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
In the midst of the Vietnam War, a new class of U.S. Marine Corps recruits arrives at Parris Island, South Carolina, for eight weeks of basic training.
Among them are Private James “Joker” Davis and Leonard Lawrence, nicknamed “Gomer Pyle.” Under Gunnery Sergeant Hartman’s relentless supervision, the recruits are subjected to physical and psychological conditioning intended to transform them into Marines.
Pyle initially struggles with the demands of training. As the platoon is pushed harder, however, he develops into an increasingly capable recruit and becomes an excellent marksman. His transformation comes at a devastating psychological cost.
The film then moves to Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. Joker, now a corporal and combat correspondent for Stars and Stripes, encounters the realities of combat as his military training collides with the violence and absurdity of war.
The two halves of the film form a deliberate contrast: the controlled brutality of Marine Corps training followed by the uncontrolled brutality of combat.
TRIVIA & BEHIND THE SCENES
Filmed in England
Despite being set partly in Vietnam, Full Metal Jacket was principally produced in England. Principal photography ran from August 27, 1985 to August 8, 1986, with filming taking place in London, at Pinewood Studios, and in Cambridgeshire.
PARRIS ISLAND IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE
The Marine recruit-training scenes were filmed at Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire, which stood in for Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.
Huế in East London
Kubrick transformed the abandoned Beckton Gas Works in East London into the devastated Vietnamese city of Huế. The production selectively destroyed and dressed existing structures to create the war-torn environment seen in the film.
The production also brought in large quantities of tropical vegetation, including palm and banana trees shipped from southern Spain.
Belgian M-47 Tanks
The production originally considered obtaining American armored vehicles, but their width made overseas transport impractical. Instead, six Belgian Army M-47 Patton tanks were rented and transported across the English Channel for use in the film.
R. Lee Ermey
R. Lee Ermey was originally hired as a technical adviser. After Kubrick saw footage of Ermey demonstrating his ability to intimidate and verbally abuse recruits, he cast him as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. Ermey also improvised material that was incorporated into the screenplay.
Vincent D’Onofrio
Vincent D’Onofrio gained approximately 60 pounds for the role of Private Leonard “Gomer Pyle” Lawrence, undergoing a substantial physical transformation for the character.
Vivian Kubrick
The film’s original music was composed by Kubrick’s daughter Vivian Kubrick, who was credited under the name Abigail Mead. She also created the behind-the-scenes documentary Shooting “Full Metal Jacket” during production.
The Vietnamese Community in London
Approximately 5,000 members of London’s Vietnamese immigrant community were hired as background performers for the film’s Da Nang street scenes, helping create the appearance of a Vietnamese civilian population without filming in Vietnam.
“BORN TO KILL”
The contradiction between the words “BORN TO KILL” on Joker’s helmet and the peace symbol on his uniform becomes one of the film’s most recognizable visual representations of its themes of divided identity and the conflict between military violence and individual conscience.
AWARDS & LEGACY
Full Metal Jacket was released in the United States on June 26, 1987. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
The film was later ranked #95 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Thrills list.
Its distinctive depiction of Marine Corps recruit training, combined with Kubrick’s stark treatment of the Vietnam War, has made Full Metal Jacket one of the most recognizable American war films of the 1980s.
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.
