Full Metal Jacket gives you two movies in one! That’s right, this film artfully fuses two movies together to create one great flick, which has writer/director Stanley Kubrick’s fingerprints all over it.

The first half of the film focuses on newly recruited (or drafted) Marines as they endure basic training with an intense drill sergeant, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (masterfully portrayed by R. Lee Ermey). Hartman will do whatever it takes to turn these new recruits into killing machines. Unfortunately, with some help from the recruits themselves, Hartman goes too far with one soldier.

The second half of Full Metal Jacket takes place in Vietnam during the Tet offensive. It features scenes of urban warfare that are much different then those you will find in other Vietnam flicks. Kubrick’s ability to create an atmosphere of fear and tension as the soldiers attempt to locate a sniper among crumbling buildings is a highlight of the second half.