Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick, who also cowrote the screenplay with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 novel The Short-Timers and stars Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio and Adam Baldwin.
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," 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.[6] The film's title refers to the full metal jacket bullet used by military servicemen.
Warner Bros. released Full Metal Jacket in the United States on June 26, 1987. The film received critical acclaim, grossed $120 million against a budget of $16 million and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Kubrick, Herr and Hasford.[7] In 2001, the American Film Institute placed the film at number 95 in its poll titled "AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills."[8]
