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Full Metal Jacket (Deluxe Edition) [1987]


RRP: £16.00
Our Price: £4.96 (subject to change)

Will this DVD be upgraded in the future?
Review date: 2008-11-20 Rating: 8 out of 10

You may find the title for this review very strange, but there's a good reason why I wrote it.
I bought this recent edition of Kubrick's Vietnam war drama a few months ago expecting a great deal of extras to be included there. Specifically, I had seen snippets of the behind the scenes - or making of footage as it's popularly known these days - shot by Stanley's daughter, Vivian Kubrick, during filming of 'Full Metal Jacket'(FMJ) and that she never completed, on 'A Life in Pictures' documentary. Now, that was quite revealing and most promising, as was the 'Making The Shining' documentary that Vivian had also filmed. Thus, I was expecting a lengthier version of it to be featured here. Alas, none of it was included in this disc!
Nevertheless, after having recently seen Jon Ronson's documentary 'Stanley Kubrick's Boxes', produced for Channel Four, it turns out that there are 18 hours worth of this FMJ making of footage. And all the excerpts shown in Ronson's doc have synch sound and look fairly good. The Kubrick Estate gave permission to Ronson to go through Stanley's extensive archives, encompassing the release of this footage and a bit of a screen test for 'Lolita', featuring Sue Lyon.
It's truly fascinating material, but why hasn't Warner Bros. used it for this edition? The Kubrick Estate was involved in the release of these special editions of Stanley Kubrick's better known films, so again why didn't they take advantage of this material that's worth gold? There's so much of Vivian Kubrick's behind the scenes footage that it could fill an entire second disc of extra features for 'Full Metal Jacket'!
Well, I can only surmise that it will eventually be used in the future, and hence on an upgraded version of this masterpiece on DVD. By the way, I've given four stars for the DVD, but the film itself deserves five.

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Reviews


Still great 20 years later
Review date: 2008-08-22 Rating: 10 out of 10

This stands the test of time well. More than 20 years after its release, there are few better films that demonstrate the horror of war. Whether Kubrick was anti-war I don't know, however this certainly gives that impression.

Told largely from the point of view of Private 'Joker', who once in combat wears a peace symbol (better know in the UK as the CND symbol) on his uniform. I suspect this wouldn't be allowed....

The first half of the films deals with the new recruits brutal training, and those who aren't up to the training can only expect humiliation and brutality. Private 'Pile' is the example in this film, who suffers greatly and eventually cracks.

The second half of the film deals mainly with one platoons attempt to deal with an enemy sniper. Prior to this we are shown the long periods of boredom that soldiers have to deal with. However when the combat comes it is nightmarish in the extreme.

This is all wonderfully filmed by Kubrick, with the training camp scenes and the shattered Vietnam like town near the end being memorable highlights. R Lee Ermey steals the acting honours without actually acting! As Gny Sgt Hartman he is perfectly cast for one very good reason. He served 11 years in the Marine Corps. He totally dehumanises the recruits, which of course you have to do if they are to become good soldiers.

If I had one criticism of the film its that sometimes it was little to clinical in the messages it sent out about the horrors of war - maybe preachy is a better way of saying it. I agree with many of its sentiments, however it might have been a better film without so much of that element.

This doesn't detract though, from what is still one of the great war movies. Add in the commentary track as a bonus and its easily worth 5 stars.

Widescreen not
Review date: 2008-07-06 Rating: 8 out of 10

I bought this copy thinking I was getting a widescreen version.But unfortunatly, although this the aspect ratio is indeed 1.78:1 , it is in fact just a cut down from the 1.33:1, so a waste of money.I dont think Kubrick shot in 'widescreen' looking at his other films,but I thought I would take a chance.So keep your old version and expand it to fit your widescreen telly.The film it's self is superb.But you already know that.

At last... a widescreen version!
Review date: 2008-04-01 Rating: 10 out of 10

I won't go into any detail about the film as most people already know what it's about. This review is about the DVD itself.

Just to let you know that the film is finally available in 1.85:1 on this DVD. I waited years for this release as I have a widescreen TV and I always get my films in widescreen if possible. I had the original 1.33:1 R1 version, but sold that and bought the R4 (which is EXACTLY the same DVD) of this about six months ago as I couldn't wait for the R2 release. The sound is now in 5.1 surround and the picture quality is much improved with the anamorphic widescreen. There is also a new featurette made for the DVD and various commentaries, including Gny. Sgt. Hartman himself R. Lee Ermey.

Incidentally most Warner Bros., Universal and 20th Century Fox R2 or R4 DVDs are actually both R2/R4. They don't always tell you this on the casing, but it means they only need to produce one PAL version of a DVD for the world.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Vincent D'Onofrio
R. Lee Ermey
Matthew Modine
Adam Baldwin
Dorian Harewood

Creators:
Matthew Modine (Primary Contributor)
Adam Baldwin (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321902184708
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-03-03
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 112 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1987
Language: English (Unknown)
Language: English (Subtitled)

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