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R Lee Ermey was a real-life sergeant and a tech advisor, but once Stanley Kubric saw him in action during rehearsals he had to give him the part, believe alot of it was improv too...something like that anyway.
*Workshop and improv. Improv is generally done on the spot, during the takes, and is an unexpected deviation from the script. Workshopping is done before the takes. Sometimes well in advance during rehearsals, sometimes literally between the takes. While it’s generally meant to tweak performance, sometimes helpful alterations to the script are discovered and agreed upon. Ergo those are planned deviations from the script but not truly improv. (And sometimes they’re both, but that explanation is a little too “inside baseball” for a comment section.)
As a Marine, This Boot Camp sequence is really accurate. I tell people that words don't bother me, I have been talked bad to by professionals. BTW, USMC doesn't have Drill Sergeants, we had Drill Instructors.
I just can't recall the countless DI's ever, ever repeating themselves with words and phrases. Every butt-chewing, every day, for like 3 months ... it was always new, original, ad-libbed, improv insults, analogies, etc. I was amazed at the creativity and non-stop variety - flavored with varying accents, pitch and deliveries. One thing I remember that was soothing, reassuring, and so comforting in boot camp was the sound of SOMEONE ELSE getting thrashed, screamed at, and worked over - since it wasn't me - at least for a number of seconds or minutes - almost like a mini-nap. And I can still clearly and precisely hear my own "heavy" DI's voice echoing in my head, from 1976.
@@bustedupgrunt1177 Drill instructors are highly intelligent. The top ten percent of all Marines in all MOS go to DI School. One of the meanest drill instructors we had was a computer guy. I met him after his tour and he picked up Gunny out of it. He was hard corps and ran faster even though he was a shorter guy, and he had a Boston "Southie" accent. I was surprised to see he was a computer guy because I was a computer guy. It was weird seeing him at a barbecue with his wife and kids talking about sports. I suppose it's an act, no one can be that crazy 24/7.
As former army, after basic there’s nothing anyone can say to hurt my feelings, but still watch your mouth because it’s still possible to get my attention!🫵🏾
Regarding Pyle: as an experimental initiative, they dropped the IQ requirement for the draft during VN war. The program was nicknamed “McNamara’s Morons” after the Secretary of Defense.
As others have said, the drill sergeant was a real drill sergeant in the Marine Corp from '65-'67. In 1968 he started a 14 month tour in Vietnam. Half of his dialogue is improv.
A trivia note about this movie, the door gunner was originally the Drill Instructor. My dad was a marine, the first time I ever saw this movie we watched it twice because of how impressive it was. He falls asleep every time boot camp ends, but the "My name is Gunnery Sergeant.." can wake that man from the dead.
There was a draft during the Viet Nam war. The U. S. was going through so many people that at one point they lowered the entrance requirements, which allowed people like Pyle to qualify. He was clearly not qualified to serve. I was in the Army and during basic we had someone who I would consider like Pyle training with us. During gas training he just couldn't get the concept of the gas mask helping him and only knew to run. the Drill Instructors ran him down and held gas canisters under his face as a punishment for running. It's a wonder they didn't kill him. He was tortured for not being able to comprehend.
In our platoon, drafted, there was this one guy who never showered, went to sleep at 9 and would have to be persuaded to change bedsheets.....the guy smelled.....really the outsider in the group. At one point another roomie of his, with a few drinks in, took a piss on him while the guy was sleeping. He woke up and instead of beating the crap out of the guy he took that guy's bed linnen/blanket and proceeded to sleep again. All the other roommates then forced him to shower! It was a really weird guy....the one taking the piss on him was wrong of course, but there was something bound to happen with the guy.
“MacNamara’s Morons”. Aside from lowering the qualifications for recruitment to bolster the numbers of troops in Vietnam, Sec of Def MacNamara really pushed the idea (foolishly) that military training and service would aid the quality of life for these mentally deficient soldiers. This was a supposed incentive and reasoning for Congress to allow it to go through.
The Drill Sargent, R Lee Ermy, was the consultant and he ended up writing most of those lines during rehearsal. A lot of them were lines he used while in the service. Hilarious guy.
R. Lee Ermey (the drill instructor), used to call this "The Best first half of a movie ever made" 😂. And he was right. The Vietnam half cant compete with the boot camp bit.
The Director re-wrote the first part of the movie because of R. Lee Ermey. Originally Basic Training was supposed to be much shorter, but with a real life Drill Instructor it was very compelling and realistic (It was solid gold). This also saved the movie a ton of money on sets and locations, because they basically shot it as a one room play (the dorm, bathroom, and outside).
I went through Parris Island recruit depot in 1977/78. As a whopping 5' 1" and 117lbs. They fed me double rations for the entire 13 weeks, but they worked me so hard, I graduated weighing exactly the same; only more muscle toned. I ended up serving 6 years as an Expeditionary Airfield Equipment Technician. Semper Fi! Do or Die!
I went thru the island in ‘79. I was 6’3” and 140 lbs. and was one of two double ration pvts. In the platoon. We had to be the first and last two thru the chow line at every meal. Like you I didn’t gain much weight, but me and the other skinny guy had the two best PFT run times, and pull ups. I got 5811 out of boot camp but 6 months after MP school I requested mass and got transferred to the infantry. Served 4 years with 1/8 and a year and 3 months with 1/9. Woulda reenlisted if they had left me on the east coast.
Jimmy's right about Cartman saying "Me love you long time" on South Park, but I'm surprised he didn't recognize it from the infamous song by 2 Live Crew, which sampled it from the movie, or the sample of that song used by Sir Mix-a-Lot in Baby Got Back. In middle school in the early 90s, it felt like there wasn't a single kid who didn't know that line. The 2 Live Crew song actually got them arrested and convicted on obscenity charges, but was overturned on appeal, and only caused the song to become even more well-known. That whole ruckus was caused by a crazy Florida prosecutor who even arrested record store clerks who sold copies of the album - the prosecutor was Jack Thompson, who would later go on to be a famously reviled figure among gamers for his constant, absurd attacks on "obscenity" in video games throughout the 90s and 00s. He also had over-the-top public feuds with everyone from Eazy-E and Ice-T to Bruce Springsteen and Madonna to Howard Stern, leading campaigns to get them all banned from the radio - even filing a lawsuit against AG Janet Reno, who he was always accusing of being a lesbian. Then he tried suing Facebook when they refused to take down any and all posts that said mean things about him. His lies and harassment eventually led to him getting disbarred.
The two parts are very intentionally different. The first is all about rigidity, control, and structure. The second half is all about confusion, breakdown, war crimes, and chaos. The difference between what they're trained for vs what they actually encounter.
When I went through basic (1978) I ended up being personally "assigned" by the DI to try to pull a sub-standard (f-up) trainee through. Did my best, but he was way beyond help. He was supposed to become a jet engine mechanic! He ended up getting kicked out of the service before graduating. Not before getting an epic final ass-chewing by the DI, and told he would probably be locked away in a mental institution in six months.
"Drill Instructors" are Marine Corps. "Drill Sergeant" is Army. R. Lee Ermey was a genuine Drill Instructor in the late 1960''s during the Vietnam era. I attended USMC Boot Camp at Parris Island from September to December, 1974 and this was EXACTLY the way it was for Marine Recruits at that time.
The man who played the drill sergeant (he was a real drill instructor in the Marines) was originally hired as a consultant to train another actor on how to play the part but he was so good they hired him to play the part directly. Most of that dialogue was not scripted but simply made up on the spot. 11:50 2 Live Crew used it in the opening of their song "Me So Horny"
As someone who served in a combat unit with the Army, there is a lot of truth in that movie to what happens in a combat zone. The longer you are there, the easier it is to lose sight of what is right and wrong especially when you have lost your best friends to roadside bombs or sniper fire.
I asked my brother who was a drill sergeant in the navy if this really happened often... he said yes, sometimes worse. He said they all had to be broken down so they could be built up together. At war you gotta believe in the guy who has your back he said. Well he and his wife will both be interned in Arlington when they pass so he must know what he was talking about. Love you Mike and Barb. Peace from Northern Michigan.
One of the writer's of the movie was a combat writer named Michael Herr. A few of the things are in the movie actual happened. He wrote it in his book dispatches. The door gunner and the wearing peace pin Herr wrote about in his book "Dispatches".
Full Metal Jacket is a piece of art. its for sure 2 different movies, but I think the 2nd half, in Vietnam, was very good. My father was there and he said it was pretty close to how out of control the command structure was when he was in country.
R Lee Ermey was the epitome of what you'd I'd expect from a drill sergeant. Most of his dialogue was ad libbed throughout the movie. This was a great movie.
I was only 21 when this movie came out and I had only joined the Australian Army the year before so I could relate to the first half of this film. The one liners from this film stayed with my friends and I until this day. We recite them all the time. Interesting fact for you, 1987 saw the release of not one but three Vietnam films, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, and Hamburger Hill. I suggest you react to the other two as well.
R. Lee Ermey was an actual marine drill instructor who was used as a consultant before he started acting. He went on to have a terrific career as a supporting player up until his death a few years ago.
The set designer done such a good job that a lot of viewers don't realise the entire film including the Vietnam scenes was shot entirely in England. Stanley Kubrick had a fear of flying and never left England.
R. Lee Ermey was in the Marines and was a drill instructor. He wanted to break into Hollywood and became a technical adviser and small role actor. The helicopter gunner in the opening to the Vietnam sequence was originally hired to be the drill sargeant in the boot camp sequence. Kubrick eventually decided to have Ermey portray the drill sargeant and the other actor was given the copter gunner role as a consolation prize. R. Lee Ermey went onto other roles in The Frigheteners and you may remember him from Eddie Murphy's "Life" as the warden who was hired at the end of the movie.
The first 40 minutes is the best especially after you’ve really been through it. R. Lee Ermy was a drill instructor during the Vietnam war. There is always a “Pyle” the one in boot camp we just ignored him but the one we had in School of Infantry (SOI) got the zhit beat out of him before we finished. I carried him through most of the last hike (hump) the sergeants and lieutenants just walked away and took a walk while we were supposed to be relaxing
Kubrick is one of the few directors whose filmography improves with repeated viewing. Even something seemingly simple like this becomes more complex and revealing each time you see it. I remember Roger Ebert's negative review--he mentioned the documentary scene when each character delivers a perfect line in time with the camera. He called the scene fake. After repeated viewings, it becomes obvious that the scene is fake -- it's being staged for the camera. The scenes that follow are almost Godardian with characters being interviewed outside of the "narrative". It always amazed me that a seasoned film reviewer like Ebert could miss that, but Kubrick was always up to something more than simple narrative storytelling.
Hey. I've had trouble with this scene forever because of what Ebert said... I agreed with him. Staged... that would make sense. Adds the meta layer. Later on when they're standing around the two bodies they speak one after the other as well, but it doesn't seem as forced. And the interview/Godard comment is also on point. Very nice... I like it. I like it a lot.
@@steveclark3032 It also plays off the earlier scenes in the journalism room about faking the war. The Vietnam War being the first to provide extensive footage on television created the need for staged scenes. Look how much fun the characters are having, and how calm and composed the filmmakers are in that scene. Everyone goes crazy for the film's first half (and I get why), but the second half is among the most subtly powerful of Kubrick's career.
This movie was released just before I went to basic. I didn't see it until later and realized our DI's had used half of R Lee Emory's lines on us. I personally received the "Did your parents have any children that lived" line.
Before I retired, I taught Psychology and used to show the first half of this movie to my students, when we were studying obedience, conformity and punishments.
Fun fact, the crazy door gunner was the original drill instructor before lee convinced the director. Fun fact 2: the Wue Citt sense were shot in Londons docklands before it was gentrified.
My dad served in Vietnam and he loves the first half of this movie. He says Sgt. Hartman is spot on for the drill instructors back then. He doesn't like the second half though. He says it's not very realistic and not how they did things. He also says no one he knew would ever stand by and watch that door gunner fire at innocent civilians. He was just one of thousands over there though so who knows? It could have happened.
The door gunner scene was fairly tame compared to things that are known to have actually happened over there, so I'm afraid your dad's experience isn't a reliable guide here.
@@GK-yi4xv lol, I never said his experience was a "reliable guide" to everything that happened in Vietnam, which was why I stated that his experience was just one of thousands, but I'll take the word of someone who was there and flew in multiple helicopters, over that of a sensationalized movie. If you have any information about American door gunners firing on innocent civilians I'd love to see it.
Great movie. Two movies in one. First half is USMC boot camp at Parris Island, SC (those are the actual barracks in the shots), and the second half is when they get to Vietnam. Full Metal Jacket and Saving Private Ryan are the two best war movies made imo.
Jimmy, I tend to just watch a reactor's reaction to the first half of the movie. For the Reasons, you clearly understand. I really enjoyed watching your whole reaction, cause..well, cause of you. You stack your reactions that high! Inspired by this film...I wrap Christmas presents in "Happy Birthday" wrapping paper and then write "Jesus" on the paper in sharpie. My family is tired of this joke, but I ain't gonna stop!
That first part was right on as far as accuracy.. I enlisted in early 1974. IT was a helluva lot funnier knowing i could leave after 2 hrs in the theater than it was living with a drill instructor for 3 months.
That sergeant was the real deal. He was in the U.S. Marines, was a drill instructor for several years. When this movie to be done, they came to him, consulted with him and wanted it to be VERY authentic. So, he offered to be the drill instructor for the film, as well as consultant. So, what you see is what you get, and quite real in how drill instructors were at the time.
Full Metal Jacket is easily one of my favorite movies of all time! It's a shame how they broke down Pvt. Pyle, he was the definition of harmless and they turned him into a killer. Even if he didn't do what he do and made it back home, he would be a danger to society.
That last scene where Joker caps the kid tore me up when I first saw it. You realize that that may have been his first confirmed kill, and not only that, it's a child. Salt in the wound comes from her pleading for death. Hell of a thing to watch at 14.
22:20 There is also a story of a translater (who was responsible for subtitling foreign language releases) coming to Kubrick & Ermey to ask them what "a reacharound" was.
The crazy guy with the machine gun who was killing the farmers on the ground was supposed to be the drill sergeant. But R Lee Ermey was only supposed to be a technical Advisor on this movie. And the original actor hired to be the sergeant could not get the cadence and insults down. So Stanley Kubrick made a last minute change.
During the Vietnam war you either went voluntarily or you were drafted. If you went voluntarily you could pick which branch you went into. If you were drafted you went where they sent you.
Marine bootcamp is quite different from this today, but in 1969, this is almost EXACTLY what I experienced at Parris Island MCRD, South Carolina. Training was very harsh, much as is demonstrated here. The Marine Corps instilled discipline and confidence in each Marine so that when a NCO gave the order to attack across an open field, the 19 year old Marine would immediately rise up from his position of cover and attack. The only part that is wrong is when Pvt Pyle gets live ammunition for his magazine. That was virtually impossible because of the security standards in place at the rifle range.
Why was Pyle there? Now it is known that during the Vietnam War the Army experimented on if out of shape young men could still perform as soldiers, so they let some in. They found out after a few years that they can't and scrubbed it. But the ones that went through basic and couldn't hack it, they had horrible experiences in the military. True story
The scene where they pin Pyle to the bed and everyone hits him as they did is called a blanket party. There were two kinds of parties when I went to Navy boot camp in 1984. A Marching Party, and a Blanket party. The Marching Party was physical training after hours as punishment for an infraction during the day.
That was one of the great reactions to the opening sequence! I remember sitting in the theatre for this. We knew he was working on this movie for YEARS. I even remember being about 12 and seeing an ad or article in the paper saying that Kubrick was looking for young actors and they should submit their videotapes to this address, blah blah blah..... When it finally came out, I was 18! Definitely a major event. Ultimately I was disappointed in the second half, but the first half is what I call Stanley Kubrick's last masterpiece (although I've grown to enjoy the second half more than I used to. It's just that the first section is so great! Hard to top! Even for Stanley!) :D Ok, going on to the rest of the reaction!
I think the second half is something that a person needs to be older (or more experienced) to appreciate. I'm not sure if "enjoy" is the proper word, but I've understood it more and more as I get older. It's different from training the way work is different from school, or adulthood is different from childhood. It's all just chaos and madness that you learned a a few tools to manage.
@@PaulGuy I agree, I appreciate it more. But still: execution is what it comes down to, not what it means or is "about". I never felt like I didn't understand the movie. It's all execution. For instance, I don't think the scene in the barracks is memorable at all, I've seen the movie a million times, can't think of one line from it. I don't even like the look of that scene, which is unheard of in a Kubrick film! They're obviously not really in Vietnam, as much as Kubrickfreaks like to marvel about the sets he built. Almost as bad as the NYC sets in Eyes Wide Shut! And I don't find Modine a strong actor, we're in Ryan O'Neal territory, not Peter Sellers/Jack Nicholson/Malcom McDowell. He's ok, but nothing special and I don't find his narration compelling, helpful or even believable. Don't have a feeling for Cowboy, or Rafterman either. Coppolla had already done the newsreel guys shooting in the middle of battle in "Apocalypse Now" so to see it in "Full Metal Jacket", it always feels like "Sorry, Stan but Francis beat you to this one.....and he did it better!" We were expecting "Full Metal Jacket" to blow "Apocalypse Now" out of the water! We were expecting "Full Metal Jacket" to put all the other Vietnam movies to shame! What else? The slow mo stuff was cheesy to me. So these all add up! But I can relax with it more than I did, and just enjoy it for what it is rather than what it isn't. And great stuff like the scene where the guy is being interviewed and keeps smiling for the camera, and then Modine getting chewed out for the peace pin.....that was fantastic, possibly the last time we get a masterpiece scene worthy of "Strangelove"! When Surfin' Bird kicks in. Picking up the teddy bear and getting blown up. Definitely a movie worth watching from beginning to end! (But you can also just stop it once they leave boot camp, lol)
Wow, I would’ve thought you’d seen this one. Should be a fun reaction…😏 Edit: Yeah, I’ve always felt that Animal Mother was private Pyle if he’d made it.
@@perrinyone1596 No. Animal Mother was of average intelligence. The "psycho" thing was just an act. You DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, GIVE A MARINE THE M60 THAT YOU DO NOT ABSOLUTELY TRUST.
I, and I think many, feel the same way. The first half is really epic. All-time cinema quotes/moment. The second half has its message and own feel but at times sort of staggers along.
Yeah, my biggest problem is the second half is literally just every anti war cliche there is. As if Vietnam vets didn't have a hard enough time coming home after the war, they always have to be portrayed in movies like sociopaths who just want to murder children for fun.
I knew you were gonna love the drill sergeant! When it first came out everyone quoted the drill sergeant. Before I even saw it I knew the dialogue of the first half of the movie from people around me constantly quoting it.
I’m happy that you live the boot camp part of the movie so much! I was at a marine corps ball a while back and R Lee Eemy was our guest and he started his speech by re-enacting the opening speech of this movie. And keep in mind there were not only marines in attendance the marines wives and some of their children were there as well. And it was not a censored version nope the original. I couldn’t believe it 😂
Jimmy, I'm an OLD Dude! Went to Vietnam in 1970. By the grace of God came back in one piece, kind of. Changed who I am in many ways. Some good, some not so much, And some, even after all these years, I'll never understand. But one things for sure, it wasn't a damn movie. God bless the real heroes.
17:20 The shoot was over running and that actor made the mistake of asking Kubrick for more money. As a result his character became the next guy in the squad to get shot and he spent the next week of filming lying in a muddy puddle getting repeatedly shot by the sniper.
I was in the USMC from 68-79. Same time frame this movie protrated (slightly later). You have no idea how much of this movie actually followed true life. Spent 3 tours in Vietnam (3 years) myself.
First off: I enjoyed the second half more than I ever have watching this edit, so thanks for that. I am so happy we are in agreement, and film history pretty much concurs! The first half is fantastic, the second half definitely has some great stuff in it, but it's not what the first half was. This came years after all the other great Vietnam movies came out: "The Deer Hunter", "Coming Home" (both 1978), "Apocalypse Now" (1979) and "Platoon" (1986). And there had been others. So Kubrick seemed a LITTLE late to the party.....except we knew he was going to do it HIS way.......and that first section is definitely the greatest boot camp sequence ever! As you say: that beginning scene is so great, we KNEW it was an instant classic the second it went it our eyeballs, believe me! But compared to "The Deer Hunter", "Apocalypse Now", and "Platoon" (or even something like the Vietnam sequences in "More American Graffiti"!), the Vietnam section did not feel like a "new teaching". I have grown to relax with it though, more than I used to.
When the actor that had to part screwed it up the advising R lee Stepped out to show him how to do it. He was a real drill instructor especially through Vietnam. And when he started showing him how to do it The director was just yelling, keep rolling, keep rolling filmness, filmness and gave him the part. There's no way that an actor.. Could follow him
From what I understand the door gunner from the helicopter scene was supposed to play the drill instructor but when Kubrick saw R Lee he chose him my Dad was in the army and was inducted the day Kennedy was shot in 1963 he said the movie was accurate the drill instructors were hardcore
In USAF basic training, back in 1977, we had two guys who just couldn't hack it. One had clubbed feet, and all the marching we had to do in GI-issued boots was pure agony for him. Of course, he never told the drill instructor, and none of the rest of us wanted to rat him out. So, he/we marched every day and his feet just got bloodier and bloodier. He finally informed the drill-sergeant of his condition, and that he couldn't take it any longer. He was sent packing after almost completing the entire course of training ..... He was only a week from graduation. Another guy we had in our flight, was run over by his family's farm tractor as a baby, and ended up having one leg shorter than the other. When marching, you are supposed to march from the waist down (No bobbling heads). He just couldn't do it. He was eventually sent packing too. My question was always "How in the Hell did they make it past the physicians at the induction station?" You get a full physical before even being allowed to report for basic training!
19:00 I think she is supposed to represent the real life sniper/interrogator Apache, she was supposed to be very deadly. I believe she was killed by a USMC Sniper. I don't think I've watched this since it came out.
They filmed R Lee Ermey for several hours in the barracks, everything was pure improv, that means the other actors had to improv too. They picked out the best parts for the opening segment of the movie.
Pyle was there thanks to the draft. These days there are some fitness requirements you have to meet before they let you join... at least there were when I was just out of H.S.
That entire Tirade was Adlibbed he cussed for ten minutes without repeating himself once! the original actor was recast as the psycotic Chopper Door gunner NOTE: Pile (A Low-Grade Moron) was representative of "Macnamara's Morons" taking unfit solders throwing them into the meat grinder of Vietnam they often needed Minders like Joker to function they also cut training from 12 weeks to 6 weeks before being shipped out Casualties were Extremely high
This is EXACTLY what basic was like in the early 80’s when I went through, same stuff being said at times as well, must be in a DI instructors handbook somewhere
So R. Lee Ermey was so great as the drill instructor because he was one and served as a Marine for 11 years. He was brought on to be teacher to the actor but was just so good they fired the other guy and put him in the movie. It really helped that R. Lee Ermey took a lot of drama classes and did some stage acting in his life but never fully pursued it instead joining the military. If he was half the Marine that he was an actor he must have been amazing at that also. Vincent D'Onofrio is perfect as Pile and one fantastic actor in general, his portrayal of King Pin in the MCU is as close to perfection as i think we will ever get. This should infact be looked as to movies, thats my opinion.
Singing Mickey Mouse at the end was them holding onto what little humanity that they still had left. Chanting it together to make it more meaningful and inclusive for everybody.
