A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 8 wins & 15 nominations total
- Gny. Sgt. Hartman
- (as Lee Ermey)
- Doc Jay
- (as John Stafford)
- Da Nang Hooker
- (as Papillon Soo Soo)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the first part of the movie, in the sequences inside the barracks during the drill, a special lens was designed to keep every single Recruit in focus. Director Stanley Kubrick intended that no one was special and they all had the same treatment.
- GoofsOn several occasions, the word "repeat" is used while speaking on the radio. In the Marine Corps, the use of the word "repeat" on the radio is reserved solely for talking to artillery units to request a repeat of the last fire mission. The term used would be: "say again your last" or "I say again."
- Quotes
[first lines]
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be "Sir". Do you maggots understand that?
Recruits: [In unison in a normal speaking tone] Sir, yes Sir.
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Bullshit, I can't hear you. Sound off like you got a pair!
Recruits: [In unison, much louder] SIR, YES SIR!
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: If you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training, you will be a weapon. You will be a minister of death praying for war. But until that day, you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human fucking beings. You are nothing but unorganized grab-asstic pieces of amphibian shit! Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair. There is no racial bigotry here. I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless. And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps. Do you maggots understand that?
- Crazy creditsEnd credits list a song performed by Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs, misspelling the last word as "Pharoahs." This has not been corrected on any home video version of the movie.
- Alternate versionsOriginally the song Paint it Black played at a higher speed and higher pitch during the end credits but starting with the 2001 DVD re-release, whenever the movie was remixed to 5.1 (from mono) it was "corrected" to where it plays at the regular speed and pitch instead.
- ConnectionsEdited into EBN: Commercial Entertainment Product (1992)
It really is a film of two halves, unfortunately I didn't like the 2nd half.
The 1st half at boot camp was excellent, we saw a lot of character development and emotion as well as a lot of humour and really serious issues. R. Lee Ermey and Vincent D'Onofrio were just brilliant.
The 2nd half I didn't enjoy as much, it looked great and there was a lot of action but it was just a bit boring and felt really dragged out, whereas the 1st part just had everything that you wanted.
Glad I got round to seeing it but wouldn't watch it again, slightly disappointed after a really good start to the film.
6/10.
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Cara de guerra
- Filming locations
- Isle of Dogs, London, Greater London, England, UK(Da Nang scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $30,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $46,357,676
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,217,307
- Jun 28, 1987
- Gross worldwide
- $50,193,748