The mentorship program is live! if you want to live like a Green Beret sign up now. Mindset can be taught and that is what we aim to do. www.thefngacademy.com/

My dad was a Marine in the late 50's. He took my friend and I to see it. We were 15 years old and I was scared as hell watching the beginning of it. I looked over at my father and he was laughing. He lived it and said the movie got it right.

I was still in the Marines when this movie came out. Saw it in a packed theater in Jacksonville, NC with a whole bunch of other Marines. Literally every Marine gasped when the DI saw that unlocked footlocker. None of the civilians got it.

Does anyone else periodically comeback and rewatch the first like 6min when they need a good laugh? It literally makes me LOL whenever I watch it.

My father Ret. Major US ARMY Vietnam Vet. Sig Corp Offer, and I watched this movie many times together. He said to me it’s pretty accurate but it’s exactly the emotional punch in the gut he felt while serving overseas in a war zone. He loved this movie and especially R. Lee’s stellar performance!

Poor Gomer Pyle, "McNamara's Morons" was a real thing. Essentially, in order to fulfill body quotas for Vietnam, the DOD accepted special needs folks; many were illiterate, and some couldn't even tie their own shoe laces without assistance. Some genius even tried sending "MM" troops on patrol/perimeter guard. However, they found they were liabilities, or reduced combat effectiveness, because they had to watch them constantly. These poor guys had no business being anywhere near a combat zone.

Drill sergeant R. L. Ermey is legendary in this movie. The discipline on the lines delivered, the pace of the verbal barrage and the marksmanship of the slurs is on an epic level. This movie is a must watch, simply to just educate yourself.

Vietnam era vet here. We didn’t call them sock party it was called it a blanket party. The blanket holds you down

I served as a Marine from Sep 1987 until Sep 1994. While I'm very proud and thankful of my time in the Corps, I wouldn't have joined if I had seen this movie before I left for boot camp. Not having full knowledge of what boot camp was, is what kept me from quitting. I just kept thinking, the worst day is provably behind me. But it wasn't, until it was.

my dad said the opening scene was as close as he's ever seen to his boot camp experience in the late 60's. A piece of trivia, the actor playing the psycho door gunner was originally cast as Gunnery Sgt Hartman, but R Lee Ermy did that opening monologue knowing he was better, and Kubrick gave him the part.

I joined the Marine Corps at 17, in 1981. When this movie came out, my wife and I went and saw it. I was sweating so hard, and gripping her hand so hard, I hurt her. That is how realistic the bootcamps scene is (by the way, only Marines have boot camp; everyone else has basic training). Now, multiply what you saw by 16 hrs a day for 13 weeks straight. Yes, I was cussed out, politically incorrect words (in fact we had no idea what that was) used, and yes we were hit. No one said a word. Although it was "technically" against the rules, it happened all the time. You just sucked it up, took it, and moved on. The DI's job is to get you ready for combat; which is a helluva lot hard then some DI yelling at you or hitting you. If you can't handle something as simple as boot camp, "Get out of my beloved corps. You non hacking piece of shit."

Hey guys, love your reactions during boot camp phase. I joined the corps 1963, this film is exactly the way it was, PLUS. My other four brothers joined after me, three of us served in country (Viet Nam) your analysis of the various aspects of the film is spot-on. R. Lee Ermey was a Marine D.I. you're correct in pointing that out. I did my boot training at P.I. South Carolina, honorable discharge 1967. Enjoyed watching with you, it took many of years before I could even talk about my experiences let alone view war movies. I'm very proud of you young war fighters, in all the branches, thanks again, Ed.

Man I love that scene. I cried laughing when I first saw it and damn near needed pampers. Seeing you dudes laugh hard till your faces were red only made me laugh like the first time. Thanks for the post. RIP R. Lee Ermey.

Ermy E Lee was a real Marine DI & the one person we all tried to talk ish like as kids! You said it perfectly with the "duality of man" for the description of this movie. Thanks for the best morning laughs in a while Boys! 🤘🏼🏴

The reason no suppressing fire was laid down is because it was the early days in the battle to retake Hue . Commanders in the rear would not believe the Marine commander on site that there was an division of NVA troops in the city . So they sent only a Battalion of Marines . Mark Bowden has a great book on it " Hue 1968 "

There’s a lot of history that is present in the movie but not specifically talked about. In an interview with R Lee Ermey he talked about the boot camp and admitted they weren’t supposed to hit the recruits, like it was in the manual you couldn’t as a DI strike a recruit but two things happened. A troop surge was initiated once the US went from an advisor role to being fully committed to fighting in Vietnam. Literally over night the class sizes doubled and they went from something like a 16 week basic to just 8 weeks. Ermey said previously if they had a recruit like Pyle they would have had the time to just drill them over and over again until they got it right or gave up, but they no longer had that option. They didn’t have time to piss about and found that sometimes a slap got faster results. The other thing that happened was a program initiated by then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara that came to be known as McNamaras morons. In order to boost numbers they drastically reduced the physical and mental requirements for entry into the military. Pyle represents that disastrous idea because someone like him, over weight and mentally unfit/incompetent, would never have gotten in prior to the surge. They reasoned that it would be okay to let these people in on the assumption that maybe all they needed was to be given a chance and that a bit of good old fashioned military discipline would ultimately sort them out. This policy is one of the reasons why the Vietnam war had the highest rate of fraggings that the US military ever experienced.

It seems amongst most Vets that the opening sequence of FMG with R Lee Ermy is one of the best scenes in movie history. It brings back the memories of a dramatic and life changing experience. It brings these two to tears they are laughing so hard.....

My dad was a drill instructor during Vietnam, and though I was born years after his time in that role, I can say this is approximately accurate to his daddy voice and style, and it worked on us. He sounded scarier though, so there’s that. My mom was sweet, gentle, patient, nurturing, and couldn’t get us to behave with belt licks, but my dad would come in and give a stern look and holler “do what she told you!” and end hours of chaos without a word of back talk. My mom, god bless her, explained to me when I was like 7-8 that this was called respect, and that we loved her but respected daddy. I was like yeah, but I feel inhibited around him even though I know he loves me and I trust him, what’s up with that? And she was like, yeah, I wish you felt inhibited about back talking me too, but I’ve just figured out your daddy is better at that, and I’m the one who you want when you’re sick or scared. I’m coping with it because I’ve noticed even feminists complain about not getting as much respect as men as authority figures, and they’re way meaner and more heartless than I’m interested in being…so, I’m just glad I’ve got your daddy to help me deal with you two. It was a heavy conversation lol. I can’t watch this movie without thinking about that moment.

"Everything in this movie comes with a cost." Dude. That has to be one of the most meta, awesome things I've ever heard. So true about this movie, so true about life.

Hey,guys...I did my BCT in 1969...Fort Knox,KY. Our junior drill sgt was exactly like Hartman. He was just back from his second tour of Vietnam (CIB) and he had some head problems. There were no "stress cards" back then. And BTW...during the Vietnam era you only did a single one year tour for each "hitch".

I was in the army in the early 80's and I can truly say that this basic training sequence was very in line with my experience. We had 12 weeks of basic which I hear is 8 weeks now. I literally laughed when my cousin told me that.when I hear people say they can't yell at you or put their hands on you now or the other things they can't do I have to ask are we teaching things now or are we treating the military like a regular business with human resources being the decider of things!? I hear new soldiers talk now about what they're not going to do or allow and I'm flabbergasted we'll ever be ready to defend ourselves. 80% of what I hear out their mouth would have never been allowed. military People now so shocked by this movie really stunned me.

Guys, I'm here to tell you, every bit of what you saw in the bootcamp sequence was 100% actual Marine Corps reality. There were no "Hollywood" liberties taken, what you saw and heard was the real deal. Semper Fi Gentlemen.

Guys you must remember this is set in 1967/8, they're draftees, none of them want to be be there, hence why Hartman doesn't just wash Pyle out as everyone would then start screwing up to get kicked out. The truly amazing thing is that this was all filmed in England.

It's interesting to see how different the reactions are between these 2 guys. The Vet is laughing, while the Civ looks like he is confused or offended. I realize as a Marine, I am desensitized to the the poop-talking. I understand why it's done. One of the missions of boot camp is to break down the individual civilian and rebuild them as a Marine. It also teaches the Marine to continue to achieve the mission despite the obstacles/personal feelings.

1:34 is probably my favorite little scene in the movie, because I identify with Sgt Hartman's thinking so much there. That feeling of just "Who the FUCK is talking back to me, at THIS moment?!" is so perfect.

I went through usmc bootcamp in 2003... It was one of the most chaotic and funniest time of my life(other than combat in Iraq and trying to survive as a civilian). These drill instructors could do stand up comedy easily as they slay you.

On the Blu Ray commentary Ronald Lee Ermey talks about how this is exactly what he actually did do as a Drill Sgt. He said that around Vietnam Basic was cut down by two weeks and he felt he had to do these things to get them to the highest level of competency he could.

The scenes upon entering Hue have a lot of dramatic license in them but are important parts of the whole story. When the 2 soldiers are killed, that serves not only to move Cowboy towards leader but also in the sequence of soldiers saying words over their bodies, to share their feelings on life, the war, purpose etc. The scene where the soldier shoots 2 enemies and then smiles as he sees them fall-dead-I think is a reference to the frustration many foot soldiers shared about the elusive VN enemy which not only often "melted back into the jungle" (or tunnels) but even when there was a successful firefight, US soldiers complained that they often didn't get to see their success b/c in a jungle environment, territory was often abandoned a month or two after being taken and so it wasn't a linear battlefront or clear territorial goals the same way WWII battles were often planned and executed. Being able to shoot, see the soldiers fall dead was a look of surprised, excitement, joy, success which suggested not only a rare event but also that happiness in successfully killing someone, goes back to the duality of man theme which Full Metal Jacket is about.

The first 5 minutes of this is one of the best of your breakdowns. What I like is that you've got this beardy, sweary Yoda vibe when you break out some of those deep philosophical thoughts. Keep it up

I remember when my mom rented this movie from Video Plus (our local 📼 rental place) and put it in the VCR… I was about 9-10yr… and then she went off to do housework and hope the movie keeps me occupied for a while… I’ll never forget the look of horror on her face when she came back in the room after hearing R. Lee Ermey going off😂 I pretended to not know what he was saying and eventually she gave in and let me watch the rest of the movie… shows how desperate she was for a little peace and a break from me

4:20, I asked my then-girlfriend to send my "comedy" DVDs once I was in country...She knew to include this instant classic in my "comedies"... And yeah, you probably know already, but R. Lee Ermey was a former SSG (E-6) who was an on-set worker when they started filming. He said they weren't even close to portraying a USMC Drill Instructor, so the director asked him to give an example to the actor. He ended being hired for the part...the actor was fired...and Ermey did it so well that the Marine Corps meritoriously promoted him to Gunnery Sergeant (E-7) after the movie came out. 10:25 "Blanket Party"*

Lee Emery was the best ever! He was a USMC drill instructor. Perfect for the role. My dad was drafted in 67’ and he would always say this movie intro was 100% accurate at least during his time at PI. He also said, you have to remember, this wasn’t the era of full voluntary like it’s been for the last 45 years. They didn’t want to be there, so I’m guessing the training tactics were such to get them in the mind of war. I’m just speculating of course.

I had an uncle who had three tours in Vietnam, 1 as forward observer and two as a ranger, and was an Army Drill Sergeant during the war. He had some observations about the film at the time. First of all... He made jokes that training jarheads was more work because they start out so damn stupid... That aside... He talked about it generally being a hard job to get them as ready as you could in few weeks. He had draftees that would try and escape and intentionally injure themselves and God knows what else. He was a hard man, funny and kind, but he had a hard life. He talked about why he went back, aside from joking that it was just to get away from his ex-wife, was because he still had friends there and it was better that he be there than they be there without him. He didn't care much for the actual war scenes, he commented that you would not have gone into those areas without leveling them with artillery first, also he said they talked too damn much...

As a former infantry marine (0331), I think it's hilarious that this review gets probably the biggest disclaimer warning right outa the box from you guys more so than any other video! Haha! Good times. SFMF!

My dad was a marine. He was a door gunner in Vietnam. We've watched this movie together so many time. Vietnam was a totally different era and the veterans could have been treated better. Sadly my father committed suicide 2 months ago. I remember hearing him scream and waking up from nightmares as I was growing up. R.I.P. Dad. Things just aren't the same without him here.

You guys are awesome! YOU GET IT!!!!! Thank-you!

Best reaction to this flick I've seen. Well done! 💯

R Lee Ermey was absolutely incredible as the DI...brought back memories of being in basic...some of the things they come up with you can't help yourself but laugh when you're standing on the line...

I went through Parris Island in 93 and my dad went through in 68. Dad said the movie was very accurate. He had a DI break a recruits legs because he couldn’t match and he didn’t want to lose the drill competition. It sucked in 93 but I only got shoved a few times and PT’d to death. lol Oh, and it’s called a blanket party :)

Sean you rock dude keep up the good work! Enjoyable personality! Thanks for the content

I think the Pyle character was inspired by "McNamara's morons", a program where the intelligence requirements were lowered to the point where some recruits weren't even capable of tying their own shoes. They were sometimes assigned a minder, as Joker is to Pyle. They died like flies in combat. I've heard of "blanket parties" in Canadian Army basic training during WWII. Draftees couldn't be sent overseas until they volunteered. They were referred to as "zombies" and were given a grey cap badge so everyone else would know. The DI would announce that if there were 100% volunteers, everyone would get a week's leave at home before being sent overseas, otherwise it was straight onto the ship. Blanket parties were a common way to convince holdouts to "volunteer".

June 1972 Fort Ord Cali.......it was called a blanket party ! A blanket went over said fuck-up and yes , it was brutal !

1. The door gunner was supposed to have the drill instructor character roll but R. Lee Ermey beat him out of it during the pre-movie training. 2. In the 1960s boot camp was shortened to only 8 weeks instead of 13 weeks, so the veteran D.I.'s thought they had to cram more stress into a shorter training time. 3. Marines and Soldiers normally served 13 month tours in-country in Vietnam then rotated out individually instead of as a unit. Part of the thought was to keep experience combat veterans in country teaching the new guys. The Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq emphasized limiting tours to 7 months and rotating out as entire units but kept experienced veterans in units for multiple tours. The army tried to keep 13 months tour rotations, although some of the units in 2005 got stuck for an extra 3 to 6 months.

It's interesting to see your reactions to this depiction of life in the military. I grew up an Army brat of a father that served in Vietnam. Army life was all I really knew. When this movie came out, my dad was shook and he said it was very much like that where he served. It was a different time but it was their reality. It makes me feel better that you two were shook by these scenes, and not numb to the message or the visuals. When I was able to serve, I saw the old mix with the new. Remnants of traditions that no longer served a purpose because we as a whole had become smarter, more empathic, whatever. Kinder and gentler they called it, but ultimately I believe a lot of bad was left behind and a lot of good took its place. Kudos to your perspective despite all the hell you know.

The scene where the company is pinned down by a sniper and they try to get support and can't, really shows how helpless they felt. Great commentary at the end.

R. Lee Ermey was something else in this movie. Classic.

The whole training sequence is all time iconic. The “war movie” I think is overrated. But Animal Mother is a legend

Amazing analysis!!!!

Absolutely brilliant perspective thankyou

Eventually, you prefer a DI screaming at you. It's when they speak softly, is when you know you're about to die. 😏

The infamous response by the door gunner to Joker's question, "How can you shoot women and children?" "Easy, you just don't lead them so much." Was from a real exchange that Michael Herr (one of the writers for FMJ) had with a real door gunner during the Vietnam War. It's in his book 'Dispatches' which is one of the best books from a real war correspondent in Vietnam. The reason why Michael Herr was able to get such great material is because he was literally embedded with the troops for days and he earned their trust. He has a great scene where somebody confronts him just like the way Animal Mother does to Private Joker in the film, and he (a journalist) makes a deal with one of the troops, and he swears to the soldier that if they will let him go on one of their ops, only if he "Tells it exactly like it is" and not make it into some Hollywood bullshit. After all, most of the Marines were not serving by choice, so morale was a serious issue. The book 'Dispatches' is easily one of the greatest war novels ever written, some moments are so harrowing, it feels like you are 'in the shit' with the Marines in the jungles of Vietnam. I read it after I came back from a vacation in Vietnam in 1999 during one of the worst floods and like 800 Vietnamese people died. After seeing the tunnel complex and sitting in old Hueys in Cu Chi, I went up country and got caught in a bad storm near Khe Sanh on a fucked up Route 9 where a lot of good Marines lost their lives (and thousands of NVA), and just the week before a group of kids and a grandmother got blown up by unexploded ordinance, nearly 25 years after the war. The first thing they tell you in country is that it's called 'The American War' and not the Vietnam War, which makes sense, but it's kind of interesting because growing up with all those Vietnam War movies you never once think about it that way.

For what you referred to as a "sock party" was a "Blanket party" in my known colloquium. Vernacular aside my Dad was in Vietnam and they had a draftee who was in basic with him at Lost In the Woods. Now not a blanket party but as am example of the same brand of squad justice i share this story. This guy was pure Pile plus zero hygiene (would not shower) and smelled like rotten cheese. He was drug into showers and wire brushes were used to mock a proper Cleaning and tearing his skin open all over, he was scrubbed back to ass bloody. While my father didn't help he didn't stop it. Cadre ignored the screams, and he never missed a shower again, objective was achieved by any means necessary. Still its Barbaric, but you needed Barbarians for that type of war. Vietnam was a different monster. And a lot has changed since, but squad justice has its ways of making sure that "Fatal Funnel Fred" (the fuck up) gets right quick, fast, and in a hurry!

That drill instructor rant is so hilarious 🤣

Guy is so humble..... and had us dieing laughing when he visited us......

Thanks for the video. I enjoyed it.

Thank you for your service. Honored for your reaction

This movie had tangible collection of actual events during war. Painfully interesting. Thxs for sharing

In my experience the military, at least at basic training level it is like a wolf pack....if you can keep up, you will be a brother that you will all fight and kill for each other ....but...if your to out of shape, if you dont wanna be there, if your injured and cant keep up, anything like that and they will turn on you....i met dudes that seemed like good friends and we encouraged each other....then i got injured and within a week drill sergeant was telling me they'd have taken an enemy ak and shot me in the head himself if we were over seas....right in front of the whole barracks.... next thing i know other recruits called me a lier and said i wasn't injured ...threw shit at my injured back....stoped talking to me....just completely did a 360....a wolf pack is the closest thing i can think of to describe it....but if you bleed....they would turn on you to in a heart beat.... at least that was my experience at basic 🤷‍♂️....of course thats also not everyone....i still have maybe 3 friends from that time who check in on me and talk from time to time....but i can tell our friendship is no where near what it used to be ....fucking injuries....to anyone going off to basic, be prepared as much as you can, and please please please, AVOID INJURIES!! .... don't let your opportunity slip by you and get checked right away for injuries, don't just try and push through the pain without knowing what it is, you could make it much worse and find yourself discharged before you even know it!

Your guys' reactions to this movie makes this even better.

I love that movie, and it was very educational to listen to you explain how and why thing's went down the way that they do. My brother and I never served. If we had, it would have been during the first Gulf War. I dated a girl who's dad was in the Navy, and he got to come home right before that. But, while he was home, he was stationed at the Naval Weapons Station where we lived in California,about 30 miles or so from San Francisco. My dad, he was an MP and was stationed at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin from '63 to '65,and served on President Kennedy's honor guard when he came to Berlin and gave his famous speach. He got out and luckily didn't get sent to Vietnam. My mom's oldest brother was in the Navy and served during Vietnam on the Enterprise as a jet mechanic. I don't know what all else he did. That was the only thing I ever heard them talking about.

There’s some truth to the joker character. I knew a force recon marine from the Vietnam Era and he said he would mess with the drill instructors. One instructor ran his ass around town and would stop him to do push ups. He would reply and say “which hand!” For the push-ups. He ended up becoming a Lt. Colonel.

I have to laugh at all of the warnings and explanations these two give on a movie from the late 80s. We loved this movie. We watched this movie when I was in the Corps. The first half of this movie was hilarious. We, my fellow Marines and I, watched it on VHS in the barracks lounge and laughed throughout the first half of the movie. The blanket party scene was great because dudes that make it rough on everyone else were handled by the DIs or the platoon. This is one of my favorite movies.

Basic 1969. What you call sock party was called Blanket Party

sean’s analysis is deep, duality of man indeed

Fuck! I feel old. This movie and Platoon are two of my favorites. Thanks again, guys! Love it!

After watching your breakdown of Full Metal Jacket I am re-upping my recommendation of Breaker Morant. I think it fits in with your discussion of the affects of combat at the end of FMG. You also have the moral dilemmas of small units fighting a guerrilla war and the inevitable breakdown that comes from seemingly contradictory orders and competing ethos. Additionally, the acting is impeccable. Enough log rolling. As a voice from the cheap seats I just want to thank you for your efforts and perspective. Keep up the good work.

THIS WAS HILARIOUS!!!. I joined the marines because this movie was so nuts. Nice work!

Trying to blend in when in Basic training, is spot on. When I was in basic in the Navy in 1984 and we lined up to do a particular task, I was second or third in line. I wanted the Instructor to see that I was motivated and that I could see someone else do it correctly so I could then do it correctly and stay out of the Instructors way.

One of my favorite movies, awesome breakdown Buck!

Great way to start a Sunday morning 👌🔥

Respect and Gratitude for your Service and dedication! It's frustrating to have grown physically and psychologically with this film only to encounter DOZENS of 'Reaction' channels presenting it via thumbnail/caption as if it were a Dragonball-Z episode. The video I also watched referring to the "Duality" of this movie was VERY enlightening!

Fantastic reaction....and very informative! Thanks!

I’m so glad that you guys have given Full Metal Jacket a good reaction, and man did I have such a good laugh with you guys at the very beginning which has to be my favorite part, gotta love Gunny’s improvised act as a Drill Sergeant, just by being a complete badass. Also, if you wouldn’t mind me reposting, here in the Philippines, the mandatory military service is back, which means that I’ll be getting the ROTC training just as I get back into school someday. What would be your advice for fellow Filipinos like I do, and I love you guys (no homo ofc but rlly), keep it up, you guys rock!

It was par for the coarse at that time the 60’s . I went through pretty much the same harassment in Army boot camp in 69 . Growing up in barrio before boot helped too . Old school dad and old school uncles who served in WW2 and Korea helped toughen me up as well . I can honestly say that today’s military is pussified that I won’t recommend it to my grandsons . Thank you gentlemen for your service . 🇺🇸.

As a Marine that went through bootcamp at Parris Island in late '90 FMJ is the only film that's ever come close to capturing USMC bootcamp. Marine Corp bootcamp is designed to break a group of individuals down not just physically but mentally too (if you can't handle bootcamp mentally you'll never handle combat) & rebuild them into a single cohesive unit that works together & responds immediately upon command. When I went to bootcamp it was 13 weeks broken into 3 phases. Knowledge, weapons training, & basic combat. Keep in mind this film is based during Vietnam. There was a draft that forced many into service. USMC bootcamp was only 8 weeks. For those assigned to the infantry at that time there was no additional training after bootcamp. They were sent straight to combat & learned most of their combat techniques by the senior enlisted that had been there for a while. Now for the door gunner (guy in the helicopter shooting at everything). The life expectancy of a door gunner during Vietnam was 2 weeks. That was considered THE MOST DANGEROUS JOB in Vietnam. So for someone to end up with the mentality of shoot everything that moves may not be that far fetched if you wanted to survive. Keep in mind this is the first modern day conflict that introduce non-military combatants (VC-Vietnamese Communist). They were civilians that had chosen to pick up arms against U.S. forces & the South Vietnamese army. Many of today's tactics came from examining failures of Vietnam. Like steering away from full auto on an individual firearm to create a controlled fire pattern and less wasted ammunition.

When I went through (Army) basic and AIT at Polk back in the day, it was in the old WWII wooden barracks. It was Infantry AIT (Tigerland) so we knew 95% of us were going on to 'Nam. The barracks were two-story with a cadre room at one end on the top floor, and the latrine same end on bottom. Latrine looked somewhat like this one, with toilets squeezed together on one side and sinks on the other side. So you brush your teeth while a dozen guys drop bombs behind you. We never gave anyone a Blanket Party (as we called it) but did have one who never showered and was massively ripe. Finally, we all gathered up and carried him to the shower and scrubbed him with those big, long-handled brushes with the 2-inch-long heavy bristles. We took off a lot of the outer skin, but the dude showered every day from then on. You are all in the shit together, so cannot afford anyone to stand outside of everyone else and be a maverick.

I absolutely love this fuckin film.

THIN RED LINE

Great reaction! I served in Korea under Reagan. Basic at Fort Jackson SC was amazing with uphill runs in sand with full gear and weapon. What a time.

Having attended Marine OCS in Quantico one year after the evacuation from South Vietnam this is by far and away my favorite war movie other than the few truly brutally realistic submarine warfare movies since I refused the commission to go enlist in the navy as a submarine Quartermaster in order to qualify as a merchant seaman with a reasonable chance of getting licensed as a deck officer or 3rd mate. And what you really get in Marine basic of any type either boot or OCS is a comedy club where the performers are the drill instructors. In other words, most recruits or candidates don’t really worry about the drill instructors because overwhelmingly they’re picking on someone other than yourself, so you’re just standing there quietly laughing at the poor dweeb who’s currently getting abused. But although we had comrades who were prior enlisted Vietnam combat veterans who coached us to just laugh at DIs, who to a certain extent we actually looked down on since they were enlisted men, we still had one member of the platoon who didn’t survive the experience, since he died of a heart attack after the 20 mile forced march towards the end of the 10 week course. I got the 10 weeks course because I took it after my junior year of college. People who sign up earlier get two 6 week sessions kind of like in navy ROTC and those who wait until they’d received their degrees get a 14 week session, just like at Navy OCS in Newport, which was the Union naval academy during the civil war. I ended up attending both. I resigned after 9 weeks at Marine OCS and they wanted me to accept the commission but I lost interest. At navy OCS when I was a QM2/SS with three nuclear deterrent patrols under my belt I immediately became disgusted and quit after just 3 days before even attending a single class since I impulsively decided to quit to first, go to the E-club to get drunk and secondly to get out and enter the merchant marine where you can get an officers license simply by passing a 3 day exam at the Coast Guard office of marine inspection.

A buddy of mine, the son of a tent preacher, had volunteered for service and to go to Viet Nam. He believed in the cause. The stuff he ran into in country changed the course of his life. Orphans were common enough and tended to go to towns and scrounge for whatever garbage they could find to eat. A woman, a VC operative, had gathers up a few of these 3 to 5 year olds and fed them. They, of course, transferred their love and trust to this woman feeding and otherwise taking care of them. On this day, my buddy and two of his brothers were walking through this town looking around. They had a little time to themselves. This VC operative handed a 4 year old girl a grenade, she pulled the pin and told the girl to go hand it to the soldiers. My buddy saw the girl and, as children do, she was holding the grenade out to hand it to one of them while toddling toward them. He faced the choice he was given and put a burst into that little girls chest. They hit the ground and avoided the shrapnel though many civilians were injured. The last time I saw him more than 3 decades later he still couldn't get that little girl out of his dreams. War is never clean though some are dirtier than others. The training, creating that brotherhood, is also so you have those brothers to help you through those insane painful moments.

Do Jarhead next

My sister was at PI in 89-90 when boot camp had been shortened down quite a bit. I seem to recall she said a recruit snapped at the range and after qualifying as expert killed the DI. She was at the range that day at a different area and she said it was crazy time after it happened. She also had a recruit in her squad bay try to commit suicide using her razor. She told my dad and me all of this so matter of factly when we went for her graduation. The stuff I saw and heard as “discipline” along with her stories I thought to myself “umm, yeah, no thanks!” But I have seen this movie and I do like it a lot! As an aside Buck, I was in my sophomore year of college when you were born and this movie came out! 😎 Also, my dad was in the AF and did a tour 69-70- he doesn’t talk much about it. When we were at PI, he did say he did jungle warfare training there before going to Vietnam.

Awesome Movie and Work Brothers, Thaaaaanks 👍👍 Greetings from Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸

Great movie!! R. Lee Ermey was a Drill Sgt. back in the day, he was the technical advisor for the actors playing DS's and cadre in the film, but when Kubrick saw him do some example scenes as a DS, he just hired him as the actor for the role, he was that damn good and natural at it from his background, something like 70% of his lines ended up being ad lib. RIP to a legend. I heard about a "sock party" (also called a "blanket party") that happened at Bragg in my time in, the used padlocks and killed the guy. Of course, we all know how stories are in the pipeline. The only "hazing" that we did was stuff like hiding kit on each other, shaving off an eyebrow in their sleep or drawing sharpie d1cks all over the face lol, fairly harmless though one guy did graduate with one eyebrow. War is hell. Keep up the fire dudes!!!

I joined the Army in Oct 85' and we had a kid who would not wash and the drill sgt's let us know this soldier needed to learn personal hygiene. So we gave him a squad shower. Not really violent but definitely a message was sent.

Wicked good commentary!

Great movie. Watched it a few times. Good comments and breakdown as usual from your guys. 💪

Though not as intense as this, I went through Marine Corps Recruit Training in Oct 2011. Unlike in this film, I had four Drill Instructors acting similar to Gunny Hartman. R.Lee Ermey was an actual Marine Corps Drill Instructor during the Vietnam War. Marines go to Recruit Training in San Diego, CA and Parris Island, So. Carolina and have Drill Instructors, not Drill Sergeants. This film was adapted from the novel "The Short Timers". The book and film are about Marines, not Soldiers, because the original author served in the Marines

WHATS UP BUCK I talk to my recruiter tomorrow glad to watch another one of your videos beforehand lol

Thank you for your analysis of this film Sir.

I want to add some missing analysis context to what you guys said about the virgin mary scene: That scene was less about Pyle and more about Joker. The point of Hartman grilling joker as hard as he did was to see if Joker would stick to his decision in the face of extreme pressure. Hartman didn't care about what he believed in, he just wanted to see joker stick to his guns, which he did and why he was rewarded with a promotion on the spot. DI's aren't just there to enforce physical standards, they are looking for potential future officers as well.

I remember watching this as a kid "What is your major malfunction numb nuts" Intense movie

Buck, I’m honestly 100% confused on why you reviewed this. I have never heard you say much about Marines; I think you never worked with them. Alot of your perspective is skewed from the lack of understanding of the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps’ purpose has ALWAYS been to make a killer mindset along with making high efficient teams. This is why many POGs are still very willing to be part of combat operations.

I keep rewinding the first half of this video! I’m crying grown man tears from laughing so much🤣🤣

I'm surprised that no one mentions that Adam Baldwin and Vincent D'Ofrio are in this movie. Adam Baldwin was in "The Bodyguard", "Firefly", and "Chuck". D'Ofrio was also in MIB as the Cockroach/Human Alien and on "Law and Order: Criminal Intent."

I reported to boot camp July 27, 1987…it sucked, they yelled and screamed at us and PT’d the shit out of us, but the thing that kept me terrified was getting a 2 week recycle for effing up or getting hurt…we had dudes that rolled through our company that had been there for months…some of them for medical stuff, which they got treated just like everybody else when they showed up, the dudes that got rolled in with us because they were fuckups already had a target on them and most of them ended up with another recycle…good times…😳

Went through Boot Camp (MCRD) in 1970. With just some minor tweaks, the Boot Camp scenes were right on. Our Sr DI was just like this. We did not, however, have a Pvt Joker that would utter a single word when the DI’s were around. If anyone said a word, I’m sure we would have paid holy hell for it. Followed immediately by a blanket party. And-no one could ever get a live round back to Platoon area. No way.

Superb analysis of this movie.

Sterling breakdown gentleman.... very good stuff