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Vietnam can kill me, but
it can't make me care
THE BEST WAR MOVIE EVER
MADE.
--Toronto Globe and Mail
In 1982, Stanley Kubrick
acquired the rights to The Short-Timers,
an out-of-print novel about the Vietnam War written by former Marine combat
correspondent Gustav Hasford. Their ensuing relationship would consist
of three years worth of marathon, international phone arguments (sometimes
as long as seven hours), one protracted legal squabble involving issues
of credit (Hasford scoffed at Kubrick’s offer of an “additional dialogue”
screenwriting credit, raging, “Those fuckers retyped my novel and tried
to put their names on it!”), one dinner engagement (during which Kubrick
passed a note to Michael Herr saying “I can’t deal with this man”), and
one visit to the film’s set (which of course ended with Hasford being banned
for the duration of filming). Despite all this infighting,
the finished product speaks for itself. Full Metal Jacket remains
the cinema's most haunting representation of the Vietnam war and one of
the greatest overall war films ever made.
Welcome to the premiere
Full Metal Jacket website. This site is merely one section
of gustavhasford.com, which is devoted to the life
and writings of the Full Metal Jacket screenwriter. Here you'll
find extensive cast and crew notes, the original FMJ screenplay,
reviews, interviews, special "behind the scenes" insights, images, memorabilia
and more. Future updates include audio files, more images, info on
deleted scenes, tributes, and a full length, online commentary track featuring
contributions from fans, scholars and Vietnam veterans. Be sure to
check out the rest of gustavhasford.com, which features the full, downloadable
text of Hasford's Vietnam War novels, plus a lot more.
Nothing less than a masterpiece.
--George Kirgo, CBS
Four stars. A
great piece of filmmaking. I've seen it twice.
--Gene Siskel
The most hauntingly exquisite
portrait of the Vietnam war yet.
--The Boston Herald
It's less about war than about soldering -- how young men are transformed into killers in order to survive the chaos of battle...Unlike Platoon, to which this movie will be inevitably (and wrongly) compared, there is no adrenlin-rush release. Nor is one intended. Kubrick's film is as distant and cold and relentless as the grave.
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