FILM REFERENCE
TITLE: FULL METAL JACKET
RELEASE YEAR: 1987
RELEASE DATE: JUNE 17, 1987
DIRECTOR: STANLEY KUBRICK
WRITERS: STANLEY KUBRICK · MICHAEL HERR · GUSTAV HASFORD
BASED ON: THE SHORT-TIMERS BY GUSTAV HASFORD
PRODUCER: STANLEY KUBRICK
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: JAN HARLAN
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: MICHAEL HERR
CO-PRODUCER: PHIL HOBBS
CINEMATOGRAPHY: DOUGLAS MILSOME
EDITING: MARTIN HUNTER
PRODUCTION DESIGN: ANTON FURST
COSTUME DESIGN: KEITH DENNY
MUSIC: VIVIAN KUBRICK / ABIGAIL MEAD
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: WARNER BROS. · NATANT · STANLEY KUBRICK PRODUCTIONS
DISTRIBUTION: WARNER BROS.
GENRE: DRAMA · WAR
CAST
MATTHEW MODINE — Private J.T. “Joker” Davis
VINCENT D’ONOFRIO — Private Leonard “Gomer Pyle” Lawrence
R. LEE ERMEY — Gunnery Sergeant Hartman
ADAM BALDWIN — Animal Mother
DORIAN HAREWOOD — Eightball
ARLISS HOWARD — Private “Cowboy” Evans
KEVYN MAJOR HOWARD — Rafterman
ED O’ROSS — Lieutenant Walter J. “Touchdown” Tinoshky
JOHN TERRY — Lieutenant Lockhart
TIM COLCERI — Doorgunner
KIRK TAYLOR — Payback
SAL LOPEZ — T.H.E. Rock
BRUCE BOA — Poge Colonel
THE STORY
The film begins at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island, where a group of recruits undergoes an increasingly brutal training regime under Gunnery Sergeant Hartman.
Private Joker and Private Pyle become the central figures of the first half. As the recruits are conditioned to become Marines, Pyle’s psychological deterioration culminates in a violent breakdown.
The story then shifts to Vietnam, where Joker is serving as a military journalist during the Tet Offensive. Accompanied by photographer Rafterman, he moves through the war while attempting to reconcile the language and rituals of the Marine Corps with the reality of combat.
The second half culminates in the Battle of Huế, where the Marines encounter a determined enemy sniper amid the ruins of the city.
The film deliberately contrasts the controlled environment of boot camp with the confusion and moral ambiguity of urban combat.
TRIVIA & BEHIND THE SCENES
Kubrick Never Filmed in Vietnam
Despite its convincing Vietnam setting, Full Metal Jacket was filmed entirely in Britain. Kubrick chose British locations because he believed he could construct the required Vietnam environment more effectively and economically there.
Huế was London
The devastated Vietnamese city of Huế was recreated primarily at the abandoned Beckton Gas Works in East London. Kubrick and production designer Anton Furst transformed the industrial site into a war-damaged city, using photographs of Huế taken during the 1968 battle as visual reference.
Palm Trees in East London
To make the British locations resemble Southeast Asia, the production brought in large quantities of tropical vegetation. AFI records that approximately £120,000 worth of tropical foliage was supplied, including palm and banana trees shipped from southern Spain.
The Marine Boot Camp
The Marine Corps training sequences were filmed in Britain, with Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire serving as the principal stand-in for the Marine training environment. Other training material was filmed around British military locations.
R. Lee Ermey
R. Lee Ermey was originally hired as a technical adviser. His knowledge of Marine Corps drill and his ability to improvise convinced Kubrick to cast him as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. AFI records that Kubrick incorporated some of Ermey’s improvised material into the screenplay.
The Role of Joker
Matthew Modine’s Private Joker functions as the audience’s primary viewpoint through both halves of the film. Modine also provides the character’s voice-over narration, which begins and ends the film.
The “MOUSE” Symbol
Joker’s peace symbol and “Born to Kill” helmet combination deliberately express the contradiction at the center of the film: the conflict between individual conscience and the military process of turning a human being into a weapon.
MICKEY MOUSE
One of the film’s most striking uses of music occurs at the end, when Marines march through the devastated landscape singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme. Kubrick uses the familiar children’s song as an intentionally disturbing contrast to the destruction surrounding them.
Vivian Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick’s daughter Vivian Kubrick composed the film’s original music under the name Abigail Mead. She also filmed behind-the-scenes material during production and directed the documentary Shooting ‘Full Metal Jacket.
“PAINT IT BLACK”
The end credits use “Paint It, Black” by The Rolling Stones, reinforcing the film’s connection to the popular music and cultural landscape of the Vietnam era.
One Year of Principal Photography
Principal photography ran from August 27, 1985 to August 8, 1986. The production’s extended schedule reflected the complexity of creating Vietnam in and around Britain.
AWARDS & LEGACY
Full Metal Jacket was released in 1987 and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
AFI later ranked the film #95 on its 100 Years…100 Thrills list.
The film has subsequently become one of Stanley Kubrick’s most recognized works and one of the most influential American films depicting the Vietnam War.
CARE
• Machine wash cold, inside out.
• Do not bleach.
• Do not iron directly over the print.
• Wash with similar colors.
IMPORTANT
This is a contemporary H354 T-shirt featuring a graphic interpretation of the movie itself does not represented as an original promotional or production garment.
