Starring: Matthew Modine, Lee Ermey, Vincent D’Onofrio
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Studio: Warner Bros.
Video: 1.78:1 widescreen
Audio: English DD 5.1, French DD 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
Extras: Trailer
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Length: 117 minutes
Rating: **
Full Metal Jacket offers director Stanley Kubrick’s take on the Vietnam experience; while many have criticized the movie for having two seemingly disjointed halves, the overall narrative of young Marines preparing for the horrors of combat still makes for a compelling watch. The acting throughout is superb, with first-timer Lee Ermey giving the performance of his life as the tough-as-nails drill instructor; Matthew Modine and Vincent D’Onofrio are also excellent, with D’Onofrio’s “Gomer Pyle” one of the most comical and ultimately chilling characters to ever grace the big screen. One of my all-time favorite movie moments occurs when the now-deployed “Joker” (Matthew Modine) is confronted by a senior officer; he’s forced to explain why his helmet is emblazoned with “Born To Kill,” but he also wears a peace-sign button on his uniform. The obviously confused officer offers for Joker to “get on board for the big win before this peace craze takes over!”
This version of the film comes from its first Blu-ray release in 2006; Warner has since updated the release, with an improved video and audio transfer and with additional bonus material. I happen to own the Deluxe edition, and it was interesting to compare the two, and curious for me why Warner would keep this obviously inferior version as part of their Blu-ray catalog. For openers, there’s no difference in the price of the bare bones and greatly improved Deluxe edition – both carry a suggested list price of $28.99! The image quality – while still not great, especially compared to my reference discs – is much clearer on the Deluxe edition, with very little of the grain an haze found on this earlier version. The sound quality here is also bare bones, with only Dolby 5.1 offered in English, French and Spanish. The Deluxe edition includes an uncompressed 5.1 track, and while the sound engineering of this movie is not particularly impressive, the uncompressed 5.1 track greatly enhanced my feeling of envelopment, especially in the battle scenes or scenes featuring music. The Deluxe edition also features an audio commentary that includes all the movie’s key actors, as well as an excellent 30-minute featurette on the making of the movie that contains a lot of really cool information. For example, the entire film was shot on a back lot outside of London, and most of the buildings used were existiing structures that were slated to be torn down – very little had to be done to give them a very Vietnam-ish appearance. It’s also interesting to hear many of the principal actors talk about their experiences filming the movie and their sometimes difficult interaction with Stanley Kubrick.
I can’t really see any reason why anyone would buy this bare-bones version, when a much more attractive package is available at the same price. Better pass on this one, and grab the Deluxe edition instead!
— Tom Gibbs
