movie - full metal jacket by kubrick

jerrek · Post by **jerrek** » Fri Dec 29, 2000 8:38 pm

In the last week i managed to watch the movie "Full etal Jacket" by kubrick, i have not seen very many movies by kubrick but it seems as if he directs for adults and this allows for some scences that are disturbing phsycologically disturbing in way that movies like saving private ryan and stalingrad can not approach (not just through visual means, that is a dime a dozen). What did others think about it and if you have not then you should. The first half of this movie should be very sobiering for us here (moving our counters around) partcularly what happened to fatboy lawence (pyle) and the gunner on the helecoptor. I actually found it quite upsetting what happened to pyle considering how good natured he started and the gunner also showed the mental degratdation that can occur in war. Note that in most american movies what happened to pyle would be represented as deserved due to his size (or at least he would not deserve sympathy). The second half of this movie is a bit more mainstream but still is good. I particularly enjoyed the reaction to any fire from a building, shoot at building in uncontrolled manner for a while, that is everybody in platoon, machine gunner, grenade launcher and assault rifles (accuracy of tactics unknown).

hhsohn · Post by **hhsohn** » Fri Dec 29, 2000 10:48 pm

What happened to the gunner? It's been a while since I've seen the movie...

Major_Johnson · Post by **Major_Johnson** » Fri Dec 29, 2000 11:05 pm

My brother is Vietnam vet. Marines, was in Da Nang for the Tet offensive. Never talks about it, but will talk about boot camp. It's strange, but he has to see every war picture about Vietnam. He did say that Full Metal Jacket has the truest depiction of boot camp that he's seen yet, all except for the suicide that is. That was BS. As far as the depiction of the actual war, he says no, the movie didn't do it justice.
I saw Saving Private Ryan the other night for the first time. That was some serious stuff, especially the opening beach scenes. If someone can watch that and not feel something, there is somnething wrong. And I know allot of people do. Especially the younger ones who have no idea what it is like to kill or be killed. And all the religous freaks that wave the bible and have never stepped foot in a different country where they believe just as strongly, if not more, in their own religion, whatever it may be. Those people are actually killing each other. You think that most holy rollers in this country would do the same? I seriously doubt it. This isn't meant to offend anybody. I'm truely sorry if it does. I happen to lean toward the Christian side of thinking myself, I just have a hard time with the popular interpretation.
Sorry about this post, I got on a roll and just had to vent.

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MJ
We serve others best when at the same time we serve ourselves.

Wild Bill · Post by **Wild Bill** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 12:26 am

The gunner on the chopper was firing on Vietnamese civilians randomly. He bragged to Joker that he should be in Stars and Stripes he had had so many kills.

Kubrick's film is disturbing but I think it points out a few things about the darker side of war that we don't see in our games. They nevertheless exist, painfully, (Mi Lai, Malmedy, Bataan Death March, etc).

The scene in "Thin Red Line" where a GI sits beside a dying Japanese officer with pliers in his hand to extract his gold teeth when he expires is another gruesome example of the depth to which men can descend when they have to face and administer death on a daily basis.

As has been often repeated, war brings out both the best and the worst in men.

Wild Bill

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In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Coordinator, Scenario Design
Matrix Games

Tombstone · Post by **Tombstone** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 12:33 am

Kubrick movies cut deep. They say a lot, but they aren't necessarily about their subject matter.

Tomo

zombie · Post by **zombie** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 12:51 am

Just FYI, the dril sargent was actually a marine corp drill sargent who had been brought on as an advisor for the boot camp portion of the film and was then offered the acting role.

1stSgt USMC · Post by **1stSgt USMC** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 3:40 am

R. Lee Ermey (USMC Ret)is the gentleman's name you are talking about. He has appeared in several movies in and out of a uniform. Dale Dye (USMC Ret) was the technical advisor for just about everyones favorite movir SPR. He has appeared in several movies as well, I guess he likes to put everyone through a sort of mini boot camp/basic Infantry course in order to get everyones mind right. I read somewhere he was so hard on Hanks and company that they nearly had a mutiny on their hands. (Dye) He was our PAO in Beirut with the MAU before he retired as a Captain.

1stSgt

zombie · Post by **zombie** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 4:25 am

Okay dude, I gotta ask, whats a PAO?

1stSgt USMC · Post by **1stSgt USMC** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 8:00 am

PAO=Public Affairs Officer
MAU=Marine Amphibious Unit, now referrred to as the MEU=Marine Expeditionary Unit. Sorry Some of you have so much knowledge it's hard to tell who is Gunfighter by trade and who isn't.

1stSgt

mogami · Post by **mogami** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 8:06 am

Hi, I never understood while Pyle went crazy. The DI liked him, if you pay attention when they are handing out orders he is wearing skeeter wings meaning he had been promoted. Only about 10% of a platoon gets promoted out of bootcamp. Once he did well on the rifle range his problems with the DI ended. Except for the crazy Pvt it did bring back a few memories of PI (plt364 '73')

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I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a differant direction!

Warhorse · Post by **Warhorse** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 8:36 am

Ahh, good 'ole PI, just love the smell of swamp gas in the morning, along with the Bends and Thrusts till you puke in the Rose Garden out back of 'A' Co.!!! Plt 1076 '80
Semper Fi!!!!! Oh,and must'nt forget the sand fleas in their little formations on your forearm, ...don't dare swat them bad boys if you know whats good fer ya

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Mike Amos
Meine Ehre Heisst Treue

1stSgt USMC · Post by **1stSgt USMC** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 9:12 am

Sand Fleas have any of you seen "The DI" with Jack Webb aka Sgt Joe "Just the facts ma'am" Friday. Now that's what happens when you kill a Sand Flea with impunity.

1stSgt

BlitzSS · Post by **BlitzSS** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 9:24 am

It has been many years since I've seen the movie, but I can remember the helo gunner answering to the question "How can you shoot women and children?" with "It's easy you just lead'em less!" I guess that's Kubrick for ya; shocking to say the least.

Bing · Post by **Bing** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 9:35 am

Originally posted by 1stSgt USMC:
Sand Fleas have any of you seen "The DI" with Jack Webb aka Sgt Joe "Just the facts ma'am" Friday. Now that's what happens when you kill a Sand Flea with impunity.

1stSgt

First: As the son of a China Marine, I very much appreciated the scene in formation where Jack Webb gently removes the sunglasses from the face of the grunt. He then takes his swagger stick, precisely shatters each lens of the sunglasses and without a word replaces them on the junior Marine's face. Now THAT is the Corps!

Bing

zombie · Post by **zombie** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 10:38 am

Hey this is to the Jarheads out there ( note i put it in caps so be nice ). A few years back I saw on 60 minutes that DIs were no longer allowed to swear at you guys, is this true? Has the corp begun to become PC?

1stSgt USMC · Post by **1stSgt USMC** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 11:17 am

Zombie, There are alot of things that have come under intense scrutiny, because of the ten percent who don't know when enough is enough. Unfortunately the Boot Camp of today is in no way your grandfather's or fathers or my Boot Camp, in many respects the recruits do receive better training. As with anything I will tell you your not supposed to do alot of things, but they still happen. I swore all the time and got fined a few times for it. In other words you have to always check your six.

1stSgt

zombie · Post by **zombie** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 4:14 pm

1stSgt USMC: I think you would get a kick outa this.
http://www.strategypage.com/humor/default.asp?target=thennow.htm

1stSgt USMC · Post by **1stSgt USMC** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 4:38 pm

Thanks some of those are dead on. Very FUNNY

1stSgt

Warhorse · Post by **Warhorse** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 7:04 pm

Well, when I was in, in early '80's, by that time there was supposed to be no striking...heh, heh!! I don't have a problem with that, it was part of the training, if someone can't stand the heat, get the hell out, it ain't Romper Room, "Mothers of America" (Not a slander to females, if you were in the Corps, you know what this is!),don't belong in the Corps, I'm glad to have served in my Corps, and it taught me alot, Ooohhh Raahhhhh!!!!

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Mike Amos
Meine Ehre Heisst Treue

troopie · Post by **troopie** » Sun Dec 31, 2000 12:54 am

PSgt. TerHorst used to throw fake punches at trainee's crotches when you were standing at attention in the barracks. If you flinched (I did, once), you were burned for moving when you should be at attention. Rarely, his punch would land, (not very hard, but hard enough). He would then say, "That was an accident, soldier. Right yourself when you can."

I was hit that way twice. It made it all the sweeter when I knocked him cold in unarmed combat practice. (I blocked his chop and landed a quick combination on his chin. I had done some amateur boxing, and TerHorst didn't know that.)

troopie

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Pamwe Chete