Full Metal Jacket

Full Metal Jacket
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStanley Kubrick
Screenplay by
Based onThe Short-Timers
by Gustav Hasford
Produced byStanley Kubrick
Starring
CinematographyDouglas Milsome
Edited byMartin Hunter
Music byVivian Kubrick
(as Abigail Mead)
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • June 17, 1987 (1987-06-17) (Beverly Hills premiere)
  • June 26, 1987 (1987-06-26) (US)
  • September 11, 1987 (1987-09-11) (UK)
Running time
116 minutes
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
Languages
  • English
  • Vietnamese
Budget$16.5–30 million
Box office$120 million

Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 autobiographical novel The Short-Timers. It stars Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Baldwin, Dorian Harewood, and Arliss Howard.

The storyline follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their boot camp training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. The first half of the film focuses primarily on privates J. T. Davis and Leonard Lawrence, nicknamed "Joker" and "Pyle" respectively, who struggle under their abusive drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half portrays the experiences of Joker and other Marines in the Vietnamese cities of Da Nang and Huế during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War. The film's title refers to the full metal jacket bullet used by military servicemen.

Full Metal Jacket was theatrically released in the United States on June 26, 1987, by Warner Bros., and in the United Kingdom on September 11, 1987, by Columbia Pictures through Columbia-Cannon-Warner Distributors. It was the last of Kubrick's films to be released during his lifetime. The film grossed $120 million against a budget of $16.5–30 million and received positive reviews from critics. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and was also nominated for two BAFTA Awards, while Ermey was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his performance. In 2001, the American Film Institute placed the film at number 95 in its poll titled "AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills."