Continuity mistake: In the opening scene, Gunnery Sgt. Hartman is making his speech and passes by Privates Cowboy and Joker on his way to the other side of the barracks. On his way he passes Private Pyle standing to the right of Private Joker. Later in the scene, when he rushes over to confront Private Joker and then moves on to Private Cowboy and then Private Pyle, Private Pyle is on the left of Private Joker. (00:02:00)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Plot summary
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Vincent D'Onofrio, Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard
This is a story, told from the protagonists's viewpoint (Matthew Modine as "Joker"), of his recruit training at Parris Island (USMC) and his deployment to Viet Nam during the war. The movie is split pretty evenly between boot camp and Viet Nam.
R. Lee Ermey plays the drill instructor (D.I.) of the platoon and is everything you've imagined in your nightmnares about basic training in the Marines. As the platoon moves through its training, one of the recruits Vincent D'Onofrio ("Leonard") does an excellent turn as the overweight, dumbass who is constantly getting "special attention" from the D.I.
The night before the recruits are to graduate from boot camp, Joker is on fire-watch and finds Leonard in the head with a loaded rifle in his hands. Leonard has obviously flipped-out and when the D.I. finds the recruits in the head and attempts to get the rifle away from Leonard, Leonard shoots the D.I. and then blows the back of his head off right in front of Joker.
Flash to Viet Nam. Joker is now a reporter with Stars and Stripes and is teamed up with RafterMan a photographer. They are stationed at Da Nang, and are involved in the big Tet offensive which almost overran South Viet Nam.
Joker and RafterMan head out into "the shit" and eventually link up with Cowboy, a friend of Joker's from basic training. They stay with that platoon and get into assaults on some population centers/cities. Cowboy is killed by a sniper, and Joker joins the rest of the squad in ferreting out the sniper - who turns out to be a woman.
Joker finds the sniper in a building, and when he tries to shoot her, his rifle jams. RafterMan comes along and shoots the sniper. She doesn't die right away, and the squad forms a circle around her body as she begs them to kill her. Joker reluctantly does.
The squad then rejoins their unit and are last seen marching off to what will most likely be yet another battle.
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Do you suck dick, private?
Pvt Pyle: Sir no sir!
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Bullshit! I bet you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose.
Trivia: While R. Lee Ermey has received high praise for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Ermey himself stated that Hartman is an inept drill instructor because Hartman not only physically abuses the recruits, which is never allowed, but also because any drill instructor would have noticed that Pyle was having a mental breakdown.
Question: Why was Gunnery Sergeant Hartman so mean to Leonard Lawrence AKA Private Pyle? Why was he always mad at him?
Answer: It also promotes unity and brotherhood against a common enemy, the drill instructor.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Chosen answer: A Drill Instructor is always mad at the recruits in order to forge discipline. Private Pyle was the biggest screwup in the unit, thus creating more work for him.
Captain Defenestrator