A former Marine Corps officer and military expert has given Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 war movie Full Metal Jacket a perfect score for historical accuracy. Kubrick was famous for meticulously overseeing every detail of the films he directed, and this movie, about the experiences of a U.S. Marines Corps platoon during the Vietnam War, is no exception.
Despite the fact that no part of Full Metal Jacket was filmed in Vietnam itself, the movie’s war scenes are incredibly realistic. What’s more, a former Marine Corps special operations team leader has revealed that the scenes of the film that take place at boot camp reflect exactly how it would have been like for Marine recruits in 1967.
Elliot Ackerman has been speaking to Insider about the accuracy of the movie, with his views informed by years spent serving as a Marine Corps officer in multiple positions. Scoring Full Metal Jacket 10 out of 10 for realism, Ackerman said the following about the famous scenes of the movie featuring drill sergeant L. Hartman:
“[Actor] R. Lee Ermey was a drill instructor, so he was basically just sort of dusting off his drill instructor movers for this film. Today it isn’t quite as brutal and profanity-laced, but I can certainly imagine in 1967 that there was.”
Ackerman added that the new Marine recruits in the movie having to recite the Rifleman’s Creed is completely grounded in reality:
“The Rifleman’s Creed was written during World War II, by, I believe, it was a Marine Major [who] wrote it, and that’s when it made its way into Marine recruit training. And it’s stayed there ever since.”
The former Marine Corps officer also found drill inspection scenes, including one in which Hartman discovers a jelly donut amongst a recruit’s belongings, to be entirely accurate. He explained:
“Obviously, it’s about health and it’s about fitness, but it’s also attention to detail. For the same reason, if you’re sitting in a defensive position as a Marine one night, and you’ve got your fields of fire set up, it has to be precise. So, it’s teaching that constant attention to detail, the inspection of everything, and the adherence to standards. And if you deviate from that, you will incur the wrath of the drill instructor.”
“The Marine Corps is an elite fighting force, but inevitably there are some Marines who can struggle with height and weight standards. I remember, when I entered the Marine Corps, one of my first collateral duties as a Marine officer in my infantry unit was the body composition officer. Once a month, I would have to put them on the scale and take a tape measure around them, and make sure that, you know, they weren’t like Private Pyle, and eating too many jelly donuts.”
“This movie really went to great pains to get everything exactly right.”
What Full Metal Jacket’s Perfect Expert Score Means For Stanley Kubrick’s War Movie
The Movie’s Accuracy Sets It Apart From Others In The Genre
Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket receiving a perfect score from a military expert is testament to just how historically accurate the movie is, a characteristic that separates it from other war movies in the genre. Kubrick is renowned for the technical accuracy of his films, with Dr. Strangelove is extremely accurate in its depiction of Cold War military strategy.
Likewise, the director’s 1987 release manages to recreate the experience of being a U.S. Marine during the Vietnam War down to the finest detail, according to Elliot Ackerman’s expert ᴀssessment. Ackerman couldn’t find a single fault with Full Metal Jacket’s portrayal of life in the Marines during the 1960s.
Our Take On Full Metal Jacket’s Historical Accuracy
Not Every Expert Agrees With Ackerman, But The Movie Is Still Extremely Realistic Overall
This latest ᴀssessment of Full Metal Jacket is another feather in the cap of legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, who prided himself on precision and authenticity in the production of his movies. At the same time, it’s worth noting that Ackerman’s opinion about Kubrick’s movie isn’t the only expert response to Full Metal Jacket.
Overall, Full Metal Jacket is a masterclass in big-screen realism that set a benchmark for the accuracy of war films for decades to come.
Military historian Bill Allison has previously criticized the film’s lack of accuracy in depicting certain aspects of the Battle of Huế in Vietnam, from the unrealistic military tactics on display, to the cinematic rendering of the battle’s location. It’s important to recognize that Ackerman only commented on the movie’s drill training scenes during his ᴀssessment.
Nevertheless, even Allison has to admit that Full Metal Jacket gets most of the historical details about the Battle of Huế right. Overall, the movie is a masterclass in big-screen realism that set a benchmark for the accuracy of war films for decades to come.
