Nicholson (THE SHINING) did it too.

[@riptide6161]

The US Military no longer has a draft. Today, we're volunteer ONLY. Back in the Vietnam War days (and earlier) you get drafted? You have two choices: Accept it or dodge the draft by leaving the country (in the '60's they went to Canada). And, yes, this is really what it was like. My father joined the Marines to fight the Imperial Japanese in WW2, but ended up in the Korean War. US Marine Corps boot camp back then was brutal.

[@noodles2125]

When I went to bootcamp in the early 2000’s, I remember on “black friday” we got out drill instructors. The first thing they said was ask us if any of us had ever seen full metal jacket. Some of us raised out hands. They said “good because thats whats its going to be like”.

[@jameswiglesworth5004]

The film was shot entirely in the U.K at various locations, including London, Kent, Buckinghamshire and Norfolk

[@ironickismet8113]

There was a line in the movie The Thin Red Line where a character states - War doesn’t noble men, it turns them into dogs. That’s one of the themes of Full Metal Jacket.

[@leifanthony8182]

Not only would Leonard have been drafted, the movie seems to imply that private Pyle was a part of "Project 100,000" (letting below military mental standard individuals fight). The reason for hitting your helmet with the magazine, was to dislodge any dirt or sand to prevent jamming.

[@kerry-j4m]

Project 100,000,these soldiers were canon fodder and that's wrong in so many ways it's inhuman. And there was so much racism in the enlisted ranks of the army ( I don't know about the other branches of the service tho ) read a book called-BLOODS-which was a book on black soldiers experiences in Vietnam.The black soldiers were put in the front lines where the combat was the worst,wht soldiers would display confederate flags from their tents,pissing off the black soldiers.That book is a good easy read.

[@accountablehog]

My father, a Vietnam Marine, says that this is “exactly” what it was like for him in boot camp. He has some funny f-ing stories!

[@nupefromdaville]

A tale of 2 movies. The first half and 2nd half are 2 completely different movies

[@LogicalNiko]

The thing with Kubrick, which he depicted a bit as subtext in 2001, is that he is not trying to be an entertainer. Kubrick is trying to depict aspects of humanity through many overlapping layers of symbolism and letting the viewer create meaning. He isn't trying to spoon feed you a moral or a story, he is saying "look at all these things and then just think about it". He liked the concept of cloaking abstract meanings hidden under the surface of what appears at first to be a narrative. He never ever discussed symbolism or the concepts in his movies or any type of meaning because he believed such things needed to fully embrace the eye of the beholder. He hated modern film and television for not making you think and reflect upon yourself as a human. In many ways he viewed film making like painting a picture, there is no real meaning in the picture...the only true meaning is what the viewer takes from it. And unlike a normal film production Kubrick often managed everything from set dressing and placement of props, camera equipment (even designing some of his own), lighting, sound design, etc. He would often encode part of his symbolism in background set dressing, actors eyelines in shots, lighting and sound changes, etc. He designed everything about these films. For example Full Metal Jacket (which he was rushed on) was in active production for almost 6 years. The average movie shooting schedule of 90-100 days...Kubrick's was just over a year. His editing period was about 270 days.

[@BackwardTravisty]

What's more accurate than the violence is that there are aways people on the spectrum who join. Some make it through recruit training, some don't.

[@ravensdark99]

The singing while running also helps you with the breathing. It helps insanely well against pain in the chest and fatigue because you establish a rythm. I highly recommend trying it yourself when running alone and sining in a rythm and you will see what I mean

[@u64770]

1) Section 8 is a person who goes crazy and is considered mentally unfit for military service. 2) Secretary of Defense McNamara visited Vietnam after the war and discussed the "we are here to help you" attitude with people from Vietnam. They explained to him that the US was just another of a line of occupying forces, not viewed as liberators but oppressors.

[@robyfiorili]

The black guy who first mentions Animal was in Roots, he played the role of Alex Haley's father

[@flarrfan]

You can't say Kubrick's best film until you have watched his three best, generally agreed to be Dr. Strangelove, 2001 and Clockwork Orange. Get started!

[@TheNeonRabbit]

The Shining

[@LogicalNiko]

2:43 - R Lee Ermey was not originally the Drill Sargent in this film. He was hired as a technical consultant on the training scenes. Tim Colceri (who was the guy in the chopper shooting people) was originally in this role. Ermey told Kubrick he didn't think Colceri was giving anywhere near a realistic performance and heavily pressured Kubrick to let him demonstrate. Ermey ad-libbed one opening scene and immediately left everyone stunned. Kubrick immediately knew there was no one else for the job and the script was not sufficient. So Ermey just indicated he could just make up some lines and Kubrick agreed to try it. About 50% of the dialog, and 100% of the insults, were all just Ermey being a former Marine Instructor doing his job. The film depicts the early-ish days of military involvement in Vietnam, so ~1965-ish. The marines are no longer allowed to do anything near what they did in the 1940-1970s. At that point the aim was to weed as many people out and tear, beat down, and exhaust any individuality out of you so you could be rebuilt as a robot. In the late-1980s the ability to make personal insults or remarks, or physically assault any individual was removed. By the late 1990s the entire training program of all armed forces had been changed. A new comprehensive psychology change was based on fostering stability, consistency, and trust. This was found to be much more comprehensive in producing a more adaptable, better educated, more motivated soldier who was less likely to be excessively aggressive when off the battlefield. 9:49 - Thats the point of this form of training. The fear of the DI overcomes the fear of the heights. Then over time it just becomes purely responsive action, you were told to do X so you perform X. Who "you" are or what "you feel" no longer exists. You've become reprogrammed. 29:50 - The Tet Offensive - January 31, 1968. This marks a major turning point in the war. The United States had pushed most of the regular North Vietnamese Army out of Vietnam beyond the 17th parallel and mostly into Laos. With the support of the Peoples Republic of China the NVA raised a massive underground anti-western sentiment that allied with the communist forces generally all grouped as the Viet Cong (VC). This basically started the period where in the next 5 years a massive number of troops were sent in, most of the country turned fully against the military, and pretty much the war was lost. Kubrick is showing parallels on multiple fronts with this story. At first Leonard is Vietnam, a "simple" country that we come in and start taking over, pushed too far, too hard, until everything changes, and he ends up striking back and destroying all the progress made. Then we switch to Joker's tale of a smart indoctrinated soldier who is partially anti-war. However he gets through and goes along with it until everything changes. All his forces get killed and in the end the person who kills most of them is a little innocent girl turned sniper (the average person in Vietnam turning back). The last of Jokers humanity gets destroyed as he too turns into a vicious killer who no longer believes in telling the journalistic truth, instead he sings the song of the Mikey Mouse Club having also been brainwashed into the American Commercialism ideal. Like many other Kubrick films it an anti-war story wrapped int the cloak of a war story. 37:15 - The 1000 yard stare it really when the casual interactions of normal people seem silly and contrived to you now. You've lived in a world where everyone around you dies and all that existence is and meaning is that you either exist or do not. So people might be talking or interacting in front of you but all you are really looking at is who is going to come and try to kill you. All that other stuff is amusing and semi-pointless banter.

[@kellyyoung3299]

They gave Pyle a blanket party

[@billybob-gb6ol]

Watching the tone shift of the reactors is the reason i keep watching reactions to this movie

[@The_Dudester]

The first half of this movie is 95% correct. DI's couldn't hit recruits (but it still happened). Evidently in the 1960's (when this movie was based) it was SOP to leave rifles unlocked, but in the 70's on, rifles were locked up when not in use. The actor playing the Drill Instructor actually had been a Drill Instructor. Most of his lines were ad libbed. Section 8 is crazy/looney tunes.

[@galumpher8107]

Every recruit knew the combination to his own lock. No brass, live nor expended left the range.

[@chaost4544]

Project 100,000

[@jthomas1748]

The marine corp drill instructor for bootcamp who was shot in the movie was a real vietnam war era marine corp drill instructor from 1961 - 1972. He wasn't acting the part, this is exactly what his bootcamp was like.

[@nielgregory108]

Did you notice?? Only 2 acts. Most movies are at least 3 acts. NO hit movie is 2 acts except this one. YES, Paris Island was like that because the actor was a REAL drill Sgt. and he was just doing what he used to do. 29:35 That was the "Tet Offensive", the Vietcong attacked ALL around the country at the same time. Caught the US WAY off-guard but we managed to fight them off. It was the largest operation the Vietcong made during the war.

[@singerkgreen]

Fun fact. Those buzz cuts do hurt. The kind of hurt where you have to suck it up but like your eyes get wetter than normal. I look back on my time in bootcamp very fondly. It was formative and informative.

[@nielgregory108]

No, they don't. I do it my head everyday.

[@singerkgreen]

@@nielgregory108 bootcamp haircuts are hardly the same as doing it yourself. You're obviously not a Marine.

[@veteranhoffman6776]

5:40 I was Army not Marine Corps, went through Basic Training in 1983, and except for the punching & slapping, yes it was like that.

[@lucasbjorckvinje5283]

@@veteranhoffman6776 Im guessing Hartman would be in serious violations of military guidelines?

[@veteranhoffman6776]

@ For that time, no. During my time, only when he physically struck a recruit, not for his mouth.

[@benhiggerson5904]

The U.S. was there to help South Vietnam. They were already in a civil war with North Vietnam which was trying to impose communism. The Soviet Union was supporting the North. So we were and weren't an invading force. Also, the scene where the Lt. explained that the civilians were killed after being asked to report for "political reeducation" makes me think of how Jordan Peterson was ordered by the Canadian govt. To do something similar very recently.

[@sydIRISH]

They smack the magazine on their helmet to get rid of dirt/sand in the magazine. M-16s jammed notoriously

[@polydactylproductions6787]

Wrong.

[@johncullen9298]

Was born at Camp Lejeune and childhood was like that.

[@BackwardTravisty]

From that child's perspective, she's defending her country from foreign invasion.

[@leonardofacchin1452]

I think there is no harsher critic of the military machine than that of a movie that spends the first half showing us the grueling training needed to craft the "perfect soldier" just to later show us those three poor guys getting wrecked by a teenage irregular soldier. Kubrick definitely knew what kind of point he wanted to make when filming this movie.

[@peachbottom2010]

geez ... read a history book lately ... although given today's woke history books I"ll cut you some slack.

[@danor6812]

We weren't the invading force in Vietnam. We were supposedly there to help the South Vietnamese people.

[@23snacKs]

I was on parris island jan - apr 06.. the drill instructors put hands on recruits but not that often

[@JonahPedersen-tz3uk]

I graduated USMC boot camp in August of 87 and saw this the night I got home. This is most accurate portrayal of Marine basic training I have seen on film.

[@sammymartin7891]

What a lot of people don't get about this movie is Gunnery Sergeant Hartman isn't being cruel to them. He's trying to save their lives this is 1967 and they're about to go to Vietnam.

[@aldoushuxleysghost]

You're right. They were in boot camp in 1966 or 67. Most likely, it was late 1966 because they were there for Christmas. They brought up Charles Whitman who went on a shooting spree in Austin, TX in '66. Joker and Cowboy were in Vietnam for the Tet Offensive which began on Jan. 31, 1968. Both of their hair had grown out pretty long by then, too.

[@davidbennett1357]

the guys are going through boot camp in the spring of 1967, the tet offensive was in January of '68 and normally it would take between 3 and 4 months for a newly minted grunt to get trained enough to ship out. Based on Joker's hair when we first see him in country, he must have been there for at least a couple of months or more before the Tet nonsense kicked off.... also, the rationale behind fire watch is to prepare military folks for sentry duty which most infantry sorts will have to do IN their actual units. Usually in a situation like the one in boot camp (also a lot of times in the field) is 2 hour shifts, and then you wake up the next guy on the list.

[@WiseGuy5674]

They tap the magazine on their helmets to seat the rounds firmly before locking and loading so they don’t jam. The original M-16’s didn’t have a forward assist on the receiver.😎

[@georgegerrard5376]

The thing about this movie and the book it’s based on, it’s supposed to be anti war showing how horrible boot camp and the horror and lack of humanity in war. But most military members, active and veteran, love this movie cause how realistic it is, nothing romanticize about it.

[@DanielR-ug9sl]

They didn't send the Tank first because bags of meat are cheaper than tanks, They don't have PRESS on uniforms because they are not neutral and also mainly active soldiers.

[@tugalord]

@@DanielR-ug9sl Also tanks are much more vulnerable in urban areas (where anyone with an RPG could pop out of a window, sometimes outside of the tank's reach, so they send the infantry first because they can clear those areas out while the tanks advance and the tanks give fire support (and if needed shielding) to the infantry.

[@TheRealCenturion]

Love this movie, remember watching it for the first time when i was about 7 or 8 😅😂 Great reaction guys, keep it up!

[@bbennet39]

It's called cadence when they are running in formation. The majority of the men were drafted into the Marine corp.

[@amcmillion3]

My Grandfather was a Marine. He joined in '58 and served 12 years including a tour in Vietnam and 2 years as a drill instructor. He said this clip is exactly what it was like. He said the drill instructors were sadistic.

[@robyfiorili]

They are all conscripts, Leonard can't just simply quit.

[@patm5594]

I think the helicopter gunner was showing that war can change people real quick. He probably was "normal" before the war. JMO.

[@michaelcoffey1991]

Great pair and yes there are no winners in war just survivors. You can not be a part of that and come back the same. Powerful film and Kubrick is one of the 10 best directors of all time.

[@cwilliams7630]

I've heard stories from some old heads that that blanket party stuff really happened back in the day

[@paulmarshall4794]

I went through basic in the Canadian Forces in the late 80s. At the time the military was just starting to soften their training methods so they didn't swear as much although they did yell a lot and in your face yelling. They also were not suppose to get physical or touch you without telling you first. I think they compensated with more exercises. One of the things we use to get a lot was push ups. Once morning inspection was completed you had to get outside and lined up in 5 minutes, if anyone was late the rest of the squad was doing push ups until everyone arrived (and someone was always late). Something that still sticks out in my mind all these years later is after doing punishment pushups we would have to ask permission to get up and then we would have to thank the instructor for "improving my slack and idle body" exact phrasing - you can probably tell I had to do a lot of push ups. Well around that time there was a skit on Saturday Night Live called Hans and Frans and they use to have the phrase "we will pump (clap) you up." Well we joked about it one night and decided the next morning after our pushups instead of saying our usual saying we would say "thank you instructor for pumping (clap) us up." Well the next day when it came time to say it half the group said it while the other half chickened out and said the original phrase. The sargeant at the time yelled at us and back down we went for more pushups. When we got back up we all got in sync with the new phrase. The sargeant turned his back on us and you could see his reflection in the windows and he was trying to hold back the laughter. Well, after that, everytime we ran into someone new, the sargeant would make us do pushups to show off our new saying. Needless to say we had one of the fittest graduating classes that session.

[@orangeandblackattack]

Section 8 is a medical discharge due to mental status.

[@sampardowski5799]

Another Vietnam War movie that shows a form of journalism is We Were Soldiers. It's based on the first major battle between the US and the North Vietnamese Army.

[@MAXPAUERv]

"i don't want to see him going to war" "You're not going to see that darling"

[@ayaanhussain9139]

Fun fact Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (The Drill Instructor) was an actual U.S.M.C Drill Instructor

[@tomantush4867]

As squad leader, it was Joker's responsibility to hit Pyle once for each recruit holding him down as well as for himself. It was not from spite but for duty.

[@deckzone3000]

Where is that rule written down?

[@SolarTiger]

I went to Navy boot camp in the late 70s. The company commanders weren't as physically aggressive as the Marines, but the mind games were just as intense. Boot camp is designed to weed out the weak, and it's better to fail there than in battle....Marine boot is known to be more difficult...I know some of the old school ways have been slowly evolving away...they warned us in boot camp about having a "blanket party" I didn't know what they meant until here

[@randylahey1822]

boring reaction, cut away the best scenes. Not a fan = thumb down