R. Lee Ermey was a really nice person. He used to shoot with us at our monthly (civilian operated) rifle matches at MCB Camp Pendleton in the 2000's and was approachable by all. RIP Ermey.
@@coyotefever105 A big reason why that Texas Chainsaw remake is my favorite version is because of R. Lee Ermey's performance. Edit: It would absolutely traumatize PIB badly.
Kubrick was one of the few film makers to have the guts to make a film like this. Marines are wired very differently from from normal people. That rewiring is not an easy process, and it’s more difficult to rework. Btw, the boot camp scenes are very close to the real thing. Today, DIs can’t legally strike a recruit. But accidents happen.
I think its necessary to change normal boys to this kind of Men for to survive in a War. In that way the Gunnery saves the lifes of many young Soldiers.
@@drhkleinert8241 yeah but still, you turning men into mindless robots. At my time in the German army, we worked with stationed American soldiers, and they were behaving like little dogs. They did nothing without command. It was creepy to see
Vincent D'Onofrio does such a great job as Private Pyle. The way he goes from innocent, to emotionless, to talking to himself and finally to crazy scary is... Scary.
Sergeant Hartman's job is to make sure that when his recruits get to Vietnam they remember their training and employ that training without a second thought. His methods are brutal, but the lessons he teaches can determine whether or not any of the recruits come back home alive.
I spent 12 years in the Army and i was also in the Gulf War. Yes you are right. A drill instructor´s job is to get the Men trained and back home alive.
The German army, during World War I, followed the Prussian military doctrine. They believed that soldiers should be more afraid of their own officers than of the enemy. This caused a lot of 'fragging' incidents on the German side, long before fragging was made fashionable by the US armed forces in Vietnam.
Considering they had cut training time down to 90 days, there was no time to be nice. These guys would be in combat. Without their training they would come home in a coffin.
The drill sergeant is R. Lee Ermey, who was a real life sergeant who served in the Vietnam war. He improvised over half of all his lines, so the shock on the recruits faces were real reactions lol. He may seem like a heartless person in the movie, but he was a kind man in real life. So sad that he passed away a few year ago :(
If I remember correctly he wasn’t the first choice for drill. The first guys lines were all scripted but it just didn’t flow right so that’s when he came in.
At the end of the movie, when they are singing the Mickey Mouse song, it shows you how young these marines were and what they all had in common and hanging on to as kids...thats a great move by the director...It was meant to say that the soldiers in Vietnam were mostly just kids who werent supposed to be there to begin with
It's not like he wants to say "these poor kids!". Kubrick has always been consistent and crystal clear of what he had to say about men's evil desires, from Paths to Glory, to Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and then to Full Metal Jacket. It's to show how naive being an immature manchild(ren) and wanting to subjugate others leads to devastation of themselves and people around them. Good example: They get wrecked by a child and a literal bunnie toy.
My dad is a Marine Vietnam vet. We've watched this movie together. He told me that this was exact experience. This is a rough movie to watch but also an important movie to watch. Thanks for this.
The first time my father and I discussed this movie he pulled out his photo album. The city in this movie (destroyed) was a near match for the photos in his album. Great movie, but the sets are what makes it for me.
I agree. for the time period. True for the 90s as well, except for maybe the corporal punishment. D.I.s aren't allowed to strike recruits. That being said, I'd rather have taken a beating now and then than to have spent 30 minutes on the quarter deck with a D.I. in my face. my heart about to burst, screaming about how I'm not running in place fast enough.
@@captzero007 quarter deck sucked, but the sand pit was hell. I remember having sand in my ears for days before feeling clean again only to do it again.
@Penderyn Granted, there are many aspects of the armed forces that are cult-like. But the biggest hallmarks of what makes a cult aren't present. Namely... 1. You're not ostracised from your family 2. You're not forced to stay once your contract is fulfilled.
Welcome to the next edition of "Let's traumatise Cassie!" But seriously, I really appreciate your willingness to open yourself up to movies that can be difficult to watch.
When I was in basic training, my TI's said all the things R Lee Ermey said. My reaction up to the last scene in the latrine was humor, I laughed throughout remembering my days. Funniest thing I heard while our heads were being buzzed, one of the barbers asked the guy next to me if he wanted to keep his sideburns. Of course he said yes, the barber then handed him a mess of his hair and laughed. And as a sidenote, R Lees opening dialog is the longest ad lib scene in movie history. As a longtime resident here in the Antelope Valley, R Lee was a great human devoted to the veteran community. He is missed.
I went thru Parris Island in the 80's (Plt 3037 Lima Co 3rd BN) and this movie comes closer to showing what it was actually like than anything I've ever seen. Semper Fidelis on Memorial day to all my Marine Corps brothers!!!!!
I was a drill sergeant from 2013-2019 in the Army Reserves. I have 13 complete BCT cycles, including 2 complete years on the trail from 2016-2019. The majority of my time as a Drill Sergeant was spent at Fort Leonard Wood. A lot has changed since the 1960’s, but this movie is not far off. I could have a VERY long discussion about the why and how of Basic Combat Training. And you would be surprised at how effective our tactics are in training recruits. Fun Fact, Lee was a family friend for years. My family worked on his show Mail Call through its entire run, and later on Gunny Approves.
I was a Drill Sergeant at Fort Leonard Wood from 1989-1992 with B & C Companies 87th Engineer Battalion. I remember getting troops ready for Gulf War 1 in 1991. When a cycle graduated separated the Active Duty personnel and marched them to their waiting buses with them all knowing where they were heading to. Guard and Reserve separated into another section and getting on buses to go home and telling them that they will be in the Gulf soon enough. Repeat for next cycle. I went through Basic in 1981 and Drills were doing their best to keep from smacking trainees up side the head but - yep - it DID happen. Fortunately I did not get smacked.
When I saw you were going to watch this, my first thought was "oh, she's not going to like that..." Definitely an uncomfortable movie, but you pulled through it with flying colors. Thanks for sharing!
The training has to be brutal so that they can learn to function in extremely brutal and stressful situations. He is so mean to Pyle because he knows that in battle, he could be a liability to the rest of his platoon. Also, his treatment teaches the other privates to work together. If Pyle can't pull his own weight, people can die. If the team can't help him pull his own weight, people die. But if they can all learn to work together, they can learn to survive.
Exactly! Look at what our military pumps out now. It's pretty embarrassing compared to just 10 years ago. I have respect for our soldiers. They go through hell to fight for our freedoms. But the soldiers these days aren't even familiarized with our constitution or rights! They're becoming as bad as... Well I won't go there. I respect our military err I mean our soldiers. Not all but most of our soldier of today... Lol nevermind.
It has to be brutal because that's what's required for the brainwashing to set in. There's little difference between boot camp and a cult, except boot camp works faster.
Cassie, I had a feeling this film would be too harsh for you. There are other films about that war which may be a little easier to digest. I would highly recommend Robin Williams in "Good Morning, Viet Nam". It's a true story about an Army Radio DJ who helped lift the troops spirits during the war. It's more of a comedy but it also has a lot of realism and some battle conflict scenes. You should watch that film, to offset the "burn" of the Stanley Kubrick film.
@@BuccWylde you could be right. Sorry for the oversight. I just assumed it would be the Army running the radio station, based on nothing at all. Bad guess.
I went thru Paris Island in the early 1970’s, the Vietnam War was just winding down. It may be very hard for you to grasp, but for most of us it was an amazing experience. By then we were transitioning to an all volunteer force, and actually being struck by a drill instructor was less common than depicted here. Like virtually everyone in my platoon, I was a volunteer. It was brutally hard, but very carefully monitored. The single most unrealistic was the unsupervised recruit with a weapon, that just did not happen when I was a boot. The language in the first week was astounding, the stress was incredible, but within days we could spot who among us was worth fighting along side. This training is primarily designed to create a bond between you. From the time of Sparta, the Concept of bonding two, then 5 soldiers together in a very small team that will not desert each other has been how armies have avoided the disaster of units breaking in combat. Believe it or not, by the forth week, there were reactions between the DI’s and boots that were hilarious, and although they happened to me almost 50 years ago, guys from that time period still will laugh about them.
I got my butt kicked the night before graduation while I was firewatch by a drunken DI from another platoon. He came into my squadbay by mistake and thought I was in the wrong one. My SDI came out and put a stop to it. He took me inside the DI hut...which I had never been in...and asked if I wanted to press charges. I said, "No sir!, This recruit wants to graduate tomorrow and be a Marine." He sent me back to my rack like nothing happened. I told my Mom the bruise on my forehead was an accident on the confidence course. Was it tough? Yes...especially since I was at Parris Island from June through August. But I don't regret a second of it.
@@kennieharris327 Semper Fi! And sorry that happened to you but most of my platoon would have done the same as you. I was lucky, my Drill instructor was a short, powerfully built man of unbelievable composure and discipline. He looked every bit the Drill of legend, but was promoted in the middle of our cycle, and was replaced by a tall lanky marine with a bit of a pot belly, and spoke softly. As a platoon we were disappointed, he just did not at first glance measure up. We quickly learned that soft spoken and not ram rod posture ready Marine Sergeants could be hard and relentless task masters. Learned a lot I will never forget from both those men.
My brother completed Basic Training in 1991. He said this movie was shockingly realistic to his experience. He brought home a 'yearbook' of sorts that had the enlistment photo of his entire barracks. He asked me to look at the pictures and see if I could find which ones 'washed out'... it was surprisingly easy. There were three that looked frightened or empty or naive in their pictures. One specifically reminded me of Lawrence. They did not complete Basic.
Charlie is Viet Cong (Victor Charlie in the military alphabet) Fire Watch - guard duty(once upon a time, someone had to keep a fire + control it to keep tents from burning.. now it's night duty)
The movie is about man’s inhumanity to his fellow man wether it’s from the boot camp scenes to the war. I was on the Island in 93 and our DI’s always said that each recruit came down with his mom on one hand and a senator on the other hand were the DI’s mean absolutely but that was to prepare you for the horrors of war
The reason why they shaved your head is because it was just easy to get your helmet on see the hair would just obstruct your view and it would be hard to get in the way so they would just use they would shave it off
As was the want of Stanley Kubrick, Full Metal Jacket was filmed in England yes England. Kubrick had a pathological fear of flying and refused to leave his adopted England, it was filmed at a mothballed RAF Base and various locations in London including the disused Gas Works at Beckton, between Aug 1985 and Aug 1986. Nearly all of the extras were serving British Territorial Army Soldiers, the Vietnamese were from the Chinese Community in London. It was a massive undertaking to transform East London into Vietnam, some have said it ended up cheaper and easier than filming on the actual locations.
I'm a Marine from 1984-1988, close enough to the war that most of my Staff NCO's and Field Grade Officers had one or more tours in Vietnam. Most of them were still sore about how it all went down. I can tell you that the boot camp footage was almost 100% accurate. Very, very accurate indeed. I believe the combat and in-country footage was made to be as "real" as possible so that people could appreciate the price that our veterans pay for all of our freedom. I believe you are a good hearted, intelligent young woman and I could see how confusing and hurtful all of this was for you to watch. It is important and meaningful that you made that effort to see, feel, and understand this. The simple truth for everyone who has served, in any branch at any time in war or in peace is that none of us are unscathed by our service. All have given some...and some have given all.
It's not an exaggeration, it was worse I feel like than this movie honestly. They treat you like dirt, but you just have to get through it just like everyone else before you. We had our own Gomer Pyle in our platoon, that dude couldn't do anything right. And anytime he messed up, we had to pay for it. We wanted to beat this dude but lucky for us this dude lost it and was dropped. They tear you down, but once you graduate, you feel invincible. So what the Marines do looks mean and degrading, but it's effective. And war isn't for the weak, best get them out early on.
@@erkkijunkkarinen9303 I'm referring to gomer Pyle from the TV show. Pyle was kind of slow so, at least when I was in, DI's would often refer to the the slow, dumb ones as Pyle. So whether or not if you're theory is true, it has no relevance to my own experience.
@@diaperparalysis6850 first of all, I did go to boot camp over a decade ago. Second, who cares about getting hit? That doesn't matter. I don't remember ever getting time to slowly make up my bed like they do in that one scene and the DI's are just watching them. I never seen them do two sheets and a blanket or just straight dump everyone's footlockers in the movie. The list goes on and on. So yeah, I'm pretty sure it was worse.
The problem with men is a biological one. When they reach the age of 18, their hormone levels are at an all time peak. That is why most fatal car accidents occur with male drivers aged 18-25. After that, there's a steep decline in deadly accidents. So if you recruit or draft a boy/man aged 18, train him to kill, in most cases he will gladly accept the challenge. Just nobody warns him that he may get killed or maimed for life. As with car accidents, there's also a lot of deadly accidents with young men operating deadly weapons and machines. War studies show that 'friendly fire' incidents cause many losses, sometimes more than the enemy can cause, especially if you send a lot of troops against a small number of enemy troops who are concealed and dug in well.
@@zedwpd Go Tell The Spartans would be a better choice. The Green Berets starring John Wayne occurred at a time when US involvement was mainly limited to an advisory capacity like MACV SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group).
Just so you understand the Basic training. Basic training is to break down the ego of the recruit. The Ego must be broken because it is where bad habits, fear, and hesitation exist. Once the recruit is broken the recruit can be rebuilt as a Combat Marine. The combat Marine has no fear of the enemy, no bad habits, and will fight without hesitation. The bathroom scene would not have happened as the graduated soldier still would not have an active bolt. During my basic there was a recruit in another unit that commited suicide on the same floor and building but in the other half of the building. As for Gunnery Seargent Hartman. My Senior Drill instructor was exactly like him. I did not make it to Vietnam as I graduated basic in 1981, but I did see combat in other theaters. I spent 21 years in the Marine Corp.
I went through Marine Corps boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, CA in 1972. Where this movie is located. With some very minor exceptions, this is a very accurate depiction of Marine Corps boot camp at that time. Drill Instructors were not allowed to hit recruits, and our rifles were locked up at night (unless we were on guard duty). Everything else, from the squad bays to the obstacle course is exactly the same as it was depicted in the movie. The goal of boot camp, besides providing basic training, is to place as much stress on the individual as possible to try to get them to break. Which explains all the yelling and all the insults. They want to see how you will react to stressful situations. Once you realize that boot camp is one big mind game, it is difficult to maintain a straight face. The drill instructors - like R. Lee Ermey was in real life - can be extremely creative with their insults.
This movie came out in 1987. The Vietnam War had only be over for a tad over a decade. It was eye opening. A lot of the vets at the time were under 40.
4:26 The “Rifleman’s Creed”; very real. They shortened it there, or maybe that’s the way it was in the Vietnam years, but regardless it was a requirement that we memorize it. To this day, I can still recite it.
The first time I watched Full Metal Jacket, we were at my grandparents' house. We went to Blockbuster for the first time and rented several titles and a VHS player (1988). Dad picked need this one out, apparently not knowing what it was about. My Mom about turned green watching it, to the point we had to turn it off.
@@lindseysummers5351 Oh, I get it. 🤣 But you know what? Hartman in the movie strongly believes in god. "I want the head so sanitary and squared away that the Virgin Mary herself would proudly go in there and take a dump." "God was here before the Marine Corps. So you can give your heart to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the corps."
The Ken Burns Vietnam War documentary is about eighteen hours long, but it's really an amazing historical document. Interviews with not just the US soldiers who were there, but also the North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, and Viet Cong. With actual footage of the battles, often from both sides.
Both of my uncles went to Vietnam. They both volunteered, to escape an abusive household. The older uncle was sent back to the states for a death in the family. The younger uncle remained in Vietnam, finished his tour and came back home. According to my aunt, he was never the same after the war. After 2 failed marriages and alot of demons, he shaved his head bald, went down to the beach and shot himself in the head. He was 45 years old. William Ronald Strobel Jr. USMC 1952 - 1998
Great job Cassie. You felt exactly the way you should feel when watching this movie. There are too many war movies out there that make it look glorious and adventurous. Full Metal Jacket is supposed to remind you of the facts of war and it’s very uncomfortable to say the lest. Keep up the great content and I always respect someone who is willing to go out of there comfort zone. You may have not liked it, but it’s made an impact upon you, which is what it was designed to do.
I was an Air Force Medic in Vietnam. The wounds were hideous. I know that was hard to watch but people need to see what war is like. Thank you for getting through it.
I knew before this started that it was gonna be a rough ride for you. Glad you finished it! Fun fact: The ending where Joker puts the sniper out of her misery was originally a lot harsher as Animal Mother decapitates her with a machete. A fake head of the actress was made for the scene and was on set, but the gory scene didn’t make the final cut.
Also; to answer the question you keep asking of "why do they need to do this" After the world wars, they realized that a lot of the soldiers weren't firing their weapons, or acting appropriately to the kind of modern war that was going on. Their training philosophy changed to first having to break down the recruits, literally break them emotionally, physically, and mentally, to evaluate their reaction and ability to deal with incredible stress (more Elite units, like the Marines consider themselves, would do it harder than non-elite units) and to be able to build them back up into what the military needed, and to further engender a feeling of belonging and brotherhood within the ranks. A kind of "We went through hell together, so we have a trauma bond" type thing. This also helped foster unity within units because it meant that a soldier could trust the person next to him to watch his back and not be someone who, well, makes mistakes or refuses to fight which can cause extra deaths. To turn human beings into robots, machines made for killing. It worked a lot better, but it also has a severe drawback where it just... Causes an incredible amount of trauma and PTSD in the soldiers. Not just the war, but the dehumanization and programming they went through in basic training. The Gunny was hard on Lawrence because, in the mind of the army, if Lawrence cannot hack it then he's going to get people in his unit killed. This, in fact, was probably true. If he'd gone to combat as he was, he would have gotten a lot of people killed. The proper answer would have been to kick him out during basic, but... Well, that's not always possible during a draft. So the first half is showing you what the process is, and the second part is showing the results. There is also a fairly popular theory that Leonard wasn't an actual person, but a part of Joker that was beaten out of him and killed during basic. The innocent child turned into a killer.
@@davidz3879 Probably not, if he had he'd probably have gone to Leavenworth instead of Vietnam. My guess is the theory rationalizes that part as Joker realizing he could be angry enough to kill somebody. Making this a very vivid imagining of some part of him (Leonard, his subconscious, whatever) gunning down Hartman. If he could imagine doing that so vividly to an authority figure. He could easily kill strangers.
@@davidz3879 If Leonard is just a symbolic representation and not a real person, either no one kills Hartman or Hartman likewise is a symbolic representation.
This is one of the most amazingly well put together movies ever made. Kubrick was a genius. You should put Dr. Strangelove on your watch list, Cassie. I think you would appreciate the humor in that, the darkest of dark comedies.
Dr. Stangelove is a masterpiece. Good suggestion, and one that's a lot easier to watch compared to Full Metal Jacket (also a masterpiece, but a very different kind of movie).
Took a break from watching Popcorn in Bed for a few years. I'm very pleased to see the reactions are still first rate, as well as the movie choices. Once she truly clues in that directors are trying to invoke exactly the feelings she's feeling, she will have an aha moment, and hopefully get more enjoyment out of them...or at least appreciate them for what they are, and how powerful they can be. Case in point...Full Metal Jacket is a brilliant, brilliant work of art.
No it's not an exaggeration. This is how it is for combat arms. They yell at them so they can weed out those who will flip out when in extreme situations under duress. Plus it helps break down your ego so that they can build you back up into a soldier that fights without thinking and does their job in their sleep.
R. Lee Ermey was actually a Gunnery Sgt. In the USMC. He was only meant to be the technical advisor for this movie but they liked him so much. And the reasoning behind all of the yelling and screaming during training is to mentally break the recruit, this way they can mold them into the Marine they want to be.
Not only the preeminent Vietnam War film, but also a great movie. A Stanley Kubrick masterpiece. Stellar cast, great director, brilliant cinematography, terrific soundtrack. It gives you the whole combat experience from training to actual warfare itself without politicizing or moralizing. Watching this on Memorial Day. Have a blessed one.🙏
My father,an actual Vietnam war veteran,told me that Full Metal Jacket is the most realistic Vietnam war film he'd ever seen. I myself think it's the greatest war film ever made.
Cassie, what you were feeling is exactly what you were supposed to be feeling. As to the war itself, well, as usual with history, it was very complicated. Pre WW2 Vietnam was a colony of France (French Indochina) but it was conquered by the Japanese in WW2. After the war the French reestablished colonial rule. In the early 1950s a communist faction fought the French trying to gain independence. They were partially successful in that French Indochina was broken up into the countries of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, with Vietnam later being split into northern and southern halves with the communists controlling the north. In the early 1960s the north started aggressive actions along with insurgents in the south (Viet Cong) with the goal of unifying the two halves of Vietnam. At first, the U.S. military involvement to send a limited number of advisors to advise and teach the ARVN (Army Republic VietNam) forces but by the mid 1960s this had escalated into large scale military involvement. The war fought by the U.S. was mainly one of interdiction, basically designed to fight the NVA and Viet Cong in the south wherever they appeared with the hope that after losing enough troops the north would lose the will to continue the fight. Other than the bombing of the north there was no attempt made to actually conquer North Vietnam as it was feared that such an action would draw either Soviet or Chinese escalation as happened in Korea. In the end, it was the U.S. that lost the political will to continue the war, culminating in the Paris Accords of 1973 that saw an end to U.S. involvement. In 1974-75 North Vietnam attacked again and took the south with unification being declared in 1976. The battle show in the movie was part of the 1968 Tet Offensive where NVA and Viet Cong forces used a ceasefire to begin a surprise attack in points throughout the south. Militarily, the offensive was a disaster for the north. After initial successes the NVA attacks were beaten back and the Viet Cong were practically destroyed as a threat. The biggest effect the offensive had was on the political climate in the U.S. where civilian support for the war was greatly eroded. President Johnson decided not to run for reelection and Richard Nixon ran with a promise to end the war.
You forgot the part where the deep state killed off JFK and installed that SOB Lyndon Johnson so they could make bank. I hope Johnson is rotting in Hell.
Historic fact time: During the Vietnam War, the draft WAS in effect. Recruitment numbers were not high enough to fight in a conflict on even a single front without conscription. There was probably a decent mix, at least statistically speaking of recruits and draftees. I can see Cassie is struggling with the ideals in combat training. Let me break it down in simple form. The idea from day one is to break down the soldier. There is some mistreatment, and even potentially some violence involved in order to try to wipe the mental slate clean. Once you've managed to psychologically break them, then you build them back up into soldiers; killing machines. Ministers of death praying for war. You make everything about war and combat. But something else also happens. It happened to my grandfathers (WW2), it happened to my father and my dad (my dad is not my biological father; but I would take a bullet for him. My father, I'd have a hard time not shooting myself) (Vietnam War), and when I became an adult, there was a chance it was going to happen to me (Desert Shield/Desert Storm). Anyway, camaraderie unites these men into a force that exists for its own survival, and it becomes a code of honor and commands their conduct for the rest of their lives. In order to make these men strong, you have to put them through hell, and give them as little respite as possible, because that is what one can expect from war. It just is. And for the record, Private Lawrence (Gomer Pyle) is not hated by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. He IS the weakest link, and weak links in the Marines is a no no. It IS Hartman's job to weed out all non-hackers. R. Lee Ermey was on record saying that he did not believe FMJ was made as a recruitment ad, just the opposite. He also deeply opposed the military going soft, and his reasoning wasn't because it took all the fun out of fucking with the recruits. It was because we're sending our boys into a hellscape the likes that only people who have been there could ever hope to understand, and treating the recruits with kid gloves and giving them all participation trophies before sending them into combat was almost certainly going to lead to massive body counts as people who are entirely unprepared will have been led to a meaningless death. A section 8 was a type of medical discharge. It deals with psychological issues concerning those subjected to it. War can lead to its soldiers becoming psychologically unstable. It is neither honorable or dishonorable; on their DD-214 it isn't classified as a dishonorable discharge, but it does carry its own stigma, often ruining the lives of those who received it. Section 8 is no longer an issue in the military in the present. It has been superseded by other orders to do a more precise job of dealing with psychiatric discharges. Fire watch is a basic security detail. Paris Island, and all other military bases use their recruits to do basic security detail. Can't have military bases unsecured, after all... Charlie is the name given to the enemy. I suppose it was better than calling them 'gooks'. Yeah, I didn't get it, either at first. The door gunner was shooting at likely hostiles. Doing that today WOULD lead to a Dishonorable discharge. So, was Joker being mocked at the end? the answer is no. This is how men deal with being in hell. With a whole lot of gallows humor. War is ugly. Thankfully, because if it wasn't, men would become too fond of it.
You seem way too wholesome to be watching a movie like this. This is raw visceral real deal stuff. My dad was served Vietnam from ‘67 - ‘68. He said this movie and We Were Soldiers with Mel Gibson were the most like his experience.
I enjoyed your review. I was a Marine in Vietnam, 69-71, though not attached to Second Battalion, Fifth Marines (who were at Hue City during Tet 68, and coincidentally are most decorated unit in the Marine Corps. I stayed for longer than a normal tour, as I was in the Airwing and only got shot at on occasion (with the aim of getting out when I arrived stateside). The Boot Camp sequences were very realistic for the time period. I understand changes have been made, such that there is a lot less manhandling recruits and they've cut back on the swearing. You'd have to ask somebody that went through boot more recently. The most glaring "Hollywood stuff" in the movie is Pyle shooting the DI and himself. Now I don't exactly know how it was at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, I went through San Diego myself, but as I recall, the rifles used for drill had no firing pins while we were at the Recruit Depot. The Armory put firing pins in when we went to the rifle range about 20 miles north on Camp Pendleton and took them out when we went back to MCRD. Ammunition was very tightly controlled, every private had a range coach hovering over them at all times when live firing, it would have been difficult to secretly take even one or two rounds and smuggle them back to MCRD and wouldn't fire in any case with the firing pins removed. I don't even remember recruits as having magazines (the box you put bullets in) while at MCRD. As I said, the rest of the MCRD sequence is pretty much true to life. Their is a reason for the brutality. The job of the military (any branch) is to kill the enemy to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. It's not an easy thing to obey an order to kill another human being reflexively. Especially if you are doing in the face of an enemy who is doing his best to kill you. You need to instantly obey the order that may get you killed for the sake of the rest of the unit. The main criticism I would have of the last part of the movies is that except for Recon Marines, no squad sized units operate in the field with quiet the autonomy of the squad in the movie, there would of been closer integration with other elements of the platoon and company. But all in all, the movie was an accurate reflection of conditions on the ground; it fully captured the grittiness of warfare in the Nam. Also, the fight in Hue was not quite the bombed out landscape of the movie. From accounts of the battle I have read, area shelling was avoided and the fighting was house to house. Hue was a cultural center Vietnam and the brass didn't want to use Naval gunfire to flatten it. When 2/5 got to the Perfume River (the movie takes place on the South side), brass counted up the casualties and ordered the North bank leveled, so the landscape Kubrick had in the movie was kind of premature in the actual battle. I've run overly long here, so if you made it through the whole thing, you're a historical scholar.
They may have taken your firing pins then, though I've heard otherwise. I went through San Diego in '76 and once our weapons were issued to us, they stayed with us. They were locked into racks behind our racks. The only time they saw an armorer was if there was a malfunction on the range that the PMIs or DIs couldn't clear. They had absolute control over the ammo. Just enough was issued to each man to complete each stage on the range. The spent brass was also counted at the end of the day and if it was short, we found the missing brass. The only chance of a Pyle incident was while we were on the range.
@@andyfletcher3561 Well, all I can say is I know what an M-1 and M-14 bolt looks like sans firing pins when disassembled, as I was firing the M-1 on the range my junior year in HS, and the M-14 is just a jazzed M-1. As I remember it, and yes memory can play tricks after 50+ years, their was no firing pin in rifles at MCRD. As we tore the rifles down and reassembled them on a daily basis, for most of Boot, I had many opportunities to examine the bolt. Funny you mention locking the gun on the rack. When I went through San Diego, we had rifle racks along the wall that we secured each in individually with padlocks. If you were issued the M-16 at boot, that might have changed that up. But we never mounted rifles to the racks like in the film. I can't say what was done at PI. Our DI's related what I took, at the time, to Corps urban legend about some private shooting a DI on the range. The the story was the DI was gut shot and proceed to bend, fold, and mutilate the private so badly he had to be buried in a closed casket. I took it to be an urban legend at the time and have searched in vain for such and account online. Probably, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the novel the movie was based on: "The Short-Timers" heard some variation of the same story and included it in the story (I have not read the novel). Semper Fi, bro.
@@Badco1948 Yes, M16, Mattel manufacturing stamp and all. I don't remember how I actually worded it, but yes, steel racks, on the wall, behind the *racks,* aka bunks. In the barracks, not the quansi huts. Spent a minute in the huts along the parade deck between 2nd and 3rd phase but I don't recall much about them. I also don't recall the exact method of securing the weapons to the racks, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't individual padlocks on each rifle. 1976 is a long time ago...When I got out into the fleet(K-Bay) the were indeed kept in the company armories.
@@landoakechi9406 That's also not what the original comment was talking about. I know the reasons why movie was made, even though that won't be very obvious to the average person who doesn't know. The point being made right here in this comment is about your OWN fellow soldiers, not enemies or about the moralistic issues of war.
@@yearginclarke It's still the most bullshit military answer you can give. Makes me sick after hearing that kind of terminology used all the time for things when I was in
This is one of the greatest movies of all time. Your reactions were so cool. I loved it when you recognized Jayne from "Firefly" Apparently in filming, they spent a month at that wall.
I get why people love this film; as do I, but I would NEVER recommend it to someone I knew who WOULDN'T enjoy it. I respect you for honoring your commitment to your Patreon customers who voted for this film; I suppose it comes with the territory by making it a selection choice. But there are SO many other films, classic motion pictures you likely haven't seen, that could have been selected for you to watch in honor of Memorial Day.
I agree. I applaud R. Lee Emrey's performance in this movie but it is one of the most over-hyped war movies out there along with "Apocalypse Now" . He was in a movie called "Boys in Company C" which I thought was much better. She could have picked a much better movie to honor Memorial Day
He really isn't asking that much from Pvt Pyle. Right face left face, keep up with everyone else, and don't stand out. The Drill instructor was trying to help him. If you think boot camp was hard, imagine the sniper scene. That being your husband, brother, father, etc, etc laying there. They are depending on Pvt Pyle, who can't even climb a simple obstacle.
"Charlie" was a generic term used for North Vietnamese soldiers. It comes from the phonetic alphabet for VC (Victor Charles). VC stood for Viet Cong, which were non-military soldiers in the north. They normally wore black clothing and were incredibly good at sneaking into places. Those who slipped into US bases were called Sappers. The north also had a vast network of tunnels that were bigger than most of the towns. It was possible to go the whole length of the country without going above ground. The VC would use these tunnels to pop up, attack, then vanish. There are some good Vietnam movies, but one of the things you'll notice in most of them is a feeling like things were never really complete. In Saving Private Ryan, there's a closure at the end. Vietnam movies tend to skip that part. Probably because it never really happened in real life. PLEASE do yourself a favor and watch a few more of these before you see First Blood. You need to have a certain context to really appreciate that movie. There are several reasons for the harsh training. One of them is to desensitize new recruits to the pressure and chaos. Another reason was the bit at the end of training "you are no longer maggots. you are now Marines." That's the reward and the source of pride at getting through it. it also forges a bond between you and that other people in your group. You all lean on each other to make the good times.
Good call on First Blood - I just watched that for the first time recently. Kind of ironic/poetic is the pointlessness of the war they wage against Rambo.
@@davisworth5114 thanks so much for the charitable reading of what I wrote. I accept the corection on the Viet cong not being from the north. Non-military soldiers are those that don't have an organized, recognized rank structure and government support. Guerilla fighters, terror cells, civil defense forces, etc.
Before this comment gets lost in the shuffle, I'd just like to make a small request. Something that kind of frustrates me is that on Patreon polls there are a lot of older movies that don't get the votes they deserve. I saw a lot of comments mentioning the fact that "The Best Years of Our Lives" received so few votes. That's a shame, since it's one of my favorite movies and one I think Cassie (and Carly) would enjoy based on their opinions of other classics from the 40s. Old movies like this just don't have the exposure they need and deserve more attention. I think Cassie should watch this underrated gem for Flag Day or the Fourth of July. If you agree, please give this comment a thumbs up and let Cassie know how much you love this movie in a reply. Thanks everyone!
They are drafted. The drill sergeant's job is to break them then rebuild them so they do things automatically. It's hard granted. But it's done to keep them alive.
A brutal & hard hitting depiction of the vietnam war & what it stood for,also,some standout performances by r lee ermey,matthew modine & vincent d’onofrio to name just a few. If you’d like to see more,i’d suggest casualties of war & platoon.
This is one of the most realistic war films. R Lee Ermey was the drill instructor and was NOT an actor, he was a real Marine drill instructor hired as a consultant, but they gave him the role. Tim Colceri was recast as the crazy helicopter door-gunner.
I always loved the part of the movie at 9:51 when Pyle shows up Joker. Pyle finally got it and became a killer but it cost him his soul and ultimately his life.
@@lessankey5287 I mean that's your opinion and you're entitled to it.. but I think this is a great film about a horrible war!! Yes it's hard to watch.... as it should be!!! but overrated it's not.
This movie tears at the soul and gives nothing in return. Not what I'd call a great film. I watched it many times(back when movie channels were limited) and hated it as a kid. Couldn't understand why everyone wanted to watch it all of the time after we graduated boot camp. The same "fans" never mentioned an interest in it again after 9/11.
More often than not, people say that they much prefer the first half of the film over the second. I myself love both halves about equally, but I get why people favor the first half, especially seeing as that contains the phenomenal performances of R. Lee Ermey and Vincent D’Onofrio as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman and Private Pyle respectively.
The movie was meant to smear the USA, a nation of liberators. Ermey was so good, as he did it for a living, it stole the show. And everyone that has gone to South Carolina or Georgia knows why recruits are treated that way. And it did not reflect poorly like Kubrick wanted. I'm stating my convinced opinion, as Kubrick nor any of them in Hollywood will admit it.
28:33, my dad was a Ranger in Vietnam and it really messed him up. Some of the stories Dad told me of what he saw over there were seriously shocking. I used to think he was telling tall tails. When my father passed away a few years ago, three men from his unit came to the funeral. I met them and they told me about who he was in the war. One of these men let me know that my dad wasn't exaggerating and my father had saved his life.
I had two uncles in Vietnam. Both of them were never quite the same after it. One uncle ended up eventually drinking himself to death. (And he was a mean damn drunk). We used to share stories after I got out of the Marines. I think I was one of the very few people he would talk about his time in nam with.(and he was one of the few people who understood why i would wake up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep till I checked the house and yard, and I mean I was still doing it damn near a decade after I got out of the military) The other uncle spent about the next 25 years high as a kite till the cops told him If he got busted again he was gonna spend serious time behind bars....so he switched to drinking. He makes some damn good wine but I honestly liked him better high than drunk.
"This is an exaggeration, right?" No. The boot camp portion of this movie was 99% accurate." This from a Marine 1979-85. The only inaccuracy is that rifles are kept locked up when not in use.
@@jakester455 I had four years of military school before the Marines. On the advice of my recruiter, I kept that to myself, until my senior DI wanted to know why I was drawing corporal's pay and he outed me in front of everyone. My DI's didn't faze me, I'd seen worse and they knew that, so they enlisted a DI from the adjacent platoon who looked and sounded like the original Frankenstein monster (minus the green skin). This man came over several times a week and just messed with me. I'd taken martial arts and there was a possibility I might have been able to take him, but I didn't want to risk that, or the repercussions.
Can confirm, for the most part. Marine from 01-05 but at that point the physical violence from Drill Instructors was no longer allowed. Still had the insults which really helped pass the time. Everything that happens at Boot Camp is 100% necessary.
The only thing in the boot camp part that was different from my recruit training is that none of us shot our Drill Instructor. Otherwise, it was like seeing flashbacks of MCRD San Diego.
@@SirWilliamsHand _"Everything that happens at Boot Camp is 100% necessary."_ You know who else said something along those same lines? Members of Charles Manson's cult who were pissed on, publicly raped and otherwise broken and humiliated, only to be "built back up" with the cult as the only support structure. It's "necessary" to ensure absolute loyalty and obedience... right? Sorry, you are very likely unable to see it, but your mind has been messed with horribly, just as the minds of those cult members. Which may actually be the bigger tragedy... 😢
@@Apfelkind4000 As a person who has gone through both Basic Training and been in combat, what are you basing your opinion on? I am asking because Basic Training is essential to be horrible and cruel. It is meant to prepare you for combat. Think about it this way. If you are weak and so soft you can't take a little pain and people yelling at you while calling you names, you are DEFINITELY too soft to be my battle buddy when my life is on the line in a hot AO. I would rather find out you can't hack it in Basic than in combat. Edit: Instead of punching recruits, they now make them do pushups and flutter kicks which actually makes the recruits stronger while inflicting physical pain.
The yelling is for desensitization, both to feelings (hurt feelings don't matter when people are trying to kill you) and to external stimuli (war zones are loud, messy places). It is also designed to curb a recruit's sense of self importance. This is all reinforced with other aspects of training, but definitely has a specific purpose. EDIT: Cassie literally asked why he was yelling. I helpfully explained. So far a dozen people have told me to leave her alone. SMDH.
I think everyone should watch this movie even though it's hard to watch. As someone that served 20 years in the military, I believe the media, politicians, hollywood, etc tend to romanticize war. Hope this makes people understand how horrific war is before deciding to send young men and women off to war. I also served as a drill sergeant for 3 years and can explain to you the "why" behind some of the things the DI was doing if you'd like.
Probably the most surreal movie watching experience of my life was in 2006 when I was sent to Iraq as a civilian contractor. There I was, embedded with the Marines at Al Asad Airbase in western Iraq, and they pull out this movie. They could recite every word from the film.
Hollywood has to cater to the D.O.D.'s requests before they get cooperation and equipment. So I think a lot of the "romance" is at the D.O.D.'s insistence to prevent people from *not* enlisting. I knew before SAVING PRIVATE RYAN from reading veteran memoirs that my clumsy ass had no place in the armed services and war should be avoided at most costs.
Appreciate your service. I did twenty-eight years myself (plus time downrange as a contractor), and I appreciate that the film gives a glimpse at how basic training had been once upon a time. When I returned from the First Gulf War in '91, I visited my high school history teacher, with whom I'd maintained a friendship since I graduated ten years prior. He invited me to speak to a couple of his classes about the war, which I did. I'd gone into Kuwait during the ground war. I described in graphic detail what it was like walking through a field littered with destroyed Iraqi bodies - a torso here, a leg and head over there - as well as the smell of rotting corpses. With the country having been shown CNN footage of the precision munitions hitting radar sites, bridges, and buildings, I wanted the high school kids to understand that for all the hi-tech marvels of stand off weapons, there is a gritty and horrific side to war that many people don't see/hear about.
A close friend of mine, who was a Marine in the Vietnam war, said this movie was the most realistic rendition of what he experienced going through bootcamp as well as his time spent in Vietnam.
“I could have a private who can do nine pull-ups and damn it, when I'm through talking to him, he can do 12. Why? Because I've intimidated this private so severely that I've convinced him that he can do 12 or he's going to die. That's why.” - R. Lee Ermey
When a drill Sergeant spots a weak link in the recruits they double down extra hard. Believe it or not it's actually compassion. If the weak link washes out of basic training because "they can't take it" then the drill sergeant has saved their life. If the weak link makes it through basic training then they are no longer a weak link. And are ready to have the back of their brothers on the battlefield.
Hartman was a sadist and a racist and he drove Pyle to murder-suicide. Amazing all these commentors are taken in by Sgt. Hartmans obscene humor, he lacked the necessary insight to see that Pyle was out of shape and too immature for service. He should have been given a general discharge under honorable conditions.
The problem is I think Pyle was there as part of McNamara's Project 100,000 program so he couldn't wash out. Otherwise, Pyle would've been thrown out on his ass by the entire company. Hartman would've gone to his superiors and expressed how necessary it was to get him out of there.
(1:29) Yes, this is required. It’s called the Induction Cut, or Induction Haircut. Originally one of the reasons for this haircut was to reduce the chances of diseases like head lice spreading among recruits in close quarters. The induction cut also serves a psychological purpose as it strips away the individuality of the recruits, promoting the mentality that they are all part of the same team. This haircut is usually performed within minutes or hours after arriving at boot camp, so it’s widely seen as a rite of passage for male recruits during basic military training. (9:41) Do you remember Hacksaw Ridge? The Captain of that unit mentioned Section 8, “psychiatric discharge.” This was a practice of discharging personnel from the US Armed Forces who were deemed mentally unfit for service. (11:00) Fire Watch simply put is Guard Duty. You work in shifts making sure that everything is secure, everyone is accounted for, and you often conduct chores and administrative tasks for the unit. (13:24-13:51) You remember back at book camp, Joker was assigned to be a military journalist as his occupational speciality. Now he’s in Vietnam working as combat correspondent with the Marine Corps. They are just like regular journalists, except they are members of the US Armed Forces. The job of a correspondent is to provide a fresh, up-close, and personal account to what’s happening in the field. So here they are discussing their news coverage of the war in Vietnam. When the Lieutenant talks about a “Search & Destroy” Mission, those were common operations carried out by US and Allied troops to seek out and destroy communist forces in South Vietnam. The idea was to use overwhelming firepower to kill as many enemy as possible to the point where the Vietcong and NVA would be unable to continue fighting the war. Basically what the Lieutenant is talking about here, is the public relations effort to help win the war. (15:06) It’s a slang term. The Americans called the Vietcong “Charlie.” The Vietcong or VC were a communist guerrilla movement in South Vietnam that was being supported by North Vietnam with the ultimate goal of uniting the entire country under communist rule. Fighting alongside the Vietcong in this war were the North Vietnamese Army or NVA (16:52). These were professional soldiers from the standing army of North Vietnam sent down to help the Vietcong drive out the Americans and overthrow the government of South Vietnam. 1968 represented the peak of the American war effort in Vietnam. For both sides the war had become a bloody stalemate, leading to the signing of the Paris Peace Accord on January 27, 1973. While this brought an end to American military involvement in Vietnam, it didn’t stop the fighting. In the spring of 1975, the NVA and VC launched a full scale offensive which conquered all of South Vietnam.
@Daniel Ramos You forgot another aspect of the cut. It saves the government money, since they literally charge recruits for the cut and deduct it from their pay. At least they did in the Army.
Small correction: the VietCong never actually existed except in propaganda. It was completely integrated into the North Vietnamese military and controlled from Hanoi.
Most of the drill sergeants at the time had to look at casualty reports from Vietnam. They were used to seeing recruits that they trained on those killed in action lists.. They were hard on them in an effort to save their lives.
Having served myself domestically and in combat zones within the last 15 years, the reason you treat new recruits like 'maggots', as he put it, is to breakdown any and all of the ego they came into the service with. People come from all walks of life, often with misguided notions about what it takes to be a U.S. serviceman. The idea is that by making everyone equally worthless and open to ridicule, you break down who they were before they came in and build them back up by teaching them that on a battlefield, each and every one of them is equal--metaphorically (rank still exists). The man to your left and to your right is your brother, regardless of any past prejudices or notions you might have had about them. You eat together, you train together, you sleep together and you suffer together until a bond forms that teaches you to willingly give your life for the man next to you if necessary. Unfortunately, sitting people down in a room and trying to get them to harmonize under normal circumstances just doesn't work. You can look at the state of the world and how people treat each other to get a notion of how well that would go over. By inducing stress and shining a light on the reality of what they're entering into, you get people to look past the superficial and work together to come back home safe. It's a necessary evil. Any dead weight or anyone who doesn't comply to this new way of life is likely to be the guy that gets you or someone you know killed when it counts most.
Scoop out the brains and identity. Fill the vacuum with patriotism and propaganda. A necessary evil indeed. Makes for good soldiers, which is the goal of this machine.
@@cristianbuttafuoco9876 The horrible misconception is that US soldiers fight for country. They don't. We fought for our brothers, even those we could not stand. "I'll screw with my little brother as hard as I want...You?...You keep your filthy hands to yourself or you deal with me..."
Another way to call this is conditioning - break someone down, and then form him or her into the machine you want to get out of this training. In the end it is not about ideals, but about a militray machine that relies on orders and discipline - the definition of unquestioned hierachy. The machine has to work, so cogs have to be produced that fit in that machine. This conditioning produces not "better" men, but just functioning ones for the purpose of the military. Everything else spun around this method is maybe good for morale, or self worth - but in the end fiction.
It was wayyyy more complicated than just “north communists, south not, send help USA.” The country had been invaded and occupied and existed in a state of war for many decades before we ever got there. Ken Burns’ documentary about it is incredible if you’re curious.
I'll second the recommendation of Ken Burns' Vietnam Documentary and, although it doesn't directly cover the Vietnam War, I also recommend Oliver Stones' "Untold History of the United States for some true US History.
Vincent D'Onofrio (Private Pyle) is such an underrated actor, in my opinion. He is a method actor, and his preparation and immersion qualify him to be mentioned in the same breath as Cruise, Pitt, and del Toro. I just love him, he is 100% convincing in every role I ever saw him act.
My dad was a dust off medic in Vietnam and he wouldnt watch this movie past the boot camp portion. He said that portion was hard enough for him to remember and that the second half of the movie brought back too many bad memories and he would prefer not to remember. He said this movie was too accurate
The first part, Basic Training is to show you HOW they train and condition recruits to handle such horrific stress. The system weeds out the weak. Combat is the ULTIMATE stress, IF you can't handle basic training stress, you'll NEVER handle real combat.
There's just something about watching one of the sweetest women in the world (you're in direct competition with your sister) watch Full Metal Jacket. It's almost heartbreaking.
Matthew Modine (Joker) is also in a WWII movie, The Memphis Belle. I'm not on your Patreon, but I am confident you'll be glad you watched it. It is very inspirational, and it is a true story. My grandfather was a mechanic at the airfield where the story takes place and he remembered the plane.
Great film, one of my favourites, as it uses actual planes and practical effects instead of cgi, and it also includes a young Sean astin (Sam from LOTR) too alongside other great actors !
And ironically, the airfield the Memphis belle bomber flew out of in England was bassingbourn which turned into a British military camp after the war, and was also the camp they filmed the basic training at in full metal jacket.
I was in boot camp in 1967. This was almost exactly like what I experienced including the blanket party.. 2 guys just kept fucking us all over by not being able to hack it.
I knew a Vietnam veteran, a former friend of my dad's. He saw action, was permanently disfigured from a grenade. I asked him once which movie was the most realistic version of his experiences and he named this film as well.
Gotta say, I never expected this movie to show up here. Every reaction was pretty much what I thought it would be though, and they're genuine too. Never change hon, never change.
Yeah the reaction felt pretty close to what I expected.This movie though is quite out of a lot of peoples comfort zone if they aren’t used to war movies. This shows the more honest cruel truth of what training used to be like in the US Army. At least that’s what I’ve learned as someone from the UK.
I had the pleasure of meeting R. Lee Ermey twice. The first time he sat with me and a few other Airmen in a bar in Omaha for about an hour telling us stories about shooting the movie. The second time was a year later in the Kansas City airport. Both times he was kind and generous with his time. He loved his fans and couldn't have been nicer. RIP Gunny
Anyone I know who met him at gun shows, on the street, restaurants, etc- everyone of them say he was the sweetest person you’d ever meet and very humble/appreciative of his fame and fans. I won’t rehash how he got the part- But find it amazing how he could flip the switch and get in Marine mode. Many of those people begged him to “be a drill instructor for a moment”- and have him put them down with a line or two so they could say “Gunny ripped me a new one”. But all of them I know said he super kind at all other moments.
I’m also a veteran. I felt so bad watching your reaction to this film. You have a very kind heart but like they said “The Marine Corp. doesn’t want robots. The Marine Corps wants killers. The Marine Corp. wants indestructible men, men without fear.”
I get the notion, but I've always been a bit confused as to why someone would willfully subject themselves to that in order to become something so simple and single-mindedly devoted to their efficiency at committing acts of extreme violence. Maybe, MAYBE I could see it if you were fighting for a government whose motivations are clear and noble, but our own government's motivations are a very far cry from either of those two things. I know that a lot of people join up because of a vague notion of glory, duty or patriotism and I get that, but if such is the case it seems like you have a lot more work to do in figuring out who you are and where you should stand on the geopolitical issues of the world before you make such a commitment.
@@jackrussell1232 You are so right, this is a book written by a retired U.S. Marines general,: th-cam.com/video/ej7FdCDmW6A/w-d-xo.html it speaks the cold facts and makes for very interesting reading. I mysel am an honorable A ndischarged U.S. Army veteran deported to Mexico since 1997, one last thing I would like to mention that the Government turns you into a klling machine to serve their purpos, but after the war the NEVER provide any assistance ro guidance as to adapt to returning to civilian life after the war!!! And I would like to commend you on speaking your piece of mind God knows that takes a lot of courage!!!
My recently deceased Great Uncle was a Marine. His drill instructor was literally R. Lee Ermey. Glad to say my Great Uncle Jim was an extremely sweet, good natured man.
Even R. Lee wasn't as bad as he portrayed himself in this movie. He was an actual Drill Instructor that they brought in to be a consultant and eventually they decided he was a better fit for the role than the guy they had gotten to do the character originally. I think even back then if a Drill Instructor got signs that someone was going to become a Section 8 they would have booted them once they broke down enough.
Oh yes, Gunny was a D.I. for a time. A few Marines who went thru Parris Island while he was there were asked if R. Lee Ermey was actually like that in real life. To a man, they said: "Nope.... he was WORSE."
My Grandfather was in Vietnam. He never talked about it and I knew better than to ask. He's 87 now, and I can't even begin to imagine what he seen and went through.
My Uncle(Army infantry)was in Vietnam, and my father(Navy SeaBees) was among the first boots on the ground after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Neither one would talked about what they saw, and we all knew better than to ask as well. And I still shutter to think about what they went through to get back to us!
There is a TH-cam channel: "Memoirs of WWII" that has short interviews of WWII veterans. Your Grandfather's story is important too and shouldn't be lost.
@@rana1561very true, they may "spread democracy" but the children were still killed, and more recently an Iraqi family killed 19 year ago by Marines surfaced.
Retired Marine and Drill Instructor here. Gunny Ermy was a well respected Marine. This is the most accurate depiction of Marine Boot camp that civilians are alowed to see. Especially when I went through and when I was a hat. We will never show you everything, nor can you ever experience it without actually being there. This is Hollywood, but a well made and authentic movie. Semper FI
@@chappy48i remember when people were getting chewed out they would have 3 DI’s in their face and only one of them would actually be speaking words and the others were just straight up screaming in their face for the sake of causing chaos🤣
I was army Airborne Ranger then tier 1 operator went in in 86" They could still hit you back then and they did. We had the confidence course at ranger RIP they used to throw the company mascot sherman shepards cleaned up dog shit into the low crawl water mud pit I always wondered what was hitting my face crawling through it..until one day I saw a guy picking up the dog shit and dumping it in the Gig pit. lol
Parris Island grad here. 100% agree. My only nitpick about its depiction are the knots in those damn ropes. Ain't no damn knots...those were there because the actors couldn't complete the obstacle without them.
Originally, the actor who played the gunman in the helicopter was to play Hartman. R. Lee Ermey was a technical advisor. Kubrick was so impressed with how Ermey was with the other actors in rehearsal that he asked Ermey to play the part.
Ermey was in a bad car accident during filming and stayed at Kubrick's house while he was recuperating where Ermey worked on his Dialogue for the movie
Actually Ermey was there on the set to help out with the army stuff to make sure the actors where on the right path, and suddenly he thought i want the drill instructor part and went to the producer and said to him that he wanted that part. i saw that in a intervieuw somewhere.
Man, when she immediately seemed bummed about them losing their hair... I knew it was going to be a hard one for her to experience.
so when did you receive your military haircut?
I was actually worried about her when I saw she watched this movie.
@@davisworth5114 January 4th, 2001. I remember like it was yesterday. 6 swipes and they were done.
@@davisworth5114 March 2nd, 1996. There was a lice outbreak in my school. Cried like a child.
@@davisworth5114 July 5th 2011... Legend has it that the great lakes dragon lady who cut my hair in a matter on seconds is still there to this day
R. Lee Ermey was a really nice person. He used to shoot with us at our monthly (civilian operated) rifle matches at MCB Camp Pendleton in the 2000's and was approachable by all. RIP Ermey.
Ever watch Mail Call and Texas Chainsaw?
He definitely was not anything like his movie portrayals. Always enjoyed spending time with him.
His grandson was in my bootcamp platoon. He was at my graduation. Super cool dude
@@coyotefever105 A big reason why that Texas Chainsaw remake is my favorite version is because of R. Lee Ermey's performance. Edit: It would absolutely traumatize PIB badly.
They renamed Ave. N in Palmdale, CA to R Lee Ermey Ave.
Kubrick was one of the few film makers to have the guts to make a film like this. Marines are wired very differently from from normal people. That rewiring is not an easy process, and it’s more difficult to rework.
Btw, the boot camp scenes are very close to the real thing. Today, DIs can’t legally strike a recruit. But accidents happen.
I couldn’t agree more with you. My dad (USMC ‘67-‘71) was wired very differently from anyone else I’ve ever really known.
I think its necessary to change normal boys to this kind of Men for to survive in a War. In that way the Gunnery saves the lifes of many young Soldiers.
@@drhkleinert8241 yeah but still, you turning men into mindless robots. At my time in the German army, we worked with stationed American soldiers, and they were behaving like little dogs. They did nothing without command. It was creepy to see
@@iamthewalrus4998 That may be. Your soldiers lost to our soldiers...TWICE...so there is that...
Rewiring, otherwise known as brainwashing. Yes, it is likely necessary but let’s call a thing what it is.
Vincent D'Onofrio does such a great job as Private Pyle. The way he goes from innocent, to emotionless, to talking to himself and finally to crazy scary is... Scary.
he actually gained 80lbs for the role as well, it still might be the record
Sergeant Hartman's job is to make sure that when his recruits get to Vietnam they remember their training and employ that training without a second thought. His methods are brutal, but the lessons he teaches can determine whether or not any of the recruits come back home alive.
Sure enough.
I spent 12 years in the Army and i was also in the Gulf War. Yes you are right. A drill instructor´s job is to get the Men trained and back home alive.
The German army, during World War I, followed the Prussian military doctrine.
They believed that soldiers should be more afraid of their own officers than of the enemy.
This caused a lot of 'fragging' incidents on the German side, long before fragging was made fashionable by the US armed forces in Vietnam.
Average drill sergeant.
Considering they had cut training time down to 90 days, there was no time to be nice. These guys would be in combat. Without their training they would come home in a coffin.
The drill sergeant is R. Lee Ermey, who was a real life sergeant who served in the Vietnam war. He improvised over half of all his lines, so the shock on the recruits faces were real reactions lol. He may seem like a heartless person in the movie, but he was a kind man in real life. So sad that he passed away a few year ago :(
He even made Kubrick stand to attention.
If I remember correctly he wasn’t the first choice for drill. The first guys lines were all scripted but it just didn’t flow right so that’s when he came in.
@@ryanhampson673 I believe the Helo Door Gunner was up for it as well
@@swdist68 yea that's the guy
Instructor.
At the end of the movie, when they are singing the Mickey Mouse song, it shows you how young these marines were and what they all had in common and hanging on to as kids...thats a great move by the director...It was meant to say that the soldiers in Vietnam were mostly just kids who werent supposed to be there to begin with
And it suggests that Disney Corp. is integrated into the death machine that keeps certain groups in power. As hard as that is to believe.
@@garki1369 ooh boy
It's not like he wants to say "these poor kids!". Kubrick has always been consistent and crystal clear of what he had to say about men's evil desires, from Paths to Glory, to Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and then to Full Metal Jacket. It's to show how naive being an immature manchild(ren) and wanting to subjugate others leads to devastation of themselves and people around them. Good example: They get wrecked by a child and a literal bunnie toy.
It's a very cynical scene.
Onward Children Soldiers,
@@agarlicsorbet6482 cringe
My dad is a Marine Vietnam vet. We've watched this movie together. He told me that this was exact experience. This is a rough movie to watch but also an important movie to watch. Thanks for this.
My buddy was a sniper in Iraq, then assigned to
Guantanamo Bay and said the same thing.
@JoKeS Why are you saying that? You know that isn't what he meant.
Because the guy was lying or exaggerating
The first time my father and I discussed this movie he pulled out his photo album. The city in this movie (destroyed) was a near match for the photos in his album. Great movie, but the sets are what makes it for me.
@@docsavage8640 What was your experience in the USMC?
Former Marine here. I can confirm that this is the most realistic reenactment of Marine Corps boot camp I've ever seen.
I agree. for the time period. True for the 90s as well, except for maybe the corporal punishment. D.I.s aren't allowed to strike recruits. That being said, I'd rather have taken a beating now and then than to have spent 30 minutes on the quarter deck with a D.I. in my face. my heart about to burst, screaming about how I'm not running in place fast enough.
@@captzero007 quarter deck sucked, but the sand pit was hell. I remember having sand in my ears for days before feeling clean again only to do it again.
what year though?
When I watched this movie for the first time I laughed uncontrollably at the boot camp scenes. I had just finished basic and I was on boot leave.
@Penderyn
Granted, there are many aspects of the armed forces that are cult-like. But the biggest hallmarks of what makes a cult aren't present.
Namely...
1. You're not ostracised from your family
2. You're not forced to stay once your contract is fulfilled.
Welcome to the next edition of "Let's traumatise Cassie!"
But seriously, I really appreciate your willingness to open yourself up to movies that can be difficult to watch.
She still havn't seen Se7en... ^^
@@zephyr30 🤣
As long as they are movies that should be watched, I think it's OK to slowly build her up.
@@zephyr30 And anyone that votes to make her watch it is sadistic. And probably a truly terrible person at heart.
@@LaserWombat i don't vote for anything.
It's one of the best movies ever, from one if not the best director of his generation.
When I was in basic training, my TI's said all the things R Lee Ermey said. My reaction up to the last scene in the latrine was humor, I laughed throughout remembering my days. Funniest thing I heard while our heads were being buzzed, one of the barbers asked the guy next to me if he wanted to keep his sideburns. Of course he said yes, the barber then handed him a mess of his hair and laughed. And as a sidenote, R Lees opening dialog is the longest ad lib scene in movie history. As a longtime resident here in the Antelope Valley, R Lee was a great human devoted to the veteran community. He is missed.
I went thru Parris Island in the 80's (Plt 3037 Lima Co 3rd BN) and this movie comes closer to showing what it was actually like than anything I've ever seen. Semper Fidelis on Memorial day to all my Marine Corps brothers!!!!!
1987 PI 1046 Semper Fi Brother.
1984 was my year & this movie nailed it.
Plt 2087 D Co 2nd Bn Parris Island 1986 Semper Fi!!!
Platoon 1058, Delta Company 1st Batallion 2000. Semper fi devil dog.
Always faithful brother.
I was a drill sergeant from 2013-2019 in the Army Reserves. I have 13 complete BCT cycles, including 2 complete years on the trail from 2016-2019. The majority of my time as a Drill Sergeant was spent at Fort Leonard Wood.
A lot has changed since the 1960’s, but this movie is not far off.
I could have a VERY long discussion about the why and how of Basic Combat Training. And you would be surprised at how effective our tactics are in training recruits.
Fun Fact, Lee was a family friend for years. My family worked on his show Mail Call through its entire run, and later on Gunny Approves.
I did BCT at Leonard Wood in 2010.
I was a Drill Sergeant at Fort Leonard Wood from 1989-1992 with B & C Companies 87th Engineer Battalion. I remember getting troops ready for Gulf War 1 in 1991. When a cycle graduated separated the Active Duty personnel and marched them to their waiting buses with them all knowing where they were heading to. Guard and Reserve separated into another section and getting on buses to go home and telling them that they will be in the Gulf soon enough. Repeat for next cycle.
I went through Basic in 1981 and Drills were doing their best to keep from smacking trainees up side the head but - yep - it DID happen. Fortunately I did not get smacked.
@@jamesbednar8625 no offense, but who cares if you get smacked
Booooooooot
Thank you for your service.
One of the most amazing things about this movie was the whole film was done within 50 miles of London, England including all the Vietnam scenes.
At a gas plant that was about to be demolished. Palms imported too.
"Give him a second."
You don't get a second on the battlefield.
When I saw you were going to watch this, my first thought was "oh, she's not going to like that..." Definitely an uncomfortable movie, but you pulled through it with flying colors. Thanks for sharing!
The training has to be brutal so that they can learn to function in extremely brutal and stressful situations. He is so mean to Pyle because he knows that in battle, he could be a liability to the rest of his platoon. Also, his treatment teaches the other privates to work together. If Pyle can't pull his own weight, people can die. If the team can't help him pull his own weight, people die. But if they can all learn to work together, they can learn to survive.
thats just terrorism my guy, its a anti war hero that shows how criminal the US is
Exactly! Look at what our military pumps out now. It's pretty embarrassing compared to just 10 years ago. I have respect for our soldiers. They go through hell to fight for our freedoms. But the soldiers these days aren't even familiarized with our constitution or rights! They're becoming as bad as... Well I won't go there. I respect our military err I mean our soldiers. Not all but most of our soldier of today... Lol nevermind.
@@L4ftyOne Lol what are you even talking about? What part of what I said is “terrorism”?
It has to be brutal because that's what's required for the brainwashing to set in. There's little difference between boot camp and a cult, except boot camp works faster.
@@Kaylakaze There's no comparison.
Cassie, I had a feeling this film would be too harsh for you. There are other films about that war which may be a little easier to digest. I would highly recommend Robin Williams in "Good Morning, Viet Nam". It's a true story about an Army Radio DJ who helped lift the troops spirits during the war. It's more of a comedy but it also has a lot of realism and some battle conflict scenes. You should watch that film, to offset the "burn" of the Stanley Kubrick film.
I concur
Good morning Vietnam
Then We were soldiers
True stories
I would suggest 'Casualties of War' for her to watch. :)
Wasn't Robin Air Force in the film? I could be mistaken.
@@BuccWylde you could be right. Sorry for the oversight. I just assumed it would be the Army running the radio station, based on nothing at all. Bad guess.
I went thru Paris Island in the early 1970’s, the Vietnam War was just winding down. It may be very hard for you to grasp, but for most of us it was an amazing experience. By then we were transitioning to an all volunteer force, and actually being struck by a drill instructor was less common than depicted here. Like virtually everyone in my platoon, I was a volunteer.
It was brutally hard, but very carefully monitored. The single most unrealistic was the unsupervised recruit with a weapon, that just did not happen when I was a boot. The language in the first week was astounding, the stress was incredible, but within days we could spot who among us was worth fighting along side. This training is primarily designed to create a bond between you.
From the time of Sparta, the Concept of bonding two, then 5 soldiers together in a very small team that will not desert each other has been how armies have avoided the disaster of units breaking in combat.
Believe it or not, by the forth week, there were reactions between the DI’s and boots that were hilarious, and although they happened to me almost 50 years ago, guys from that time period still will laugh about them.
I got my butt kicked the night before graduation while I was firewatch by a drunken DI from another platoon. He came into my squadbay by mistake and thought I was in the wrong one. My SDI came out and put a stop to it. He took me inside the DI hut...which I had never been in...and asked if I wanted to press charges. I said, "No sir!, This recruit wants to graduate tomorrow and be a Marine." He sent me back to my rack like nothing happened. I told my Mom the bruise on my forehead was an accident on the confidence course. Was it tough? Yes...especially since I was at Parris Island from June through August. But I don't regret a second of it.
@@kennieharris327 Semper Fi! And sorry that happened to you but most of my platoon would have done the same as you. I was lucky, my Drill instructor was a short, powerfully built man of unbelievable composure and discipline. He looked every bit the Drill of legend, but was promoted in the middle of our cycle, and was replaced by a tall lanky marine with a bit of a pot belly, and spoke softly. As a platoon we were disappointed, he just did not at first glance measure up. We quickly learned that soft spoken and not ram rod posture ready Marine Sergeants could be hard and relentless task masters.
Learned a lot I will never forget from both those men.
My brother completed Basic Training in 1991. He said this movie was shockingly realistic to his experience. He brought home a 'yearbook' of sorts that had the enlistment photo of his entire barracks. He asked me to look at the pictures and see if I could find which ones 'washed out'... it was surprisingly easy. There were three that looked frightened or empty or naive in their pictures. One specifically reminded me of Lawrence. They did not complete Basic.
Charlie is Viet Cong (Victor Charlie in the military alphabet)
Fire Watch - guard duty(once upon a time, someone had to keep a fire + control it to keep tents from burning.. now it's night duty)
The movie is about man’s inhumanity to his fellow man wether it’s from the boot camp scenes to the war. I was on the Island in 93 and our DI’s always said that each recruit came down with his mom on one hand and a senator on the other hand were the DI’s mean absolutely but that was to prepare you for the horrors of war
The reason why they shaved your head is because it was just easy to get your helmet on see the hair would just obstruct your view and it would be hard to get in the way so they would just use they would shave it off
Fire watch is standing watch while others are asleep at night so you can wake everyone up in an emergency including fire.
As was the want of Stanley Kubrick, Full Metal Jacket was filmed in England yes England.
Kubrick had a pathological fear of flying and refused to leave his adopted England, it was filmed at a mothballed RAF Base and various locations in London including the disused Gas Works at Beckton, between Aug 1985 and Aug 1986. Nearly all of the extras were serving British Territorial Army Soldiers, the Vietnamese were from the Chinese Community in London.
It was a massive undertaking to transform East London into Vietnam, some have said it ended up cheaper and easier than filming on the actual locations.
I'm a Marine from 1984-1988, close enough to the war that most of my Staff NCO's and Field Grade Officers had one or more tours in Vietnam. Most of them were still sore about how it all went down. I can tell you that the boot camp footage was almost 100% accurate. Very, very accurate indeed. I believe the combat and in-country footage was made to be as "real" as possible so that people could appreciate the price that our veterans pay for all of our freedom. I believe you are a good hearted, intelligent young woman and I could see how confusing and hurtful all of this was for you to watch. It is important and meaningful that you made that effort to see, feel, and understand this. The simple truth for everyone who has served, in any branch at any time in war or in peace is that none of us are unscathed by our service. All have given some...and some have given all.
It's not an exaggeration, it was worse I feel like than this movie honestly. They treat you like dirt, but you just have to get through it just like everyone else before you. We had our own Gomer Pyle in our platoon, that dude couldn't do anything right. And anytime he messed up, we had to pay for it. We wanted to beat this dude but lucky for us this dude lost it and was dropped. They tear you down, but once you graduate, you feel invincible. So what the Marines do looks mean and degrading, but it's effective. And war isn't for the weak, best get them out early on.
I am pretty sure Animal Mother is supposed to represent a version of Gomer Pyle if he had not killed himself.
@@erkkijunkkarinen9303 I'm referring to gomer Pyle from the TV show. Pyle was kind of slow so, at least when I was in, DI's would often refer to the the slow, dumb ones as Pyle. So whether or not if you're theory is true, it has no relevance to my own experience.
Worse? I mean DIs haven't hit people in like over a decade. Not supposed to I mean
@@diaperparalysis6850 first of all, I did go to boot camp over a decade ago. Second, who cares about getting hit? That doesn't matter. I don't remember ever getting time to slowly make up my bed like they do in that one scene and the DI's are just watching them. I never seen them do two sheets and a blanket or just straight dump everyone's footlockers in the movie. The list goes on and on. So yeah, I'm pretty sure it was worse.
That may explain why so many boot are cringy because they feel invincible.
The problem with men is a biological one.
When they reach the age of 18, their hormone levels are at an all time peak.
That is why most fatal car accidents occur with male drivers aged 18-25.
After that, there's a steep decline in deadly accidents.
So if you recruit or draft a boy/man aged 18, train him to kill, in most cases he will gladly accept the challenge.
Just nobody warns him that he may get killed or maimed for life.
As with car accidents, there's also a lot of deadly accidents with young men operating deadly weapons and machines.
War studies show that 'friendly fire' incidents cause many losses, sometimes more than the enemy can cause, especially if you send
a lot of troops against a small number of enemy troops who are concealed and dug in well.
You can not be weak when being trained for war. Your compassion for Pyle is admirable but you don’t understand combat training.
This is an anti-war and basically anti-military movie. That was Stanley Kubrick's intention. I'm afraid a lot of guys don't seem to get that.
Yep, she should follow this movie up with The Green Berets with John Wayne and see the same war from a different prospective.
Nah this movie became especially popular in the military
@@zedwpd Go Tell The Spartans would be a better choice. The Green Berets starring John Wayne occurred at a time when US involvement was mainly limited to an advisory capacity like MACV SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group).
Good war movies are anti war movies
Hell, a lot of people in this comment section alone don't seem to get that.
You bleeped steers ? Anyway he's not being mean to them he's preparing them for war. He's trying his best to make sure these boys don't die.
Just so you understand the Basic training.
Basic training is to break down the ego of the recruit.
The Ego must be broken because it is where bad habits, fear, and hesitation exist.
Once the recruit is broken the recruit can be rebuilt as a Combat Marine.
The combat Marine has no fear of the enemy, no bad habits, and will fight without hesitation.
The bathroom scene would not have happened as the graduated soldier still would not have an active bolt.
During my basic there was a recruit in another unit that commited suicide on the same floor and building but in the other half of the building.
As for Gunnery Seargent Hartman. My Senior Drill instructor was exactly like him.
I did not make it to Vietnam as I graduated basic in 1981, but I did see combat in other theaters. I spent 21 years in the Marine Corp.
I went through Marine Corps boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, CA in 1972. Where this movie is located. With some very minor exceptions, this is a very accurate depiction of Marine Corps boot camp at that time. Drill Instructors were not allowed to hit recruits, and our rifles were locked up at night (unless we were on guard duty). Everything else, from the squad bays to the obstacle course is exactly the same as it was depicted in the movie.
The goal of boot camp, besides providing basic training, is to place as much stress on the individual as possible to try to get them to break. Which explains all the yelling and all the insults. They want to see how you will react to stressful situations. Once you realize that boot camp is one big mind game, it is difficult to maintain a straight face. The drill instructors - like R. Lee Ermey was in real life - can be extremely creative with their insults.
This movie came out in 1987. The Vietnam War had only be over for a tad over a decade. It was eye opening. A lot of the vets at the time were under 40.
4:26 The “Rifleman’s Creed”; very real.
They shortened it there, or maybe that’s the way it was in the Vietnam years, but regardless it was a requirement that we memorize it. To this day, I can still recite it.
The first time I watched Full Metal Jacket, we were at my grandparents' house. We went to Blockbuster for the first time and rented several titles and a VHS player (1988). Dad picked need this one out, apparently not knowing what it was about. My Mom about turned green watching it, to the point we had to turn it off.
Why did your mom react like that?
@@dewjade4897 She's squeamish about profanity. And, yes, Full Metal Jacket has plenty of it.
@@lindseysummers5351 Oh, I get it. 🤣 But you know what? Hartman in the movie strongly believes in god. "I want the head so sanitary and squared away that the Virgin Mary herself would proudly go in there and take a dump." "God was here before the Marine Corps. So you can give your heart to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the corps."
The Ken Burns Vietnam War documentary is about eighteen hours long, but it's really an amazing historical document. Interviews with not just the US soldiers who were there, but also the North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, and Viet Cong. With actual footage of the battles, often from both sides.
I'm just now seeing this comment but I mentioned that Ken Burns dic earlier as well.
Both of my uncles went to Vietnam. They both volunteered, to escape an abusive household. The older uncle was sent back to the states for a death in the family. The younger uncle remained in Vietnam, finished his tour and came back home.
According to my aunt, he was never the same after the war.
After 2 failed marriages and alot of demons, he shaved his head bald, went down to the beach and shot himself in the head.
He was 45 years old.
William Ronald Strobel Jr.
USMC
1952 - 1998
Great job Cassie. You felt exactly the way you should feel when watching this movie. There are too many war movies out there that make it look glorious and adventurous. Full Metal Jacket is supposed to remind you of the facts of war and it’s very uncomfortable to say the lest. Keep up the great content and I always respect someone who is willing to go out of there comfort zone. You may have not liked it, but it’s made an impact upon you, which is what it was designed to do.
Exactly
I was an Air Force Medic in Vietnam. The wounds were hideous. I know that was hard to watch but people need to see what war is like. Thank you for getting through it.
Thank you for your service and protecting us civilians from the evil in this world.
I knew before this started that it was gonna be a rough ride for you. Glad you finished it! Fun fact: The ending where Joker puts the sniper out of her misery was originally a lot harsher as Animal Mother decapitates her with a machete. A fake head of the actress was made for the scene and was on set, but the gory scene didn’t make the final cut.
I think what made it on screen was more effective. Notice the peace button disappears as he shoots her.
Also; to answer the question you keep asking of "why do they need to do this"
After the world wars, they realized that a lot of the soldiers weren't firing their weapons, or acting appropriately to the kind of modern war that was going on. Their training philosophy changed to first having to break down the recruits, literally break them emotionally, physically, and mentally, to evaluate their reaction and ability to deal with incredible stress (more Elite units, like the Marines consider themselves, would do it harder than non-elite units) and to be able to build them back up into what the military needed, and to further engender a feeling of belonging and brotherhood within the ranks. A kind of "We went through hell together, so we have a trauma bond" type thing. This also helped foster unity within units because it meant that a soldier could trust the person next to him to watch his back and not be someone who, well, makes mistakes or refuses to fight which can cause extra deaths. To turn human beings into robots, machines made for killing. It worked a lot better, but it also has a severe drawback where it just... Causes an incredible amount of trauma and PTSD in the soldiers. Not just the war, but the dehumanization and programming they went through in basic training.
The Gunny was hard on Lawrence because, in the mind of the army, if Lawrence cannot hack it then he's going to get people in his unit killed. This, in fact, was probably true. If he'd gone to combat as he was, he would have gotten a lot of people killed. The proper answer would have been to kick him out during basic, but... Well, that's not always possible during a draft.
So the first half is showing you what the process is, and the second part is showing the results.
There is also a fairly popular theory that Leonard wasn't an actual person, but a part of Joker that was beaten out of him and killed during basic. The innocent child turned into a killer.
If Leonard isn't a real character, does Joker kill Hartman?
@@davidz3879 Probably not, if he had he'd probably have gone to Leavenworth instead of Vietnam. My guess is the theory rationalizes that part as Joker realizing he could be angry enough to kill somebody. Making this a very vivid imagining of some part of him (Leonard, his subconscious, whatever) gunning down Hartman. If he could imagine doing that so vividly to an authority figure. He could easily kill strangers.
@@davidz3879 If Leonard is just a symbolic representation and not a real person, either no one kills Hartman or Hartman likewise is a symbolic representation.
Interesting perspective.
@@tashikat9040 How could Hartman be symbolic? Who'd be the real instructor?
This is one of the most amazingly well put together movies ever made. Kubrick was a genius.
You should put Dr. Strangelove on your watch list, Cassie. I think you would appreciate the humor in that, the darkest of dark comedies.
Strangelove is my favorite Kubrick film
@@ninjavigilante5311 mine as well
Dr. Stangelove is a masterpiece. Good suggestion, and one that's a lot easier to watch compared to Full Metal Jacket (also a masterpiece, but a very different kind of movie).
Purity of essence
Took a break from watching Popcorn in Bed for a few years. I'm very pleased to see the reactions are still first rate, as well as the movie choices. Once she truly clues in that directors are trying to invoke exactly the feelings she's feeling, she will have an aha moment, and hopefully get more enjoyment out of them...or at least appreciate them for what they are, and how powerful they can be.
Case in point...Full Metal Jacket is a brilliant, brilliant work of art.
No it's not an exaggeration. This is how it is for combat arms. They yell at them so they can weed out those who will flip out when in extreme situations under duress. Plus it helps break down your ego so that they can build you back up into a soldier that fights without thinking and does their job in their sleep.
R. Lee Ermey was actually a Gunnery Sgt. In the USMC. He was only meant to be the technical advisor for this movie but they liked him so much. And the reasoning behind all of the yelling and screaming during training is to mentally break the recruit, this way they can mold them into the Marine they want to be.
As a former infantry Marine, this treatment is to keep you alive.
Not only the preeminent Vietnam War film, but also a great movie. A Stanley Kubrick masterpiece. Stellar cast, great director, brilliant cinematography, terrific soundtrack. It gives you the whole combat experience from training to actual warfare itself without politicizing or moralizing. Watching this on Memorial Day. Have a blessed one.🙏
The entire boot camp section is amazing. After that, it's merely very good.
LOL, we gotta find a way to get her to do a reaction video for Apocalypse Now Redux. She'd probably be curled up in a ball sobbing halfway through.
My father,an actual Vietnam war veteran,told me that Full Metal Jacket is the most realistic Vietnam war film he'd ever seen. I myself think it's the greatest war film ever made.
Cassie, what you were feeling is exactly what you were supposed to be feeling.
As to the war itself, well, as usual with history, it was very complicated. Pre WW2 Vietnam was a colony of France (French Indochina) but it was conquered by the Japanese in WW2. After the war the French reestablished colonial rule. In the early 1950s a communist faction fought the French trying to gain independence. They were partially successful in that French Indochina was broken up into the countries of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, with Vietnam later being split into northern and southern halves with the communists controlling the north. In the early 1960s the north started aggressive actions along with insurgents in the south (Viet Cong) with the goal of unifying the two halves of Vietnam. At first, the U.S. military involvement to send a limited number of advisors to advise and teach the ARVN (Army Republic VietNam) forces but by the mid 1960s this had escalated into large scale military involvement.
The war fought by the U.S. was mainly one of interdiction, basically designed to fight the NVA and Viet Cong in the south wherever they appeared with the hope that after losing enough troops the north would lose the will to continue the fight. Other than the bombing of the north there was no attempt made to actually conquer North Vietnam as it was feared that such an action would draw either Soviet or Chinese escalation as happened in Korea. In the end, it was the U.S. that lost the political will to continue the war, culminating in the Paris Accords of 1973 that saw an end to U.S. involvement. In 1974-75 North Vietnam attacked again and took the south with unification being declared in 1976.
The battle show in the movie was part of the 1968 Tet Offensive where NVA and Viet Cong forces used a ceasefire to begin a surprise attack in points throughout the south. Militarily, the offensive was a disaster for the north. After initial successes the NVA attacks were beaten back and the Viet Cong were practically destroyed as a threat. The biggest effect the offensive had was on the political climate in the U.S. where civilian support for the war was greatly eroded. President Johnson decided not to run for reelection and Richard Nixon ran with a promise to end the war.
You forgot the part where the deep state killed off JFK and installed that SOB Lyndon Johnson so they could make bank. I hope Johnson is rotting in Hell.
Historic fact time: During the Vietnam War, the draft WAS in effect. Recruitment numbers were not high enough to fight in a conflict on even a single front without conscription. There was probably a decent mix, at least statistically speaking of recruits and draftees.
I can see Cassie is struggling with the ideals in combat training. Let me break it down in simple form. The idea from day one is to break down the soldier. There is some mistreatment, and even potentially some violence involved in order to try to wipe the mental slate clean. Once you've managed to psychologically break them, then you build them back up into soldiers; killing machines. Ministers of death praying for war. You make everything about war and combat. But something else also happens. It happened to my grandfathers (WW2), it happened to my father and my dad (my dad is not my biological father; but I would take a bullet for him. My father, I'd have a hard time not shooting myself) (Vietnam War), and when I became an adult, there was a chance it was going to happen to me (Desert Shield/Desert Storm). Anyway, camaraderie unites these men into a force that exists for its own survival, and it becomes a code of honor and commands their conduct for the rest of their lives. In order to make these men strong, you have to put them through hell, and give them as little respite as possible, because that is what one can expect from war. It just is.
And for the record, Private Lawrence (Gomer Pyle) is not hated by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. He IS the weakest link, and weak links in the Marines is a no no. It IS Hartman's job to weed out all non-hackers. R. Lee Ermey was on record saying that he did not believe FMJ was made as a recruitment ad, just the opposite. He also deeply opposed the military going soft, and his reasoning wasn't because it took all the fun out of fucking with the recruits. It was because we're sending our boys into a hellscape the likes that only people who have been there could ever hope to understand, and treating the recruits with kid gloves and giving them all participation trophies before sending them into combat was almost certainly going to lead to massive body counts as people who are entirely unprepared will have been led to a meaningless death.
A section 8 was a type of medical discharge. It deals with psychological issues concerning those subjected to it. War can lead to its soldiers becoming psychologically unstable. It is neither honorable or dishonorable; on their DD-214 it isn't classified as a dishonorable discharge, but it does carry its own stigma, often ruining the lives of those who received it. Section 8 is no longer an issue in the military in the present. It has been superseded by other orders to do a more precise job of dealing with psychiatric discharges.
Fire watch is a basic security detail. Paris Island, and all other military bases use their recruits to do basic security detail. Can't have military bases unsecured, after all...
Charlie is the name given to the enemy. I suppose it was better than calling them 'gooks'. Yeah, I didn't get it, either at first.
The door gunner was shooting at likely hostiles. Doing that today WOULD lead to a Dishonorable discharge.
So, was Joker being mocked at the end? the answer is no. This is how men deal with being in hell. With a whole lot of gallows humor.
War is ugly. Thankfully, because if it wasn't, men would become too fond of it.
Every guy I know loved the first half of this movie. It was interesting to see how much different your experience was watching it.
You seem way too wholesome to be watching a movie like this. This is raw visceral real deal stuff. My dad was served Vietnam from ‘67 - ‘68. He said this movie and We Were Soldiers with Mel Gibson were the most like his experience.
One of my favourite movies to this day. I saw it in the theater.
I enjoyed your review. I was a Marine in Vietnam, 69-71, though not attached to Second Battalion, Fifth Marines (who were at Hue City during Tet 68, and coincidentally are most decorated unit in the Marine Corps. I stayed for longer than a normal tour, as I was in the Airwing and only got shot at on occasion (with the aim of getting out when I arrived stateside). The Boot Camp sequences were very realistic for the time period. I understand changes have been made, such that there is a lot less manhandling recruits and they've cut back on the swearing. You'd have to ask somebody that went through boot more recently. The most glaring "Hollywood stuff" in the movie is Pyle shooting the DI and himself. Now I don't exactly know how it was at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, I went through San Diego myself, but as I recall, the rifles used for drill had no firing pins while we were at the Recruit Depot. The Armory put firing pins in when we went to the rifle range about 20 miles north on Camp Pendleton and took them out when we went back to MCRD. Ammunition was very tightly controlled, every private had a range coach hovering over them at all times when live firing, it would have been difficult to secretly take even one or two rounds and smuggle them back to MCRD and wouldn't fire in any case with the firing pins removed. I don't even remember recruits as having magazines (the box you put bullets in) while at MCRD. As I said, the rest of the MCRD sequence is pretty much true to life. Their is a reason for the brutality. The job of the military (any branch) is to kill the enemy to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. It's not an easy thing to obey an order to kill another human being reflexively. Especially if you are doing in the face of an enemy who is doing his best to kill you. You need to instantly obey the order that may get you killed for the sake of the rest of the unit. The main criticism I would have of the last part of the movies is that except for Recon Marines, no squad sized units operate in the field with quiet the autonomy of the squad in the movie, there would of been closer integration with other elements of the platoon and company. But all in all, the movie was an accurate reflection of conditions on the ground; it fully captured the grittiness of warfare in the Nam. Also, the fight in Hue was not quite the bombed out landscape of the movie. From accounts of the battle I have read, area shelling was avoided and the fighting was house to house. Hue was a cultural center Vietnam and the brass didn't want to use Naval gunfire to flatten it. When 2/5 got to the Perfume River (the movie takes place on the South side), brass counted up the casualties and ordered the North bank leveled, so the landscape Kubrick had in the movie was kind of premature in the actual battle. I've run overly long here, so if you made it through the whole thing, you're a historical scholar.
They may have taken your firing pins then, though I've heard otherwise. I went through San Diego in '76 and once our weapons were issued to us, they stayed with us. They were locked into racks behind our racks. The only time they saw an armorer was if there was a malfunction on the range that the PMIs or DIs couldn't clear. They had absolute control over the ammo. Just enough was issued to each man to complete each stage on the range. The spent brass was also counted at the end of the day and if it was short, we found the missing brass. The only chance of a Pyle incident was while we were on the range.
@@andyfletcher3561 Well, all I can say is I know what an M-1 and M-14 bolt looks like sans firing pins when disassembled, as I was firing the M-1 on the range my junior year in HS, and the M-14 is just a jazzed M-1. As I remember it, and yes memory can play tricks after 50+ years, their was no firing pin in rifles at MCRD. As we tore the rifles down and reassembled them on a daily basis, for most of Boot, I had many opportunities to examine the bolt. Funny you mention locking the gun on the rack. When I went through San Diego, we had rifle racks along the wall that we secured each in individually with padlocks. If you were issued the M-16 at boot, that might have changed that up. But we never mounted rifles to the racks like in the film. I can't say what was done at PI. Our DI's related what I took, at the time, to Corps urban legend about some private shooting a DI on the range. The the story was the DI was gut shot and proceed to bend, fold, and mutilate the private so badly he had to be buried in a closed casket. I took it to be an urban legend at the time and have searched in vain for such and account online. Probably, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the novel the movie was based on: "The Short-Timers" heard some variation of the same story and included it in the story (I have not read the novel). Semper Fi, bro.
@@Badco1948 Yes, M16, Mattel manufacturing stamp and all. I don't remember how I actually worded it, but yes, steel racks, on the wall, behind the *racks,* aka bunks. In the barracks, not the quansi huts. Spent a minute in the huts along the parade deck between 2nd and 3rd phase but I don't recall much about them. I also don't recall the exact method of securing the weapons to the racks, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't individual padlocks on each rifle. 1976 is a long time ago...When I got out into the fleet(K-Bay) the were indeed kept in the company armories.
I appreciate that you offer your historical and personal context. ThanQ for your service in a trying time.
The drill instructor and everything that they go through in Boot Camp is actually going to save a lot of lives.
It didn't save his.
@@system3008 Not the point.
Save lives by killing people, people who say this completely miss the point of the movie
@@landoakechi9406 That's also not what the original comment was talking about. I know the reasons why movie was made, even though that won't be very obvious to the average person who doesn't know. The point being made right here in this comment is about your OWN fellow soldiers, not enemies or about the moralistic issues of war.
@@yearginclarke It's still the most bullshit military answer you can give. Makes me sick after hearing that kind of terminology used all the time for things when I was in
As an ex British Soldier 83-96 I would have loved the pleasure of meeting R Lee Ermey
This is one of the greatest movies of all time. Your reactions were so cool. I loved it when you recognized Jayne from "Firefly"
Apparently in filming, they spent a month at that wall.
The drill instructor may be harsh but you also have to understand he was the one who was responsible for making sure they could survive in vietnam
I get why people love this film; as do I, but I would NEVER recommend it to someone I knew who WOULDN'T enjoy it.
I respect you for honoring your commitment to your Patreon customers who voted for this film; I suppose it comes with the territory by making it a selection choice. But there are SO many other films, classic motion pictures you likely haven't seen, that could have been selected for you to watch in honor of Memorial Day.
Well said.
I agree. I applaud R. Lee Emrey's performance in this movie but it is one of the most over-hyped war movies out there along with "Apocalypse Now" . He was in a movie called "Boys in Company C" which I thought was much better. She could have picked a much better movie to honor Memorial Day
@@McPh1741 Kindred minds think alike. However, her patreons chose it and I don't understand how those poll options are selected.
@@McPh1741 if humans throughout history didn't glorify war, there'd be less dead soldiers to honor on memorial day.
I was like this is not for her at all
He really isn't asking that much from Pvt Pyle. Right face left face, keep up with everyone else, and don't stand out. The Drill instructor was trying to help him. If you think boot camp was hard, imagine the sniper scene. That being your husband, brother, father, etc, etc laying there. They are depending on Pvt Pyle, who can't even climb a simple obstacle.
"Charlie" was a generic term used for North Vietnamese soldiers. It comes from the phonetic alphabet for VC (Victor Charles). VC stood for Viet Cong, which were non-military soldiers in the north. They normally wore black clothing and were incredibly good at sneaking into places. Those who slipped into US bases were called Sappers. The north also had a vast network of tunnels that were bigger than most of the towns. It was possible to go the whole length of the country without going above ground. The VC would use these tunnels to pop up, attack, then vanish.
There are some good Vietnam movies, but one of the things you'll notice in most of them is a feeling like things were never really complete. In Saving Private Ryan, there's a closure at the end. Vietnam movies tend to skip that part. Probably because it never really happened in real life.
PLEASE do yourself a favor and watch a few more of these before you see First Blood. You need to have a certain context to really appreciate that movie.
There are several reasons for the harsh training. One of them is to desensitize new recruits to the pressure and chaos. Another reason was the bit at the end of training "you are no longer maggots. you are now Marines." That's the reward and the source of pride at getting through it. it also forges a bond between you and that other people in your group. You all lean on each other to make the good times.
Good call on First Blood - I just watched that for the first time recently. Kind of ironic/poetic is the pointlessness of the war they wage against Rambo.
Vietcongs are not North Vietnamese. They consisted of South Vietnamese who were pro-North Vietnam and opposed their government led by US.
You're full of it VC were not from the "North", and tell us what a "non-military soldier" is. So many dopes in here.
@@davisworth5114 thanks so much for the charitable reading of what I wrote.
I accept the corection on the Viet cong not being from the north.
Non-military soldiers are those that don't have an organized, recognized rank structure and government support. Guerilla fighters, terror cells, civil defense forces, etc.
In boot camp, the Drill Instructor's responsible for tearing-down the human being in order to build a killer.
The absurdity of war.
Before this comment gets lost in the shuffle, I'd just like to make a small request. Something that kind of frustrates me is that on Patreon polls there are a lot of older movies that don't get the votes they deserve. I saw a lot of comments mentioning the fact that "The Best Years of Our Lives" received so few votes. That's a shame, since it's one of my favorite movies and one I think Cassie (and Carly) would enjoy based on their opinions of other classics from the 40s. Old movies like this just don't have the exposure they need and deserve more attention. I think Cassie should watch this underrated gem for Flag Day or the Fourth of July. If you agree, please give this comment a thumbs up and let Cassie know how much you love this movie in a reply. Thanks everyone!
Invisibility is a common thing for many people.
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
@Kyle Krudys I’ll definitely check out this movie. I love the older classics, or near-classics, that are no longer mainstream.
Cassie has talked about taking all the "Losers" from the polls, and putting them on a poll for TH-camrs to vote on. -Jon
They are drafted. The drill sergeant's job is to break them then rebuild them so they do things automatically. It's hard granted. But it's done to keep them alive.
A brutal & hard hitting depiction of the vietnam war & what it stood for,also,some standout performances by r lee ermey,matthew modine & vincent d’onofrio to name just a few. If you’d like to see more,i’d suggest casualties of war & platoon.
This is one of the most realistic war films. R Lee Ermey was the drill instructor and was NOT an actor, he was a real Marine drill instructor hired as a consultant, but they gave him the role. Tim Colceri was recast as the crazy helicopter door-gunner.
I always loved the part of the movie at 9:51 when Pyle shows up Joker. Pyle finally got it and became a killer but it cost him his soul and ultimately his life.
Every young man needs this experience. I'm a better man because of it
That opening barracks scene is legendary, never gets old.
Your reaction is exactly why this is such a great film. It makes you feel icky because war is horrible and disgusting. That's the whole point.
super overrated movie
@@lessankey5287 I mean that's your opinion and you're entitled to it.. but I think this is a great film about a horrible war!! Yes it's hard to watch.... as it should be!!! but overrated it's not.
@@lessankey5287wrong
Definitely not...
@@lessankey5287
This movie tears at the soul and gives nothing in return. Not what I'd call a great film. I watched it many times(back when movie channels were limited) and hated it as a kid. Couldn't understand why everyone wanted to watch it all of the time after we graduated boot camp. The same "fans" never mentioned an interest in it again after 9/11.
More often than not, people say that they much prefer the first half of the film over the second. I myself love both halves about equally, but I get why people favor the first half, especially seeing as that contains the phenomenal performances of R. Lee Ermey and Vincent D’Onofrio as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman and Private Pyle respectively.
The movie was meant to smear the USA, a nation of liberators. Ermey was so good, as he did it for a living, it stole the show. And everyone that has gone to South Carolina or Georgia knows why recruits are treated that way. And it did not reflect poorly like Kubrick wanted. I'm stating my convinced opinion, as Kubrick nor any of them in Hollywood will admit it.
I'm similar I liked how different both parts were and I enjoyed it as a whole.
/\ what you said 👌
R. Lee Ermey actually was a drill instructor before his acting career
Yeah, I'm of the opinion that the first half is almost perfect. I think it could have been perfect if the whole movie was just boot camp.
28:33, my dad was a Ranger in Vietnam and it really messed him up. Some of the stories Dad told me of what he saw over there were seriously shocking. I used to think he was telling tall tails.
When my father passed away a few years ago, three men from his unit came to the funeral. I met them and they told me about who he was in the war. One of these men let me know that my dad wasn't exaggerating and my father had saved his life.
I had two uncles in Vietnam. Both of them were never quite the same after it. One uncle ended up eventually drinking himself to death. (And he was a mean damn drunk). We used to share stories after I got out of the Marines. I think I was one of the very few people he would talk about his time in nam with.(and he was one of the few people who understood why i would wake up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep till I checked the house and yard, and I mean I was still doing it damn near a decade after I got out of the military) The other uncle spent about the next 25 years high as a kite till the cops told him If he got busted again he was gonna spend serious time behind bars....so he switched to drinking. He makes some damn good wine but I honestly liked him better high than drunk.
"This is an exaggeration, right?" No. The boot camp portion of this movie was 99% accurate." This from a Marine 1979-85. The only inaccuracy is that rifles are kept locked up when not in use.
I read a comment under a video of the boot camp portion, it said something like "It was pretty accurate but the drill instructor was too nice."
@@jakester455 I had four years of military school before the Marines. On the advice of my recruiter, I kept that to myself, until my senior DI wanted to know why I was drawing corporal's pay and he outed me in front of everyone. My DI's didn't faze me, I'd seen worse and they knew that, so they enlisted a DI from the adjacent platoon who looked and sounded like the original Frankenstein monster (minus the green skin). This man came over several times a week and just messed with me. I'd taken martial arts and there was a possibility I might have been able to take him, but I didn't want to risk that, or the repercussions.
Can confirm, for the most part. Marine from 01-05 but at that point the physical violence from Drill Instructors was no longer allowed. Still had the insults which really helped pass the time. Everything that happens at Boot Camp is 100% necessary.
The only thing in the boot camp part that was different from my recruit training is that none of us shot our Drill Instructor. Otherwise, it was like seeing flashbacks of MCRD San Diego.
@@SirWilliamsHand _"Everything that happens at Boot Camp is 100% necessary."_
You know who else said something along those same lines? Members of Charles Manson's cult who were pissed on, publicly raped and otherwise broken and humiliated, only to be "built back up" with the cult as the only support structure. It's "necessary" to ensure absolute loyalty and obedience... right?
Sorry, you are very likely unable to see it, but your mind has been messed with horribly, just as the minds of those cult members. Which may actually be the bigger tragedy... 😢
“Why do you have to be so cruel? So horrible?”
They’re going to see their best friend’s guts. Mean words is the least of their worries.
This chick is clueless lol, she lives in a world of rainbows and unicorns
Mean words and abusive superiors won’t help them either.
@@Apfelkind4000 As a person who has gone through both Basic Training and been in combat, what are you basing your opinion on? I am asking because Basic Training is essential to be horrible and cruel. It is meant to prepare you for combat. Think about it this way. If you are weak and so soft you can't take a little pain and people yelling at you while calling you names, you are DEFINITELY too soft to be my battle buddy when my life is on the line in a hot AO. I would rather find out you can't hack it in Basic than in combat.
Edit: Instead of punching recruits, they now make them do pushups and flutter kicks which actually makes the recruits stronger while inflicting physical pain.
@@brianeleighton
My opinion is based on 12 years experience as an army officer.
@@Apfelkind4000 Ah yes, an officer. The perfect person to teach enlisted men. Sergeants run the military.
The yelling is for desensitization, both to feelings (hurt feelings don't matter when people are trying to kill you) and to external stimuli (war zones are loud, messy places). It is also designed to curb a recruit's sense of self importance. This is all reinforced with other aspects of training, but definitely has a specific purpose.
EDIT: Cassie literally asked why he was yelling. I helpfully explained. So far a dozen people have told me to leave her alone. SMDH.
You forgot the most important part. By making them hate him, he is making them bond. Team building
I was called a waste of oxygen, and choked out as part of a demonstration on how to do it correctly.
@@godmagnus Never met anyone who has served that regrets what they learned in basic training.
@@CarbonPixel78 Truth
@@godmagnus It's a movie big guy.
I think everyone should watch this movie even though it's hard to watch. As someone that served 20 years in the military, I believe the media, politicians, hollywood, etc tend to romanticize war. Hope this makes people understand how horrific war is before deciding to send young men and women off to war. I also served as a drill sergeant for 3 years and can explain to you the "why" behind some of the things the DI was doing if you'd like.
Probably the most surreal movie watching experience of my life was in 2006 when I was sent to Iraq as a civilian contractor. There I was, embedded with the Marines at Al Asad Airbase in western Iraq, and they pull out this movie. They could recite every word from the film.
Hollywood has to cater to the D.O.D.'s requests before they get cooperation and equipment. So I think a lot of the "romance" is at the D.O.D.'s insistence to prevent people from *not* enlisting. I knew before SAVING PRIVATE RYAN from reading veteran memoirs that my clumsy ass had no place in the armed services and war should be avoided at most costs.
I highly recommend to watch 1985 'Come and see'. One of the scariest war movies ever.
I've never served, but I 100% agree with your sentiment.
Appreciate your service. I did twenty-eight years myself (plus time downrange as a contractor), and I appreciate that the film gives a glimpse at how basic training had been once upon a time.
When I returned from the First Gulf War in '91, I visited my high school history teacher, with whom I'd maintained a friendship since I graduated ten years prior. He invited me to speak to a couple of his classes about the war, which I did.
I'd gone into Kuwait during the ground war. I described in graphic detail what it was like walking through a field littered with destroyed Iraqi bodies - a torso here, a leg and head over there - as well as the smell of rotting corpses.
With the country having been shown CNN footage of the precision munitions hitting radar sites, bridges, and buildings, I wanted the high school kids to understand that for all the hi-tech marvels of stand off weapons, there is a gritty and horrific side to war that many people don't see/hear about.
A close friend of mine, who was a Marine in the Vietnam war, said this movie was the most realistic rendition of what he experienced going through bootcamp as well as his time spent in Vietnam.
well the guy was a real drill instructor
He sure was, and it shows.
Crazy my father said the opposite and he was in the battle.
I went to Parris Island in 91 and when I finally saw this movie, I SWORE that someone bought a camera to Bootcamp.....realism 100%🎯
“I could have a private who can do nine pull-ups and damn it, when I'm through talking to him, he can do 12. Why? Because I've intimidated this private so severely that I've convinced him that he can do 12 or he's going to die. That's why.” - R. Lee Ermey
When a drill Sergeant spots a weak link in the recruits they double down extra hard.
Believe it or not it's actually compassion. If the weak link washes out of basic training because "they can't take it" then the drill sergeant has saved their life.
If the weak link makes it through basic training then they are no longer a weak link. And are ready to have the back of their brothers on the battlefield.
Hartman was a sadist and a racist and he drove Pyle to murder-suicide. Amazing all these commentors are taken in by Sgt. Hartmans obscene humor, he lacked the necessary insight to see that Pyle was out of shape and too immature for service. He should have been given a general discharge under honorable conditions.
The problem is I think Pyle was there as part of McNamara's Project 100,000 program so he couldn't wash out. Otherwise, Pyle would've been thrown out on his ass by the entire company. Hartman would've gone to his superiors and expressed how necessary it was to get him out of there.
The Tet offensive was kinda like Washington crossing the delaware at Christmas.
(1:29) Yes, this is required. It’s called the Induction Cut, or Induction Haircut. Originally one of the reasons for this haircut was to reduce the chances of diseases like head lice spreading among recruits in close quarters. The induction cut also serves a psychological purpose as it strips away the individuality of the recruits, promoting the mentality that they are all part of the same team. This haircut is usually performed within minutes or hours after arriving at boot camp, so it’s widely seen as a rite of passage for male recruits during basic military training.
(9:41) Do you remember Hacksaw Ridge? The Captain of that unit mentioned Section 8, “psychiatric discharge.” This was a practice of discharging personnel from the US Armed Forces who were deemed mentally unfit for service.
(11:00) Fire Watch simply put is Guard Duty. You work in shifts making sure that everything is secure, everyone is accounted for, and you often conduct chores and administrative tasks for the unit.
(13:24-13:51) You remember back at book camp, Joker was assigned to be a military journalist as his occupational speciality. Now he’s in Vietnam working as combat correspondent with the Marine Corps. They are just like regular journalists, except they are members of the US Armed Forces. The job of a correspondent is to provide a fresh, up-close, and personal account to what’s happening in the field. So here they are discussing their news coverage of the war in Vietnam. When the Lieutenant talks about a “Search & Destroy” Mission, those were common operations carried out by US and Allied troops to seek out and destroy communist forces in South Vietnam. The idea was to use overwhelming firepower to kill as many enemy as possible to the point where the Vietcong and NVA would be unable to continue fighting the war. Basically what the Lieutenant is talking about here, is the public relations effort to help win the war.
(15:06) It’s a slang term. The Americans called the Vietcong “Charlie.” The Vietcong or VC were a communist guerrilla movement in South Vietnam that was being supported by North Vietnam with the ultimate goal of uniting the entire country under communist rule. Fighting alongside the Vietcong in this war were the North Vietnamese Army or NVA (16:52). These were professional soldiers from the standing army of North Vietnam sent down to help the Vietcong drive out the Americans and overthrow the government of South Vietnam.
1968 represented the peak of the American war effort in Vietnam. For both sides the war had become a bloody stalemate, leading to the signing of the Paris Peace Accord on January 27, 1973. While this brought an end to American military involvement in Vietnam, it didn’t stop the fighting. In the spring of 1975, the NVA and VC launched a full scale offensive which conquered all of South Vietnam.
@Daniel Ramos You forgot another aspect of the cut. It saves the government money, since they literally charge recruits for the cut and deduct it from their pay. At least they did in the Army.
@@jippy8976 Yep When I went into the army in the 00s it was $7 for that haircut
Small correction: the VietCong never actually existed except in propaganda. It was completely integrated into the North Vietnamese military and controlled from Hanoi.
Simply put, the United States of America absolutely lost the Vietnam war.
Easily the most visceral reaction to this movie I've seen, this why I love this channel so much.
Just as a tangent to your quote. Popcorn girl. You're not meant to like this. That's whole point.
I watched it recently & forgot that the 1st hour is basically just Hartman screaming at them & Pyle & I winced the whole time lol
Most of the drill sergeants at the time had to look at casualty reports from Vietnam. They were used to seeing recruits that they trained on those killed in action lists.. They were hard on them in an effort to save their lives.
Having served myself domestically and in combat zones within the last 15 years, the reason you treat new recruits like 'maggots', as he put it, is to breakdown any and all of the ego they came into the service with. People come from all walks of life, often with misguided notions about what it takes to be a U.S. serviceman. The idea is that by making everyone equally worthless and open to ridicule, you break down who they were before they came in and build them back up by teaching them that on a battlefield, each and every one of them is equal--metaphorically (rank still exists). The man to your left and to your right is your brother, regardless of any past prejudices or notions you might have had about them. You eat together, you train together, you sleep together and you suffer together until a bond forms that teaches you to willingly give your life for the man next to you if necessary.
Unfortunately, sitting people down in a room and trying to get them to harmonize under normal circumstances just doesn't work. You can look at the state of the world and how people treat each other to get a notion of how well that would go over. By inducing stress and shining a light on the reality of what they're entering into, you get people to look past the superficial and work together to come back home safe. It's a necessary evil. Any dead weight or anyone who doesn't comply to this new way of life is likely to be the guy that gets you or someone you know killed when it counts most.
Scoop out the brains and identity. Fill the vacuum with patriotism and propaganda.
A necessary evil indeed. Makes for good soldiers, which is the goal of this machine.
This
Yes is exactly like this and in only one word it is called CAMARADERIE
@@cristianbuttafuoco9876 The horrible misconception is that US soldiers fight for country. They don't. We fought for our brothers, even those we could not stand. "I'll screw with my little brother as hard as I want...You?...You keep your filthy hands to yourself or you deal with me..."
Another way to call this is conditioning - break someone down, and then form him or her into the machine you want to get out of this training. In the end it is not about ideals, but about a militray machine that relies on orders and discipline - the definition of unquestioned hierachy. The machine has to work, so cogs have to be produced that fit in that machine. This conditioning produces not "better" men, but just functioning ones for the purpose of the military. Everything else spun around this method is maybe good for morale, or self worth - but in the end fiction.
It was wayyyy more complicated than just “north communists, south not, send help USA.” The country had been invaded and occupied and existed in a state of war for many decades before we ever got there. Ken Burns’ documentary about it is incredible if you’re curious.
Damn that’s right! Didn’t Vietnam ask Woodrow Wilson for help?
Actually, when people do their research, you can thank the french for getting us involved in Vietnam.
I'll second the recommendation of Ken Burns' Vietnam Documentary and, although it doesn't directly cover the Vietnam War, I also recommend Oliver Stones' "Untold History of the United States for some true US History.
Vietnam will always have my respect
They fought off China, France, and the United States.
No one is taking that country
The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990 by Marilyn B. Young is an informative read. Really depressing though.
Vincent D'Onofrio (Private Pyle) is such an underrated actor, in my opinion. He is a method actor, and his preparation and immersion qualify him to be mentioned in the same breath as Cruise, Pitt, and del Toro. I just love him, he is 100% convincing in every role I ever saw him act.
I'm meeting him in a few months at a con in Vancouver Canada and I'm so excited I've heard from people who've worked with him that he's super funny.
My dad was a dust off medic in Vietnam and he wouldnt watch this movie past the boot camp portion. He said that portion was hard enough for him to remember and that the second half of the movie brought back too many bad memories and he would prefer not to remember. He said this movie was too accurate
The first part, Basic Training is to show you HOW they train and condition recruits to handle such horrific stress. The system weeds out the weak. Combat is the ULTIMATE stress, IF you can't handle basic training stress, you'll NEVER handle real combat.
There's just something about watching one of the sweetest women in the world (you're in direct competition with your sister) watch Full Metal Jacket. It's almost heartbreaking.
It kind of reminds me of Leeloo in 'The Fifth Element' learning about war.
As much as you hated watching it we loved watching you hate watching it.
It's why I hope she never watches We Were Soldiers. It would destroy her
No it’s annoying as hell.
@@wayfarer4578 Why is it annoying?
Matthew Modine (Joker) is also in a WWII movie, The Memphis Belle. I'm not on your Patreon, but I am confident you'll be glad you watched it. It is very inspirational, and it is a true story. My grandfather was a mechanic at the airfield where the story takes place and he remembered the plane.
Oh yeah thats a good movie!
Great film, one of my favourites, as it uses actual planes and practical effects instead of cgi, and it also includes a young Sean astin (Sam from LOTR) too alongside other great actors !
And ironically, the airfield the Memphis belle bomber flew out of in England was bassingbourn which turned into a British military camp after the war, and was also the camp they filmed the basic training at in full metal jacket.
It's been a while since I've watched Memphis Belle. Good movie! 👍
I love that movie!
Far too innocent to the realities of the world!
My father was a Marine at boot camp in the 60's. He said this was absolutely the most realistic depiction he has ever seen.
1984 here...I'll agree!
I was in boot camp in 1967. This was almost exactly like what I experienced including the blanket party.. 2 guys just kept fucking us all over by not being able to hack it.
My dad told me the same thing when he went to Parris Island
I went to military school for high school and even there we mimicked many of the things from this movie, including the occasional blanket party.
I knew a Vietnam veteran, a former friend of my dad's. He saw action, was permanently disfigured from a grenade. I asked him once which movie was the most realistic version of his experiences and he named this film as well.
Gotta say, I never expected this movie to show up here. Every reaction was pretty much what I thought it would be though, and they're genuine too. Never change hon, never change.
I think they're trying to break her. At least start out with some of the softer stuff before going FMJ.
@@Jsingle911 she's seen Schindler's list so where's the in-between she should start out with lol
Yeah the reaction felt pretty close to what I expected.This movie though is quite out of a lot of peoples comfort zone if they aren’t used to war movies. This shows the more honest cruel truth of what training used to be like in the US Army. At least that’s what I’ve learned as someone from the UK.
Nah, she does need to change. She's so soft a table corner could pop her.
@@kevinbaconwasntinfootloose1742 Well you've got me there lol
I had the pleasure of meeting R. Lee Ermey twice. The first time he sat with me and a few other Airmen in a bar in Omaha for about an hour telling us stories about shooting the movie. The second time was a year later in the Kansas City airport. Both times he was kind and generous with his time. He loved his fans and couldn't have been nicer.
RIP Gunny
Good to know.
Anyone I know who met him at gun shows, on the street, restaurants, etc- everyone of them say he was the sweetest person you’d ever meet and very humble/appreciative of his fame and fans. I won’t rehash how he got the part- But find it amazing how he could flip the switch and get in Marine mode. Many of those people begged him to “be a drill instructor for a moment”- and have him put them down with a line or two so they could say “Gunny ripped me a new one”. But all of them I know said he super kind at all other moments.
I’m also a veteran. I felt so bad watching your reaction to this film. You have a very kind heart but like they said “The Marine Corp. doesn’t want robots. The Marine Corps wants killers. The Marine Corp. wants indestructible men, men without fear.”
@@darthorion2002 da marin crops
'the marine corp wants killers' , person with legal record of killing applies and will get immediately turned down .
Doesn't make much sense when you realize robots are all of the above honestly
I get the notion, but I've always been a bit confused as to why someone would willfully subject themselves to that in order to become something so simple and single-mindedly devoted to their efficiency at committing acts of extreme violence. Maybe, MAYBE I could see it if you were fighting for a government whose motivations are clear and noble, but our own government's motivations are a very far cry from either of those two things. I know that a lot of people join up because of a vague notion of glory, duty or patriotism and I get that, but if such is the case it seems like you have a lot more work to do in figuring out who you are and where you should stand on the geopolitical issues of the world before you make such a commitment.
@@jackrussell1232 You are so right, this is a book written by a retired U.S. Marines general,: th-cam.com/video/ej7FdCDmW6A/w-d-xo.html it speaks the cold facts and makes for very interesting reading. I mysel am an honorable A ndischarged U.S. Army veteran deported to Mexico since 1997, one last thing I would like to mention that the Government turns you into a klling machine to serve their purpos, but after the war the NEVER provide any assistance ro guidance as to adapt to returning to civilian life after the war!!! And I would like to commend you on speaking your piece of mind God knows that takes a lot of courage!!!
My recently deceased Great Uncle was a Marine. His drill instructor was literally R. Lee Ermey. Glad to say my Great Uncle Jim was an extremely sweet, good natured man.
R.I.P. sorry for your loss 😢❤️🙏. I Thank him for his service
Even R. Lee wasn't as bad as he portrayed himself in this movie. He was an actual Drill Instructor that they brought in to be a consultant and eventually they decided he was a better fit for the role than the guy they had gotten to do the character originally. I think even back then if a Drill Instructor got signs that someone was going to become a Section 8 they would have booted them once they broke down enough.
"...literally R. Lee Ermey"? Like LITERALLY literally?
@@jscan4442 It's possible, Ermey was an actual drill instructor once.
Oh yes, Gunny was a D.I. for a time.
A few Marines who went thru Parris Island while he was there were asked if R. Lee Ermey was actually like that in real life.
To a man, they said: "Nope.... he was WORSE."
My Grandfather was in Vietnam. He never talked about it and I knew better than to ask. He's 87 now, and I can't even begin to imagine what he seen and went through.
My Uncle(Army infantry)was in Vietnam, and my father(Navy SeaBees) was among the first boots on the ground after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Neither one would talked about what they saw, and we all knew better than to ask as well. And I still shutter to think about what they went through to get back to us!
Not just what they went through, but also the things they did.
There is a TH-cam channel: "Memoirs of WWII" that has short interviews of WWII veterans.
Your Grandfather's story is important too and shouldn't be lost.
Definitely good of you not to ask. I’m sure that was a 100% negative experience.
@@rana1561very true, they may "spread democracy" but the children were still killed, and more recently an Iraqi family killed 19 year ago by Marines surfaced.
Retired Marine and Drill Instructor here. Gunny Ermy was a well respected Marine. This is the most accurate depiction of Marine Boot camp that civilians are alowed to see. Especially when I went through and when I was a hat. We will never show you everything, nor can you ever experience it without actually being there. This is Hollywood, but a well made and authentic movie. Semper FI
It’s based on a very very good book, the Short timers.
Written by a Marine based on his experiences, intense book.
I'd say the movie stepped back from the intensity a bit as there were not 2 or 3 other DI's in their face at the same time.
@@chappy48i remember when people were getting chewed out they would have 3 DI’s in their face and only one of them would actually be speaking words and the others were just straight up screaming in their face for the sake of causing chaos🤣
I was army Airborne Ranger then tier 1 operator went in in 86" They could still hit you back then and they did. We had the confidence course at ranger RIP they used to throw the company mascot sherman shepards cleaned up dog shit into the low crawl water mud pit I always wondered what was hitting my face crawling through it..until one day I saw a guy picking up the dog shit and dumping it in the Gig pit. lol
Parris Island grad here. 100% agree. My only nitpick about its depiction are the knots in those damn ropes. Ain't no damn knots...those were there because the actors couldn't complete the obstacle without them.
Originally, the actor who played the gunman in the helicopter was to play Hartman. R. Lee Ermey was a technical advisor. Kubrick was so impressed with how Ermey was with the other actors in rehearsal that he asked Ermey to play the part.
This actor apear in Apocalypse Now in one of the helicopters
Not surprising since R. Lee Ermey was actually a USMC drill instructor.
Ermey was in a bad car accident during filming and stayed at Kubrick's house while he was recuperating where Ermey worked on his Dialogue for the movie
They guy they originally cast as the gunnery sergeant got the consolation prize role as the helicopter gunman shooting the farmers in the field.
Actually Ermey was there on the set to help out with the army stuff to make sure the actors where on the right path, and suddenly he thought i want the drill instructor part and went to the producer and said to him that he wanted that part. i saw that in a intervieuw somewhere.