History Film / FullMetalJacket

* RockBeatsLaser: The soldiers are told to be the finest warriors the Free World can produce, and they are pinned down by [[spoiler: a fourteen-year girl with an assault rifle.]]
* SadisticChoice: As a result of the PinnedDown situation described above. [[spoiler:Do you watch your friend scream in agony as a sniper continues to riddle his body with bullets, or run out to help him, likely getting yourself killed as well as a result?]]

* SchmuckBait: [[spoiler: Crazy Earl falls for a booby-trapped stuffed rabbit in the middle of a wrecked building, and dies when he trips the bomb.]]

** Whoring and comparing body counts are the most popular hobbies in 'Nam.
** Inverted by the Viet Cong, as they launch the Tet offensive during the Vietnamese New Year to surprise the Americans, who had assumed the party would halt the warring. Joker brings up rumors about a breaking of the cease-fire agreement, but his Lieutenant [[CassandraTruth disregards it]].
* SecretSnackStash: The overweight Private Pyle steals and stashes a jelly donut for him to eat later. Unfortunately, it's discovered by the sarge. He forces Pyle to eat the donut while handing out collective punishment to the rest of the recruits. They later beat Pyle as revenge.

* SemperFi: Gunny Hartman believes that the Marines are an elite unit of killers. However, the Marines we see in Vietnam are largely disorganized and demotivated, and they aren't very effective against the VC sniper [[spoiler:who turns out to be a teenage girl.]]

** Lawrence of what? [[Film/LawrenceOfArabia of Arabia?]] [...] only sailors and faggots are called Lawrence.

** A remarkable aversion is visible during Cowboy's final scene, where a building that resembles the monolith of ''2001'' is visible. Kubrick described it as an "extraordinary accident".

-->"Hiiiii.. Jooooker..."

** Where do we ''start''... [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Animal Mother]] is probably the most spectacular example
** ...as is the Door Gunner who shoots up rice paddies and farmers. He turns it up to eleven.
** The entire ''point'' of the film. [[spoiler: See how Leonard has to become crazy to be a ''good soldier''.]] This is keeping with the concept of dehumanization.

*** Hartman himself gets a few minor examples in that some of the disciplinary tactics he reserves for Pyle arguably cross into psychological abuse territory.
** Crazy Earl, who "befriends" with a dead NVA soldier and keeps his corpse on a chair at the Lusthog Squad camp.

* SockItToThem: The infamous "blanket party" scene, where everyone [[spoiler: puts a bar of soap in a sock, and participates in a run-by pummeling of Leonard]].

-->'''Sgt. Hartman: ''' Private Joker is silly and he's ignorant but he has guts, and guts is enough.

* ReliablyUnreliableGuns: Joker's rifle jams on him at the worst moment in the climax.

* HandGun: Joker pulls out his sidearm, a [[CoolGuns/{{Handguns}} M1911]], when confronting the sniper after finding out his M16 has either jammed or is out of ammo. Shortly after, he uses it to finish her off.

** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and [[DefiedTrope defied]] when Hartman asks Joker whether he believes in the Virgin Mary. Joker says "no". Hartman slaps Joker, and then asks him whether he believes in the Virgin Mary now. Joker still says "no", explaining that he believes [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption any answer he gives will be wrong]] and that Hartman will only punish Joker harder for reversing himself. Hartman [[TakeAThirdOption responds by]] [[PromotionNotPunishment promoting Joker to squad leader]], stating that "Private Joker is silly and ignorant, but he's got guts, [[ThePeterPrinciple and guts is enough]]."

* MundaneMadeAwesome: Just about anything Hartman does, but special mention goes to the footlocker scene, where he reacts to the presence of a jelly doughnut ("What is that?"..."What the fuck is that?!"..."WHAT IS THAT, PRIVATE PYLE!?") like he's watching some horrifically {{Squick}}-y shock video.
* MurderSuicide: After [[spoiler: Private Pyle kills Sgt. Hartman, he seems to realize that he'll be severely punished, perhaps even executed, for his crime, and shoots himself in the mouth. Or, he's just in a world of shit and doesn't want to live anymore regardless]].

** After meeting Joker, Hartman sarcastically tells him that "you can come over to my house and fuck my sister." Followed by a punch to Joker's gut.
** Subverted; while cleaning the head (bathroom) Joker says to Cowboy "I wanna slip my tube steak into your sister. What'll you take in trade?" to which Cowboy simply replies "What've you got?" Cowboy later brings it up again in Vietnam when he asks if Joker has been getting any, to which Joker replies, "Only your sister".

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Hartman's overly harsh manner, combined with the marines' abuse of Pyle eventually push him to become a model soldier... only for him to spiral into insanity as they have pushed him past his breaking point, leading to his murder of Hartman and his own death as he commits suicide.
* NicknamingTheEnemy: The Marines casually use the disparaging word "gook" more often than "Vietnamese". The neutral moniker "Charlie" is also used sporadically.
* NoodleIncident: At one point, Pyle is seen walking behind the grunts marching in parade formation, sucking his thumb with his pants around his ankles and holding his rifle by the barrel. Why is never explained (though it was presumably a punishment [[{{Jerkass}} Hartman]] meted out on him).
* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Cowboy actually wants to leave [[spoiler:Eightball and Doc Jay]] behind, realizing that they can't save them anyway, and the sniper is trying to lure the rest of the Marines out. However, Animal Mother refuses to follow his orders.

** Hartman, upon being informed that [[spoiler: Private Pyle has a full magazine, and is locked and loaded.]]

** Animal Mother, when his attempt to [[spoiler: rescue Eightball and Doc Jay leads to their deaths and a near-miss with the sniper.]]
** Joker, when he [[spoiler: tries to shoot the VC sniper in the back, only to hear a click, indicating his rifle is jammed and he just let the sniper know he's there.]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Most of the Marines. Joker, Cowboy, Rafterman, Animal Mother, and 8-Ball. Leonard Lawrence is called by his nickname [[Series/GomerPyleUSMC Gomer Pyle]] so frequently that it seems like his actual name.
* OnlySaneMan: In the Lusthog Squad, Cowboy. Everyone else appears to be just plain insane.

--> '''Joker''': Only your sister.
--> '''Cowboy''': Well, better my sister than my mom, though my mom's not bad.

-->'''Hartman:''' Outstanding, Private Pyle. I think we finally found something that you do well!
** There is a cruel subversion earlier on. At one point Hartman sings "Happy Birthday" to the parade, implying that it is a special day for one of the recruits, only he ends it with "Happy Birthday Dear Jesus" and it's Christmas... with no letters or presents, just a mandatory chapel service.
* PhysicalFitnessPunishment: Hartman [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure punishes the squad for Pyle's failures]] with physical exercise.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: All of the soldiers are openly racist.

* PropagandaMachine: The ''Stars and Stripes'', which hires Joker.

** "I ''AM''... in a world... of shit."
* RatedMForManly: While the movie is a deconstruction of the tribal, primal nature of war and the military with some over-the-top elements that verge on TestosteronePoisoning, there are still plenty of gutsy themes associated with traditional masculinity as well such as hijinx, mixed with strength, bravery, and vitriolic comradeship.
* ARealManIsAKiller: An implicit motto of the Corps, which serves to underscore the dehumanization motifs. The recruits stop being pukes and maggots when they become Marines, the Marines want killers, not robots, and a full-fledged Marine only hatches after gaining the ThousandYardStare, often associated with his first kill.

* KickTheDog: The Door Gunner is not happy enough killing unarmed civilians, he also goes out of his way to kill their water buffaloes, all of said kills being certified.
** The entire platoon gets one when they torture poor Pyle with the blanket party.

* LeadTheTarget: The door gunner's procedure regarding slower and smaller targets... if you want to shoot women and children, you just don't lead them so much.

* LeeroyJenkins: Doc Jay can't be bothered to wait for tank support and runs in to save Eightball from the sniper. A decision that [[spoiler:costs his and Cowboy's life]]. Animal Mother does the same thing, but fares better due to having a bigger gun.

* ManHug: Joker and Cowboy share a rather heartfelt one when they are reunited.

** Private Joker, "a fucking comedian".

** Private Eightball, as '8' ball in billiards is all-black.
* MercyKill: [[spoiler: The VC sniper asks for this. Joker eventually performs it, and the rest of the squad compliment him on his cold-blooded killing, when it was really an act of mercy.]]

** Though it was not unheard of for Canadians to join the US Military and volunteer to go to Vietnam.

** In-universe, done intentionally by Joker. In a meeting with his fellow "Stars and Stripes" Marines, after being informed by Lt. Lockhart about the Tet offensive by the NVA and how bad the situation is, Joker, asks, after a few moments of silence, "[[BrickJoke Sir, does this mean that Ann-Margret's not coming?]]"
** There are numerous mood whiplashes in the film: 1. The opening 3–4 minutes with the heads being shaved followed by Hartman's rant are somewhat amusing. We could all relate to Pyle's stupid little grin, until he's choked and asked "are you through grinning yet?" He is, and so is the audience. 2. Rounds and rounds of fire being exchanged, cease fire, tense moments of silence...then "Surfin' Bird." by The Trashmen starts. 3. Standing over the body of their dead commander: "you're going home now". "Semper Fi". "We're mean Marines sir". "Better you than me."
** After the horrific MurderSuicide, the next shot is of the hooker walking to the tune of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'".
** When Joker and Rafterman arrive at the burial site, they press a nearby lieutenant for details. He's clearly annoyed, until they reveal they are reporters for Stars and Stripes. He warms to them at once.
*** Taken even further, as he describes the horrific details as he repeatedly cheeses for the pictures.

** Gunnery Sergeant Hartman was specifically played by ex-drill sergeant Creator/RLeeErmey as a bully who sucks at his job. Hartman spends his time berating his recruits more than instructing them, eventually latching onto one who's clearly out of his element. Nicknaming him after a dimwit from a popular TV show, Hartman proceeds to encourage the rest of his trainees to mistreat the poor guy in an attempt to break his mind.
** The door gunner is a sociopathic sadist who enjoys warfare far more than he should. While transporting Joker to his destination, he picks off every Vietnamese person he sees, soldier or civilian, with a smile on his face. claiming they're all the enemy whether it's true or not. His last line is him jokingly asking "Ain't war hell?," despite clearly loving it.

-->'''Recruit:''' Sir! Five foot nine sir!\\
'''Hartmann:''' Five foot nine, I didn't know they stacked shit that high!

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: The second Vietnamese prostitute is a petite young woman (Cowboy greets her with "Good morning, little schoolgirl!") Next to Animal Mother (played by the 6'4 tall Adam Baldwin), she looks like a child.

* ICallItVera: Enforced by [=GySgt=] Hartman, taken very seriously by Pvt. Pyle. His weapon's name is Charlene.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: The sniper, who gets mortally wounded - perhaps paralyzed - in the firefight with Rafterman

* IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure: After a routine inspection turns up a stolen jelly doughnut in Pvt. Pyle's footlocker, [[DrillSergeantNasty Gunnery Sergeant Hartman]] comes to the conclusion that reprimanding Pyle will solve nothing. So he announces to the platoon that from that point on, whenever Pyle screws up, everyone else will have to do [=P.T.=] while he just looks at them, in the hopes that this will motivate Pyle into becoming a proper Marine. [[GoneHorriblyRight It works,]] but probably [[SanitySlippage not in the way Hartman intended.]]
* ImportantHaircut: The opening montage is of new recruits with many varied hairstyles, colours, lengths, etc undergoing the ritual head shave of the Marines, emerging with identical buzzcuts.
* ImprovisedWeapon: When Leonard shows that he's not quite making the cut in boot, even under Joker's tutelage, the recruits each wrap their soap bars into a towel, making what's essentially a low-end blackjack. Cowboy gags Leonard with a pair of socks, a few others hold him down with the help of a blanket, and the rest quickly take turns hitting Leonard, except Joker, who hesitates and then furiously hits Leonard several times. Joker was the one who was trying desperately to get Leonard to get up to snuff, and failed to motivate him to do so.
* InsistentTerminology: "''This'' is my rifle, ''this'' is my gun...." TruthInTelevision.
* IntimidationDemonstration: After a Vietnamese boy steals a camera and tosses it to his friend on a bike, he turns around and starts doing a [[AllAsiansKnowMartialArts series of palm strikes]] in the air and making fierce screams, then does a spin kick. Joker then proceeds to imitate him from a distance...with a single, half-assed jumpkick.
* IronicJuxtaposition: Joker wears a peace sign on his shirt, while his helmet says, "Born to Kill." ("I think I was trying to suggest something about [[UsefulNotes/CarlJung the duality of man]], sir.") This is most noticeable during the final scene, when Joker executes the female sniper. Both the "Born to Kill" phrase and the peace sign are visible as Joker struggles to pull the trigger. The exact moment the sign is obscured, he kills her.

* IronicNurseryTune: The film ends with the marines marching through burning ruins back to camp while singing the "Mickey Mouse March".

* JustPlaneWrong: A minor offender — the helicopter which transports Joker and Rafter Man to Hue is British built Westland Wessex — a licence variant of Sikorsky HUS-1/UH-34 used by the USMC in the war, but powered by turboshaft engines and thus with minor yet visible visual differences.

** In the 1960s it was acceptable for Drill Sergeants to strike recruits, but no longer.
** Same goes for the infamous "This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for fighting, this is for fun."
** Also applies to the "Eskimo pussy is mighty cold" cadence that the recruits chant while running. In general, this was a lot more common before women were integrated into the US military in the 1970's. The military was allowed to get away with chanting cadences that had more sexual references or sex-related humor in them.

* DespairEventHorizon: Private Pyle

* DontCelebrateJustYet: [[spoiler: The night past the graduation, Pyle kills Hartman and himself.]]

** The German dub changed Private Pyle's nickname to "Private Paula", replacing the insult of being an incompetent Marine (as Gomer Pyle was on ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow'') with one of being a woman. "Private Snowball" became "Private Scheewittchen", which means "Private Literature/SnowWhite," keeping the IronicNickname [[{{Woolseyism}} and adding the additional insult of being like a fairy princess]].
** The French dub changes "Private Snowball" into "Engagé Blanche-Neige" ("Private Snow White", again). "Gomer Pyle"[=/=]"Private Pyle" becomes "Grosse Baleine" ("Fat Whale") and "Engagé Baleine" ("Private Whale"). Animal Mother becomes "Brute Epaisse" ("Dumb Brute").
* EmpathyDollShot: [[spoiler: Subverted. One of the Marines finds an oversized stuffed rabbit lying in the rubble of Hue, and picks it up out of confusion. It's attached to an ''antipersonnel mine''. Boom.]]
* EtTuBrute: During the "blanket party," what really hurts Pyle the most was Joker, whom Pyle looked up to for helping him get his act together, taking extra swings after the other recruits went back to their bunks.

* FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: Namely, Hartman staring down the barrel of a loaded M-14 being held by a visibly deranged recruit that had just that day gotten word that he made it through to proper infantry. He may have thought "Private Pyle" wasn't going to shoot at all, or that yelling him down would work as it always had, but either you are [[AxCrazy officially insane - a Section 8]], have a death wish, or [[YouGotGuts have to have a set]] in order to look your potential murderer in the eye and scream in a rage "[[DefiantToTheEnd WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION, NUMBNUTS?!]] [[FreudianExcuse DIDN'T MOMMY AND DADDY SHOW YOU ENOUGH ATTENTION WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD?!?!]]"

* TheFilmOfTheBook: Based on the novel, "The Short Timers" by Gustav Hasford.

* FreudianExcuse: Invoked by Gunny Hartman to Leonard/Pyle. [[spoiler:Doubles as last words, as Leonard kills him after.]]
--> '''Hartman''': What is your major malfunction, numbnuts? Didn't mommy and daddy show you enough attention when you were a child?
* GenderedInsult: As explained in DubNameChange, the German version nicknames Leonard Lawrence as "Private Paula" on account of his ineptitude.
* TheGenericGuy: Doc Jay, Donlon and Rock.

* GoryDiscretionShot: Averted for the most part, it's a Kubrick film, but played straight with [[spoiler:The Sniper's]] death.
* GraduationForEveryone: Pyle included [[spoiler: though [[DontCelebrateJustYet he does not live a full day longer]].]]

* HandGun: Joker pulls out his sidearm, a [[CoolGuns/{{Handguns}} M1911]] when confronting the sniper after finding out his M16 is out of ammo. Later uses it to finish her off.
* HappyBirthdayToYou: Hartman orders his recruits to sing the song for Christmas.

* DeepSouth: Invoked by Gunny Hartman when he gives Cowboy his nickname, saying "Only steers and queers come from Texas."[[note]] AND YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE A STEER TO ME, SO THAT KINDA NARROWS IT DOWN! [[/note]]

* {{Deconstruction}}: The first half of the Vietnam segment is filmed in a deliberately flashy Hollywood style, with heroic and badass American soldiers taking out hordes of Vietcong with surprising ease. This is explicitly pointed out by a U.S. soldier who says "This is Vietnam: The Movie!" to a cameraman, and later Joker's unit are shown lounging on a bunch of seats pulled out of a cinema. When they "exit" through the cinema door into the real war, the film takes a much more realistic and chilling tone, the soldiers are much less invincible, and the single ColdSniper they're going up against turns out to be [[spoiler:a ChildSoldier]].

* BreakTheCutie: Private Gomer Pyle gets it worse than the rest of the recruits due to being overweight and mentally slow, most of it at the hands of the original DrillSergeantNasty. The worst of it comes when [[spoiler: the other recruits, pissed off after the entire platoon is punished due to Hartman finding a jelly doughnut in Pyle's foot locker, throw him a blanket party by pinning him to his bunk with a blanket and beating the crap out of him with bars of soap wrapped in bath towels]]. All this eventually leads to [[spoiler:his psychotic breakdown, his murder of Hartman, and his ultimate suicide]].

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: When Hartman catches Pyle with a stolen jelly donut, he institutes a new rule -- Pyle's screw-ups will draw punishment for everyone in the platoon ''except'' him. First he has to stand there and eat the donut while the other recruits do push-ups. Later, he sits with his cover on backwards and his thumb in his mouth as the others do burpees. [[spoiler:They eventually respond by pinning him to his bunk and beating him with bars of soap).]]

* CoupDeGrace: [[spoiler:Joker gives one to the teenage VC sniper after the rest of the squad gives him an ultimatum -- either he finishes her off, or they leave her to die]].

* CruelMercy: After confiscating a jelly donut from Pyle's footlocker, Hartman comes to the conclusion that punishing Pyle for his failures is accomplishing nothing. Therefore, he will no longer punish Pyle when he fucks up... [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure the rest of the platoon will be punished instead]], hopefully motivating him to do better.

* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: Hartman makes threats like: "I will unscrew your head and shit down your neck!" and "I will gouge out your eyeballs and skullfuck you!" and "I will PT you all so hard, your asses will be sucking buttermilk!"

-->'''Cowboy''': Tough break for Hand Job. He was all set to get shipped out on a medical.\\

* DeadGuyOnDisplay: The Hotel company keeps a dead ''Vietnamese soldier'' resting with them. They are otherwise respectful towards him, as he is considered a WorthyAdversary.
* DeadlyEuphemism: Openly admitted to by Lt. Lockhart when he tells one of the "Stars and Stripes" Marines to substitute the phrase "Search and Destroy" with "Sweep and Clear".

** [[spoiler: Gunny Hartman]]. More emphasis on this in the book than in the movie. In the book, when he gets shot, before he dies, he says "[[spoiler: Private Pyle, I'm so proud." (He's glad that was finally able to make him a killer, which he had been struggling to do all through boot camp.)]]

* BittersweetEnding: On one hand, the war ain't over yet and Joker's got a whole lot more hell in store for him; he's in a [[ArcWords world of shit]], but he's not afraid and he's happy to be alive. On the other hand, he's just [[spoiler: shot a mortally wounded ''child soldier'' in the head after she begged him to put her out of her misery, and he's watched his best friend get shot in the back and held him as he died. Even though he states that he is glad to be alive, marching away through the smoke with his comrades and singing [[SoundtrackDissonance the Mickey Mouse Club theme song]], it is apparent that he is a profoundly changed man and will never be the same.]]

** Joker references actor Creator/JohnWayne during both segments. First in the boot camp segment, in his very first line in the film, when he says out loud and in Wayne's voice, after Gunny Hartman's opening speech, "Is that you, John Wayne? Is this me?". He repeats the line later during the Vietnam segment, while the Marines are being filmed while going into Hue to take the city back from the NVA.
** "A world of shit". Gunny Hartman first tells the recruits during marksmanship training that this is what they will be in if they hesitate in combat. It's referred to at the end of both of segments. At the end of the boot camp segment, Joker, after, [[spoiler: finding the crazy Leonard in the head with his rifle, tell him that if Hartman catches them, they'll "both be in a world of shit" to which Leonard replies, "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis I AM...in a world...of shit.]]"]] At the end of the Vietnam segment, Joker says, during his closing narration, "I am in a world of shit."
** Gunny Hartman said to the recruits when they got their rifles: "You will give your rifle a girl's name! Because this is the only pussy you people are going to get! Your days of finger-banging old Mary Jane Rottencrotch through her purty pink panties are over!" In the closing narration, Joker says: "My thoughts drift back to erect nipple wet dreams about Mary Jane Rottencrotch and the Great Homecoming Fuck Fantasy."
** The RealLife Marine Corps Rifleman's Creed. An abridged version is first said by the recruits in unison as they're lying in bed before lights out. It's later repeated [[spoiler: partially and very loudly by Leonard after he snaps and is in the head with his rifle]].
** MickeyMouse is referred to at the end of both segments. At the end of the boot camp segment, Gunny Hartman yells "What is this Mickey Mouse shit." At the end of the Vietnam segment, the Marines are singing the theme song to ''Series/TheMickeyMouseClub'' as they march away from the burning city of Hue. Also a FreezeFrameBonus: look toward the background of Lt. Lockhart's office at the right time and guess what you'll see? Figurines of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
** Probably the darkest call back of the whole movie. Joker gets heckled for claiming he's seen combat when the veterans listen to his [[BadassBoast badass boasts]]. Payback calls B.S. on him because he doesn't have the thousand-yard-stare. Much later, in the last moments of the movie, [[spoiler: Joker wills himself to finish off a teenage sniper... and as the tension and shock from pulling the trigger wears off, he's transfixed with a thousand-yard-stare of his own.]]

* CargoShip: In-universe example. Gunny Hartman orders the recruits to give their rifle a girl's name "Because this is the only pussy you people are going to get!" Private Pyle, after he goes insane, seems more than a little doting over his rifle (Charlene, if you were wondering).
* CassandraTruth: After the Hue sniper kills Eightball and Doc Jay, Cowboy tells the squad they need to cut their losses and move out, because this setup is a trap and it's going to get more of them killed if they fall for it. [[spoiler: He's right... and he's the only one subsequently killed.]]

* ChildSoldier: [[spoiler:The ColdSniper of Hue is a fourteen year old girl. She gets riddled with bullets and finished off by Joker, leaving him with no sense of triumph or heroism]]
* ChewingTheScenery: ''"[[DissonantSerenity Hiiiiiiii]]... [[SlasherSmile Jooooooookerrrrrrrr]]..."'' The entire scene in the bathroom is full of this, capped off with Pyle at his [[LargeHam hammiest]] executing rifle drills and loudly belting out the Rifleman's Creed.

'''Door gunner''': Easy. You just don't lead 'em so much.

* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Or rather [[spoiler:having a blanket party thrown on you makes you evil]].
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Pvt. Pyle after murdering Hartmann; He almost certainly realized he'd be court-martialed and executed for his actions, and instead decided to end it all right on the spot with a bullet to the mouth.

* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Inverted. A Vietnamese prostitute does not want to have sex with 8-Ball, a black Marine, at first because she assumes he's "too beaucoup." , and thus "no boom-boom with soul brother". 8-Ball has to whip out his "Alabama blacksnake" and show it to her to convince her that it's not "too beaucoup."

* BittersweetEnding: On the one hand – the war ain't over yet, and Joker's got a whole lot more hell in store for him, he's in a [[ArcWords world of shit]], but he's not afraid and he's happy to be alive. On the other hand – he's just [[spoiler: shot a mortally wounded ''child soldier'' in the head after she begged him to put her out of her misery, and watched his best friend get shot in the back and killed. Even though he states that he is glad to be alive, marching away through the smoke with his comrades and singing [[SoundtrackDissonance the Mickey Mouse Club theme song]], it is apparent that he is a profoundly changed man, and will never be the same.]]

-->'''Joker''': I wanted to see exotic Vietnam... the jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and kill them]]. I wanted to be the first kid on my block [[BloodKnight to get a confirmed kill]]!

* BlackIsBiggerInBed: "No boom-boom with soul brother". At one point, a hooker initially refuses to sleep with an African-American man because of his so-called "Alabama blacksnake". 8-ball has to graphically debunk it.
* BloodKnight: Joker claims that he joined the Corps to be a killer. However, he's probably being sarcastic, since he's a military journalist, and [[spoiler:when he has to perform a MercyKill, he finds it very hard]]. Straighter examples in Animal Mother and Crazy Earl.
-->'''Crazy Earl:''' I will never forget this day. The day I came to Hue City and fought one million N.V.A. gooks. I love the little Commie bastards, man, I really do. These enemy grunts are as hard as slant-eyed drill instructors. These are great days we're living, bros! We are jolly green giants, walking the earth with guns. These people we wasted here today... are the finest human beings we will ever know. After we rotate back to the world, we're gonna miss not having anyone around that's worth shooting.

* BreakTheCutie: Private Gomer Pyle gets it worse than the rest of the recruits due to being overweight and mentally slow, most of it at the hands of the original DrillSergeantNasty. The worst of it comes when [[spoiler: the other recruits, pissed off after the entire platoon was punished due to Hartman finding a jelly doughnut in Pyle's foot locker, throw him a blanket party by pinning him to his bunk with a blanket and beating the crap out of him with bars of soap wrapped in bath towels]]. All this eventually leads to [[spoiler:his psychotic breakdown, his murder of Hartman and his ultimate suicide]].

** In a meeting with his fellow "Stars and Stripes" personnel, Joker and the other Marines are being informed by their CO, Lt. Lockhart, of upcoming events, one of which is a USO visit by actress, Ann-Margret. A few scenes later, after being informed by Lt. Lockhart about the Tet offensive by the NVA and how bad the situation is, Joker, asks, after a few moments of silence, [[MoodWhiplash "Sir, does this mean that Ann-Margret's not coming?"]]
*** Unfortunately for Joker, this quip pisses off the LT enough that he reaches his breaking point and immediately ships Joker off to a combat zone.

* BrokenRecord: "Shoot...me... shoot...me..."

* TheAllSolvingHammer: At first Hartman calmly tells [[spoiler: Pyle to place the weapon on the deck and step away]]. When Pyle doesn't comply, Hartman reverts to his default method of persuasion. The fact that Hartman's solution to [[spoiler: a clearly deranged recruit pointing a loaded rifle at him is to insult him]] seems to imply that he had gotten it in his head that he could solve any problem by yelling at it. Partially TruthInTelevision; while this is standard procedure in the military, and while it's taught that nine times out of ten a show of strong force will cause a person to back down, there is a world of difference between a show of force and needlessly insulting and antagonizing a seriously disturbed man with a loaded rifle. Someone having a massive mental breakdown with a loaded rifle is ''not'' what standard procedure is designed for.
** A bit of FridgeBrilliance for those that have been through training and understand the thought process. Hartman's attempts at resolving the situation with gentleness are obviously failing, so he attempted to use the conditioning to immediately follow orders that basic training is meant to instill. Sometimes, thinking can be the worst thing that you can do when your life is at stake, especially when the one giving orders has already likely done all the thinking you'd have done for you.
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: The Marine base at Da Nang comes under attack by the NVA as the Tet Offensive begins. The invasion is easily repelled, but this an exception in the middle of a general offensive all over the country.

--->'''Joker''': Sir, maybe you should go out on some ops yourself. I'm sure you could find a lot more blood trails and drag marks.\\

** Creator/RLeeErmey, formerly a real-life DrillSergeantNasty, once said in an interview, that while drill instructors frequently struck recruits (something he states was never officially condoned by the Marine Corps), it was done more as a quick attention-getting device rather than something used to humiliate a recruit. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman is also far more verbally abusive in the movie than what is or was permitted in real life, especially when he casually flings racist and homophobic remarks at his men. He once noted that had he done ''anything'' as bad as Hartman and his C.O. found out about it, he would have been court-martialed and convicted in short order.
** In the book, Sergeant Gerheim (as he was known) isn't nearly as vulgar, but calls people into his office or the showers to beat them in private. He encourages other punishments -- some worse -- or orders the other recruits to perform them. Ermey, in an interview, once recalled one of the punishments from the book (the DI nearly drowning Pyle in a toilet other recruits had urinated in) and pointed out that any DI who ever tried something like what Gerheim did would never have been able to command respect among his recruits again.

*** In ''The Short-Timers'', the senior drill instructor actually intimidates other recruits to keep quiet about Pyle; the platoon has already lost several other members, and losing Pyle as well will invite unwanted attention from higher in the chain of command.
** Marines saluting officers out in the war zone. This is a big no-no in real life, as it identifies the officers and makes them big, convincing targets for snipers.[[note]]In a different scene in the book, Joker lampshades this: "I have just identified him as an officer to any VC sniper watching"[[/note]] Also in the scene with Joker explaining his "Born to Kill" graffito, the officer is the one who (just barely, but still) initiates the salute: the junior ranking soldier always salutes first, in every branch.
** In real life it would be practically impossible to smuggle a ''single live round'' out of the firing range, never mind enough of them to fill a magazine. When you go to the range, you are given a set number of rounds, and someone will be standing by you to make sure you load and fire all of them. If there's any discrepancy at the end of the session, you can expect to be searched from head to toe until those missing rounds turn up. Same with smuggling a rifle out of the Arms Room; there is strict accountability for every weapon on site, and they are only given out for operations, training or maintenance. But seeing as the most iconic scene in the whole film would never have happened, and the guy who did it [[ChekhovsSkill had also managed to smuggle in a jelly doughnut earlier on]] (which was no mean feat either), this is forgivable.

* AsianHookerStereotype: This movie is a famous example, arguably the TropeCodifier, with its infamous line "Me so horny. Me love you long time. Me sucky sucky."
* AsianSpeekeeEngrish: Likewise, "Me Love You Long Time."
* AssholeVictim: As much as Sgt. Hartman having to do his job (as mentioned above), it may be hard to feel sorry for him when [[spoiler: he gets killed by Private Pyle]].

The film is [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the semi-autobiographical novel]] ''The Short-Timers'' by former Marine Gustav Hasford, published in 1979. However, the script was co-written by Micheal Herr, who incorporated a large amount of his GonzoJournalism book "Dispatches from the Vietnam War". The result is an odd fusion; the plot is drawn from The Short-Timers, with the first half an extremely faithful adaptation and the second half an amalgamation of events from the second and third stories, while almost all the film's iconic dialog and surreal moments are taken word-for-word from Dispatches.

!!"These are my tropes! There are many like them but these ones are mine!"

* AdaptationAmalgamation: The film is based on the semi-autobiographical novel ''The Short-Timers'' published in 1979 by former Marine Gustav Hasford. However, the script was co-written by Micheal Herr, who incorporated a large amount of his Gonzo Journalism book ''Dispatches from the Vietnam War''. The plot is drawn from ''The Short-Timers'', with the first half an extremely faithful adaptation and the second half an amalgamation of events from the second and third stories, while almost all the film's iconic dialog and surreal moments are taken word-for-word from ''Dispatches''. This led to some friction over who would be given full credits. In the end, it was given to both authors.
* ATeamFiring: Sort of in the sniper scene. When [[spoiler:Eightball]] is shot, the group starts shooting at the two front buildings. Then [[spoiler:Doc Jay]] goes to recover him and gets shot too. Then when Animal Mother reaches them, he realizes that [[spoiler:there's only a lone sniper, far back in a distant building, and that they've wasted bullets shooting at literally nothing.]]. Justified as it's meant as suppression fire.

* AgonizingStomachWound: A Vietnamese sniper intentionally shoots an American solider in the groin with the intention of drawing the other soldiers in the unit into the open as they try to prevent the wounded soldier from slowly dying.

* HiddenDepths: Pyle, for all his ineptness as a soldier, turns out to be an excellent marksman.

** ...as is the Door Gunner who shoots up rice paddies and farmers. He turns it UpToEleven.

* ChekhovsSkill: He manages to smuggle a jelly doughnut into the squad bay. While it's probably not entirely accurate to say that this would be impossible, it would be very, very hard to do. Later in the movie, he presumably uses the same skill to sneak in [[spoiler:enough live ammo to fill a rifle magazine]].

** In real life it would be practically impossible to smuggle a ''single live round'' out of the firing range, never mind enough of them to fill a magazine. When you go to the range, you are given a set number of rounds, and someone will be standing by you to make sure you load and fire all of them. If there's any discrepancy at the end of the session, you can expect to be searched from head to toe until those missing rounds turn up. Same with smuggling a rifle out of the Arms Room; there is strict accountability for every weapon on site, and they are only given out for operations, training or maintenance. But seeing as the most iconic scene in the whole film would never have happened, this is forgivable.

* ChekhovsSkill: Pvt. Pyle manages to smuggle a jelly doughnut into the squad bay. While it's probably not entirely accurate to say that this would be impossible, it would be very, very hard to do. Later in the movie, he presumably uses the same skill to sneak in [[spoiler:enough live ammo to fill a rifle magazine]].

* KickTheDog: The [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene Door Gunner]] is not happy enough killing unarmed civilians, he also goes out of his way to kill their water buffaloes, all of said kills being certified.

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S06nIz4scvI door gunner]] for the Americans. The mass grave for the Vietcong.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The climax of the movie is a display of [[spoiler: very real and in the same very basic sniper tactics: shoot non-fatally one soldier down, then wait for others to try to drag him to safety and shoot ''them''. Then identify the commanding officer and shoot ''him'' to ensue total chaos. On top of that, Cowboy momentarily forgets he's behind a damaged building and starts to give orders, only to be shot and killed by the sniper through a gap in the wall]].
** Private Pyle's whole character arc. In a less dramatic movie, he'd be a comic relief who'd screw things up for himself and the rest of the crew. Instead of that being glossed over he has the whole squad hating him and hazes him for it.

* ICallItVera: Enforced by [=GySgt=] Hartman, taken very seriously by Pvt. Pyle.

----

''Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) is the story of UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar as seen through the eyes of a U.S. Marine known to the audience as "Joker".

** Creator/RLeeErmey, formerly a real-life DrillSergeantNasty, once said in an interview, that while drill instructors frequently struck recruits (something he states was never officially condoned by the Marine Corps), it was done more as a quick attention-getting device rather than something used to humiliate a recruit. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman is also far more verbally abusive in the movie than what is or was permitted in real life; he once noted that had he done ''anything'' as bad as Hartman and his C.O. found out about it, he would have been court-martialed and convicted in short order.

** Cowboy after his squad leader is killed in action. He's a shown to be badly suited, as he leads the squad to a wrong place, has to rely of Eightball to ammend his mistake as is ultimately killed for not taking cover.

* YouAreInCommandNow: Cowboy after his squad leader is killed in action. Animal Mother as Cowboy gets killed in action. It is implied Joker will eventually become the squad leader.

** Joker, when he [[spoiler: tries to shoot the VC sniper in the back, only to hear a click, indicating he's out of ammo and letting the sniper know he's there.]]