Line #1 Trivia/FullMetalJacket


1	* ActorSharedBackground: Kevyn Major Howard is an actual photographer, just like his character Rafterman.
2	* BannedInChina: The Vietnamese Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information told Creator/{{Netflix}} in writing to take the movie out of its Vietnamese service in 2017.
3	* BreakawayPopHit: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47Vxd1O4lU Full Metal Jacket (I Wanna Be Your Drill Instructor)]]" which blended Creator/RLeeErmey's performance with music by Abigail Mead[[note]]the professional billing of Vivian Kubrick. Yes, his daughter.[[/note]] (who scored the film - that's right, a Stanley Kubrick film made after 1960 with an original score that was left in the film!) and Nigel Goulding, was a #2 hit in the UK.
4	* CaliforniaDoubling: London for both Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and for Vietnam.
5	* CastTheExpert:
6	** Creator/RLeeErmey was originally just a technician on the film, there to make a couple of films to advise the actor playing the DrillSergeantNasty on how it should be done. Then Kubrick saw his tapes... said tapes were of Ermey performing his DrillSergeantNasty speeches while being constantly pelted with rotten oranges for fifteen minutes. He never stopped, flubbed, or repeated himself throughout the whole thing. More importantly he also knew what a drill instructor ISN'T supposed to do, knowing where the line is between making a new recruit's life hell to teach them how to survive a warzone versus unproductive abuse that just wastes time and sanity of everyone involved, and crossing it anyway to make Hartman more unlikable.
7	** Tim Colceri, who plays the helicopter door gunner, served in the Marine Corps as well and saw combat in Vietnam.
8	* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/RLeeErmey was originally going to be a TechnicalAdvisor, with Gunnery Sergeant Hartman being played by an actor. When the role was given to R. Lee Ermey instead, so Tim Colceri, the actor who was going to play Hartman, played the helicopter door gunner instead.
9	* CompletelyDifferentTitle: While a few countries went for variations for "metal jacket", in South America (plus Portugal) went for the poster, translating Joker's "Born To Kill". Central America went for yet another scene, ''Cara de guerra'', "War face".
10	** Bulgaria: ''Full Combat Gear''
11	** Hungary: ''Steel Projectile''
12	** Poland: ''Full Magazine''
13	** Serbia: ''Battle Bullets''
14	** Taiwan: ''Golden Armor''
15	* CreatorsOddball: After ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'', this is second least Kubrickian film. Kubrick was brought in as a hired gun on the former (''Spartacus'' belongs to Creator/KirkDouglas and Kubrick did not consider it part of his filmography). But in ''Full Metal Jacket'', in which Kubrick has full control, a lot of Kubrick trademarks are missing such as long silences, long distance character shots, the use of classical music in the film score, insistence on subdued performances, and a feeling of general detachment. It may be due to the subject matter. Also, Creator/RLeeErmey undoubtedly stole the show and his "up in your face" style is very out of character for characters in Kubrick films. Also, Ermey (a real drill sergeant) was allowed to ad-lib all of his own lines, definitely unusual for control freak Kubrick.
16	* {{Defictionalization}}: Creator/RLeeErmey was given an honorary promotion from Staff Sergeant to Gunnery Sergeant in 2002, so his real-life rank would match that of Hartman.
17	* DeletedScene:
18	** One scene cut from the movie showed a group of Marines playing soccer. The scene was cut because a shot revealed they were kicking a human head, not a soccer ball.
19	** A sex scene with Pvt. Joker and the Vietnamese prostitute was cut. According to the actress, Creator/StanleyKubrick cut the scene because it detracted from the cold mood of the film.
20	** Creator/RLeeErmey claimed that a scene was cut in which Hartman breaks character and warmly expresses pride toward the recruits for having completed their training.
21	* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/VincentDOnofrio gained so much weight for his role as Pvt. Gomer Pyle, that he tore ligaments in his knees during the obstacle course scene. He surpassed Creator/RobertDeNiro's record (for ''Film/RagingBull'') for most weight gained for a role, over 70 pounds. He would gain weight again for Wilson Fisk in ''Series/Daredevil2015'', a version of Marvel's Kingpin that has some traits of Gomer Pyle.
22	* EnforcedMethodActing:
23	** To make the recruits' reactions to Gunnery Sgt. Hartman as realistic as possible, Stanley Kubrick made sure that R. Lee Ermey did not socialize with the actors playing recruits. They also didn't get to meet him prior to filming. Ermey said in an interview decades later that he's met some of the actors playing recruits in the years since and that they still reacted as if he'd unload on them at any moment.
24	** The "Hello Vietnam" intro scene was shot well after filming was completed. The pissed off looks on every actor's face is because they had spent months growing their hair back, only to get it buzzed yet again.
25	** Joker's participation in the "blanket Party" against Pyle had a lot of legitimate anger behind it, as Creator/MatthewModine hated Creator/VincentDOnofrio so much at the time that he channelled some of his resentment for the man into his pounding.
26	* FakeAmerican:
27	** Both Rafterman and the gung-ho Colonel who asks Joker why he wears a helmet that says "Born to Kill" and a peace sign are played by Canadian actors (Kevyn Major Howard and Bruce Boa respectively).
28	** Peter Edmund (Snowball), Marcus D'Amico (Hand Job), and Steve Hudson (Schanks) are all British.
29	* FakeNationality: The actress who plays the Da Nang hooker is actually of British nationality and of Chinese and French descent.
30	* GenreKiller: The 80's had several Basic Training movies ranging from silly (''Film/{{Stripes}}'', ''Film/PrivateBenjamin'') to semi-serious (''Film/HeartbreakRidge'', and many other forgotten movies.) Nobody bothered to make one again after this movie since it couldn't possibly be topped nor looked at in a lighthearted way again.
31	* HostilityOnTheSet: Matthew Modine and Vincent D'Onofrio apparently hated each other behind the scenes, due to their different styles of acting clashing with one another. They nearly came to blows at one point, which made their scenes together more tense. When filming the "blanket party" scene, Modine even complained that he would like to fight D'Onofrio but didn't want to do it while he was helpless. Thankfully, the two have since rekindled their friendship, and remain close to this day.
32	* NoDubForYou: While the film was released in Latin America without too many problems, it never got a local dub until 2002, when the European Spanish dub was used instead, due to the, at the time, strict restrictions on using profane language in a dub, especially in Mexico, (profanities on subbed versions were OK, though, oddly enough) and very likely Warner Bros. and Kubrick's own restrictions on censoring or toning down the dialogue in the dub.
33	* OnSetInjury: Creator/VincentDOnofrio gained so much weight that he twisted his knee during filming of the boot-camp scenes, injuring it so badly, it required surgical reconstruction.
34	* RealLifeRelative: Creator/StanleyKubrick's daughter Vivian Kubrick composed the original music, under the pseudonym Abigail Mead (adapted from the name of the family home, Abbot's Mead).
35	* ReferencedBy: Samples of the one Vietnamese prostitute were used in the Music/TwoLiveCrew song "Me So Horny". And (more briefly) re-sampled by Music/SirMixALot for "Baby Got Back".
36	* SelfAdaptation: Kubrick co-wrote the script with Gustav Hasford and Michael Herr, authors of ''The Short-Timers'' and ''Dispathes'' respectively, the two works that the film adapts.
37	* StarMakingRole: For Creator/RLeeErmey, Creator/MatthewModine and Creator/VincentDOnofrio.
38	* ThrowItIn:
39	** Many of Creator/RLeeErmey's lines as Hartman were ad-libbed. He was one of the few actors allowed to go OffTheRails in Creator/StanleyKubrick's films, who is known for his meticulous control of every part of the story. When filming the scene where [=GySgt=] Hartman is berating new recruits, the "reach-around" comment was tossed in by Ermey, and not originally in the script. Kubrick stopped the filming to ask what that meant. After it was explained, he laughed, and decided to include it in the final film.
40	** Ermey is also a notable subversion. Kubrick disliked improvisation as it usually played hell with his shooting schedules. Ermey, in a major role for the first time and eager to impress, spent so much time with the dialogue coach that he was able to finish his scripted material in very few takes, allowing him the time necessary to throw in his own flourishes --all added to the shooting script and delivered ''verbatim''-- with Kubrick's blessing.
41	* VoiceOnlyCameo: Doubling with CreatorCameo, Creator/StanleyKubrick is the voice of 'Murphy', the voice that responds on the radio.
42	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
43	** Creator/AnthonyMichaelHall was originally set to play Pvt. Joker. Hall spent eight months preparing for the role but could not reach an agreement with Creator/StanleyKubrick regarding the salary and the schedule. He was replaced by Creator/MatthewModine. Also Hall was fired for objecting to Kubrick's perfectionist style of directing. Creator/ValKilmer auditioned for the role. According to Matthew Modine, Kilmer confronted Modine in a restaurant and challenged Modine to a fight because he believed that Modine had stolen the part from him. But Modine was not even aware of the film at the time. Modine later sent Kubrick footage from ''Film/VisionQuest'' and won the part.
44	** Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger turned down the role of Animal Mother in order to star in ''Film/TheRunningMan''.
45	** Creator/BruceWillis was offered a role (either Joker or Cowboy), but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}''.
46	** Creator/DenzelWashington was considered for Eightball and has said that it is a role that he regrets missing out on.
47	** Tim Colceri (the door gunner) would've played Hartman, had R. Lee Ermey not been singled out by Kubrick after seeing his handiwork. Colceri would later create a touring stage show ''Get Some'', which revolves around Colceri showing the audience on how he would've played Hartman.
48	** Mike Allred, the creator of the comicbook ''Comicbook/MadMan'' and frequent Creator/MarvelComics artist auditioned for the role of Joker.

Context Trivia / FullMetalJacket