I have to agree with the majority of the comments about FMJ: It's almost like two entirely separate movies, the first one which is great followed by the second which is "meh, whatever". As a combat veteran, I was drawn in to both aspects of the movie, and I can tell you that drill instructors can definitely make your life miserable; and we had a couple of washouts in my boot camp (but fortunately, live rounds were much more difficult to come by) who couldn't hack the pressure. The second half was true-to-life as much as the movies can make it, but let's face it: nothing can really portray the horrors of war, or the 1000-yard stare that gets mentioned in here. The movie was great in its depiction of the ultimate apathy of a combat soldier, but apart from that, it really was nothing extraordinary. If there'd been any way they could have stretched out just the first part of this movie and made the whole "boot camp" sequence a story of its own, that could have taken home some Oscars, I do believe. The acting by R. Lee Ermy and Vincent D'Onofrio was acting, and I found the scene where Modine had to cover his ears - to block out the sound of D'Onofrio's crying - very emotionally stirring. Definitely worth watching...and even worth watching again.
So I've seen it a few times already. For the first time in HD, which looks good, but not great. Maybe I'm just too spoiled these days.
Anyway, the movie itself is always worth watching again. It is timeless in it's topic, it works in every generation. Because it is all live action shooting it doesn't look aged at all.
The first half is the R. Lee Ermey show and in my book he should have gotten the Oscar for that part. He pulls you in instantly. His background cleary shows and is a huge asset for the movie. Not to be downplaying the other actors - especially D'Onofrio who is very convincing - but they look like extras for the most part. Sadly, I must add, because I don't connect much with the characters which doesn't make me care for them in the second half of the movie.
That is the part about the war. Now, is the depection of war real? Luckily, I haven't been to war so I can only guess. But it looks much more realistic than movies today. Owed in huge parts to the fact it's a real scenery and not CGI. It doesn't look very Vietnamese, though.
Despite the little criticism it is a great movie that shows a lot of the mindset back then.
I was a little surprised to see it "just" made 46mil USD, which compared to a 30mil USD budget seems like a bust.
Review by saundrewBlockedParent2016-07-14T16:34:27Z
I don't think I've met anyone who didn't love the first half of this film, but I have heard of people not liking the second half. While I like the first half more, I like it more by just a touch. The whole film is flat out amazing.
The thing about the first half that is amazing to me is how fast it moves. While watching this time, I looked down at the run time when it was finishing and noticed that 45min had gone by when it felt like 15. This section starts off humorous for sure. All the phrases used to put down the new soldiers make me laugh, and different reactions to them as well. Then, the longer we go into the sequence the more we start to feel how dark this is. The tone shift is wonderful, and sets you up for the halfway finale.
The second half does the same thing, but in a totally different context. Joker starts off using humor to deflect what he's feeling, but then by the end you really get into his emotion and personal conflict. That last major shot (no pun intended) makes you stay with him and his reactions instead of seeing everyone else.
Frankly, this is one of Kubrick's best films, and that is saying a lot.