Fantastic movie, the first 30 minutes alone are sufficient to place it in the top 10 best war movies of all time.
Grab any Marine on the street and he can probably quote half the dialogue.
Hi, xsrdx:
I had planned to put FMJ is the Class 3 Category, though I forgot to make the Class 3 notation.
Yes, the first thirty minutes are superb! As is 3/4 of the film, which follows Gus Hasford's "Short Timers" meticulously.
R. Lee Ermey should have been nominated for an Oscar. Considering that Ermey (Who was the film's technical Advisor at the time) won the role through an on-the-fly thirty minute audition when Bruce Willis; who was supposed to play the DI. Left the set over Artistic Differences with Mr. Kubrick.
The rest of the cast of the film are exceptional. As is the film itself, for being shot entirely in the UK.
My complaint is that Kubrick should have stuck to his guns and followed the last 1/4 of the novel to the letter. Hasford's climax in Khe Sahn would have been much more shocking and effective than the final product.
Jack.