Full Metal Jacket

Full Metal Jacket, directed by Stanley Kubrick ("The Shining") is one of the best anti-war films ever made.

The movie shows us two sides of the war, tells the story of a group of soldiers in the Vietnam war and the situations they got into.

The first part is the "boot camp" in Parris Island in South Carolina.
As the recruits arrive the Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) "welcomes" them and puts them in place...

These are the Marines that become friends and are central to the story.

The movie shows us the shocking truth about the Marines and their ways "to make a soldier out of a boy", especially in the case of "Gomer Pyle" who gets humiliated by the Sergeant and by the other recruits.

The second part of the movie concentrates on the war itself. "Joker" is working as military reporter in DaNang (the HQ for the Marines in Vietnam). It is the eve of the great Tet Offensive in February 1968. He and his friend, "Rafterman", are sent to Hue City, (The old Imperial Capital of Vietnam where the heaviest fighting of the war took place.) to get a story. When he gets there he meets with the first platoon, "Hotel" Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. His old friend Cowboy is part of the platoon. They get reacquainted and meet with the other Marines and then they have to move out. They are on the outskirts of the city when incoming fire suddenly come down around them. Heavy fire is exchanged between both sides. The tanks then move in and, after securing a portion of the city, they set in for the night.

The next morning the fighting stars all over again and the group of brothers in arms fight for their country and most of all for their lives...