May 12, 2025 • 39 mins
Alec, JJ and Mattson's discussion centers upon Stanley Kubrick's seminal 1987 film, "Full Metal Jacket," wherein we conduct an exhaustive analysis of its dual narrative structure, comprising the harrowing boot camp experience juxtaposed against the chaos of the Vietnam War. We dissect the profound impact of R. Lee Ermey’s portrayal of the drill sergeant, which many believe singularly elevates the film's initial act to an unparalleled level of cinematic excellence, yet we lament the subsequent decline in narrative cohesion and engagement in the latter half. The variance in pacing and thematic exploration between the two segments prompts us to contemplate Kubrick's artistic choices and the efficacy of his directorial vision. Throughout our discourse, we reflect upon the film's commentary on the dehumanization of soldiers and the moral complexities intertwined with the experience of war. Ultimately, we arrive at a consensus that while the film remains undeniably significant, its bifurcated nature invites a myriad of critiques regarding its overall effectiveness and lasting legacy.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Because he ruins the movie andhe ruins it in the best way possible.
Yeah, because you have thisfront half where you get amazing.
Like, I didn't know they stackthat high.
Trying to squeeze an inch onme somewhere.
(00:24):
Welcome to the what's over podcast.
We fashion ourselves cinematicjudge and jerry.
My name is JJ Crter.
I'm here with my co hosts matzand hiner.
I say, I'll say, I'll say,I'll say better red than dead.
And Alec burgess.
Let's get it.
We appreciate you tuning in.
Go ahead, hit that.
Follow, subscribe like bellnotification buttons.
Keep up with all of our episodes.
(00:44):
Help us grow the podcast too.
And tell a friend about us,tell a family member about us, tell
a Vietnam war vet about us.
But please, not one likeprivate pile.
Alex.
Enough crazy psychotic for allof us.
We don't need another one.
Whether he was tortured tothat point or not, we don't need
(01:05):
anymore.
Yeah, it's.
Look, it's week two of warmovies and we're really shifting
gears here.
We're complete 180.
We went from very civilizedwar making to the not so civilized
at all and are doing this weekfull metal jacket here on week two.
(01:25):
It was released July 10, 1987.
It was written and directed byStanley kubrick.
Stars Matthew modine, Arleyermey, Vincent d'onofrio, Adam baldwin,
Dorian harewood, Kevin majorHoward arlis Howard, Ed O'Hare, Edo
Ross.
Sorry.
And John Terry.
It's about a pragmatic u.
S.
Marine who observes thedehumanizing effects the Vietnam.
(01:48):
Vietnam war has on his fellowrecruits, from their brutal boot
camp training to the bloodystreet fighting in hue.
Yeah, Matson, this one's yourchoice, buddy.
Kick us off.
Tell us why you chose it.
Oh, it's a movie I've alwayswanted to watch.
I'd seen, I don't know, first15 minutes, 20 minutes, something
(02:11):
like that.
And I had the intention ofwatching all the way through, but
I don't remember.
Life got the way.
Never got to it.
And even when I startedwatching this, I actually watched
it the same day that we'rerecording this.
I was like, wait, I know I'veseen the beginning of this movie.
And then I kept trying toremember, where haven't I seen this?
And it was pretty easy to tellwhere the lines got blurred because
(02:33):
did not remember private pyledoing what he decided to do.
Definitely did not see that part.
So it's just something that Iheard a lot about this movie and
just wanted selflessly, justWanted to watch it.
So I was like, well, this fitsthe billing of the theme of a wide
open war movie, so why notpick this one?
(02:54):
Having seen it all the waythrough, I would say I really enjoy
the first hour of this movie.
I think it's riveting cinema.
I.
Man, the guy that plays thedrill sergeant, I mean, I don't know
if he made up some of thoselines or who wrote those in for him.
(03:14):
And I don't care if he madesome up.
He totally delivered them.
And that guy has a second lifeas a drill sergeant.
He should sign up for theMarines and go do that tomorrow.
But, like, the.
The barracks life and allthat, really like that.
I get the pivot in Vietnam andwhat they're trying to show.
The intention of what thismovie showed, I think was spot on.
(03:36):
I appreciate it.
I just think the second halfof the movie, the pacing was a little
bit slower and just not ascaptivating as the first hour for
me.
So I feel like it trailed offa little bit.
But I appreciated thenarrative of what they were trying
to show, and I think that coretheme carried throughout.
I just like the first half ofthe movie more than the second half.
(03:58):
Yeah.
To let you know,unfortunately, R.
Lee Ermie died back in 2018.
But Kubrick originally wrote abunch of lines for him, but, like,
he was so good at what he didand improvising it that Kubrick quit
writing for it and just saidgo and that.
(04:19):
So 90 of the.
That he says to those guys is improvised.
Wasn't he, like, drillinstructor, drill sergeant as well
beforehand?
So, yeah, like, he was justriffing on stuff he used to do.
Yeah, yeah.
And apparently, like, he gaveevery single guy in that platoon,
like, nicknames.
You just only hear about themain ones.
(04:42):
But, like, all of them had himat some point throughout the thing.
And, like, he only called them.
He was wild.
And like, I think.
I mean, you see a lot of drillsergeants in a lot of movies, but
I think the ones that you seethat and you think about all, it
was either him or, like, theywere using him as, like, their mold
of what a drill sergeantshould be because he's.
(05:03):
This is probably one of themost iconic performances in movie
history when it comes to.
Especially when it comes todrill sergeants, because, geez, I
could sit here and like, evenbefore we watch.
I watched this again.
It's been years since Iwatched this movie.
But, like, there's that, like,I used.
We used to shout at each otheras kids, like, when this first came
out Like, I mean, he says somenasty ass, but man, we used to yell
(05:27):
at each other, call each otherprivate pile.
Like if you did some dumb,like, are you stupid?
Private pile.
Like, that's like what we usedto do.
And then like, yeah, it was wild.
This movie really stood outwhen I was a kid.
Like, this is one of thosethings that we snuck into the theater
to see before long before wecould see rated R movies.
And we were like, the.
Did I just watch.
(05:47):
Because it's a dark ass movie.
But yeah, this movie, like, isjust as much as Gettysburg, but for
very different reasons.
A huge part of my teenage years.
Because, like I said, we snuckout and.
And saw like replays of this,like in the dollar theater.
And because it was so popular,they used to play it so all the time.
(06:07):
And so we'd go sneak into itin the dollar theater.
And yeah, it was great.
This movie did not hold back.
I mean, those couple thingscould not stay in the air here.
And I was like, haven't heardsomeone say that one in a while in
a movie.
And yeah, damn, they.
I mean, you could say some in.
1987, even if you made a movie.
(06:28):
About that now, like, theywouldn't dare.
No, some of that stuff, like,no, I mean, even the drill sergeant
at the very beginning, he'srattling off racist names of different
national.
And I was like, I didn't evenknow some of those word words.
Maybe they weren't.
Maybe he just was that convincing.
(06:51):
Oh, no, they are.
Well.
And in 1987, you could make amovie with that chick because saying
that wouldn't get you canceledor sure.
In trouble, unfortunately, or fortunately.
I don't know, it depends onyour viewpoint, I guess.
But not saying all that needsto be in cinema today, like maybe
a little bit of that.
No, of course, stay back then.
But at the same time, like, Ilike that this movie was just able
(07:15):
to give you exactly probablywhat was said back then.
Oh, for sure.
That drill sergeant was contradictory.
Because he was like, I don'tsee color.
And then he proceeded to justberate every color known to me.
And he, I mean, no, he was norespective persons.
He gave everybody their stuff.
I was like, well, like at thesame time, you're kind of just calling
out exactly what you said.
(07:36):
You weren't gonna do something.
All right.
Yeah, yeah.
And that's, you know, if youprescribe to.
Look, I was never in themilitary, so I don't know truthfully,
like, what.
I mean, I've heard stories, right.
From different generations,but like, yeah, when you talk about
boot camp, like, their idea isto destroy you and rebuild you.
(07:58):
Like, that's sure as what thatwould do.
Like, I couldn't.
Like, and that's why Icouldn't have ever been actually
in the military.
Because even.
Even if it's not the same,like, that whole, like, Taren, like,
I can't.
I don't have that much.
Me, an authority.
Can't do it.
Like, I would be like, whatthe did you say?
(08:20):
You better shoot my assbecause I'm about to beat your old
ass.
You know?
Like, I couldn't do it.
It's just.
Yeah.
In my face and couldn't do it.
Nope.
Thankfully, I only did rotc,where in high school, like, he could
yell at our ass all the time,but he couldn't get in our faces.
And because we were highschool kids.
(08:41):
Like, we were like, get out of.
Here, J.J.
that's kicked my ass, man.
It was fun, though, about that.
Yeah.
I'm watching American Sniperright now while I'm working out.
I haven't gotten too far init, but I got to the drill instructor
part and, yeah, like.
And he was in, like, the real stuff.
Like, the.
The seals stuff everywhere.
(09:01):
I'm like, man, they really didsome crazy things.
This one was much more normal,but he was just so psychological.
And I think that's what's soobviously interesting about the first
hour of this movie is whathappens with Private Pyle where he
even gets berated.
Then that the Joker helps him,but then the Joker obviously gives
up as well.
They have a scene in thebathroom saying, I think we're losing
(09:24):
him, but he can just tell.
This kid just kind of dumb andhasn't figured it out.
But then, like, Pyle flips aswitch and starts to figure it out.
And you just.
I'm.
Because I hadn't seen before,I was like, I'm like, 99 sure he's
gonna go crazy.
Just depends on when it happens.
(09:44):
And, man, I wasn't prepared for.
I don't know what he ate thatday that he acted that scene, but
holy cow, dude.
Vincent D'Onofrio is.
Has been wildly underrateduntil recently.
Like when he did Daredevil andon Netflix and he was, you know,
(10:04):
Kingpin.
Like, that's where I think hebecame globally known and, like,
respected and appreciated.
But, like, in.
In a lot of circles, Like, I've.
Since I saw this movie, like,Vincent Onofrio has been one of my
favorite.
He's done a bunch.
Like, there was one where heplayed Robert Downey jr's brother.
And they were like.
He was Robert Downey Jr's alawyer, and his brother's like.
(10:24):
And Vincent Alfredo was an oldbaseball player that, like, his brother,
he broke his arm.
Anyway, he's great in that.
Like, there's a lot of thingsthat D'Onofrio's done that I'm like,
God, he's good.
But he's never been, like, a lead.
This was the closest to a leadhe got.
And he was only for the firsthalf, and it was just him getting
his ass ripped and chewed mostof it, and then losing his at the
end, which he does.
(10:45):
So, like, that face he makeswith, like, his hooded eyes and that
shitty, like, smile, like, God Almighty.
It's crazy.
And he's creepy.
And I love the.
The twist.
Like, so when you first meethim, like, he's sitting there trying
not to laugh the whole time,and he's getting that.
You know what I mean?
Then by the end, like, he's just.
He's cracked.
And there's, like, nothingleft of this dude to the point where
(11:07):
he just does it, you know?
And old.
Poor old drill sergeant goesdown and then he takes it and like
it.
Yeah, but what a performance.
Like, that's.
And I think, to me, like, that shift.
They try to make Adam Baldwinkind of that way that the back half
of the movie, the.
The animal mother or whatever,like, they try to have him be that.
(11:31):
And I love Adam Baldwin, don'tget me wrong.
But he's not Vincent D'Onofrio.
And so he doesn't carry thatscary, cracked losing his as well
as denafrio did.
And I think the movie suffersbecause we don't have Denafrio.
Like, I would love denofra tobeen in the back half of the movie
in some way, shape or form inthat war.
(11:53):
Because, Gez, that would havebeen a wild switch to flip and to
see how that would play out.
So I don't know veryinteresting concepts, but I will
say I'm with you.
My problem with this movie is the.
The split, because to me, itfeels like two different movies and
with the same characters.
And I.
So it's hard for me.
(12:14):
And they filmed it that way.
Like, they actually filmed theKubrick filmed the Vietnam scenes
the second half of the filmfirst and then came back and filmed
the first half in a differentplace and in a studio and whatnot.
And so they're filmeddifferently and they feel different.
And you can.
To me, I don't like the secondmovie as much as I Like the first,
(12:37):
because I'm supposed to be attached.
The only character I'mattached to is, is Joker.
And even when we see Cowboyagain, I'm like that.
I don't really like ArlisHoward that much, so I'm not really
attached to Cowboys.
So I, by then I have nobodythat I'm like rooting for like I
(12:58):
am in the first half, becauseyou meet these guys and you're rooting
for them, you want them to be successful.
The second half for me, I'mlike, as long as Joker lives, I'm
good.
You know what I mean?
Like, I, I don't know.
To me, it just doesn't,doesn't work as well.
There's not as much impact asthere is in the first half of the
Match movie.
It's not a bad movie at theback half.
It's just not.
I don't find myself as tied towhat's going on and, and the characters
(13:22):
as much as I do in the first.
Like, I want everybody to besuccessful in the first one, which
doesn't happen, but there you go.
All right, I'll shut up for a minute.
I'd love to hear what yourthoughts are.
Oh, I'm kind of in the sameboat as you guys.
I think Stanley and he messed up.
R.
Lee Ermey, go wild.
(13:42):
Yeah.
Because he ruins the movie andhe ruins it in the best way possible.
Yeah.
Because you have this fronthalf where you get amazing.
Like, I didn't know theystacked that high.
Trying to squeeze an inch onme somewhere, right?
Stacked five foot nine.
First time I heard that, Ijust like spit up whatever I was
(14:06):
eating because it's just hilarious.
And the movie just takes afree falling nosedive once you get
to Vietnam.
Like, at least for me, where I'm.
I'm sure it's a marvelousmovie, but it is such a come down
from the beginning that itfeels like absolute dog shit.
Yeah.
(14:26):
And so it's, it's like youmeans Kubrick made a mistake in the
fact that he, you know, hadthis great opportunity with Arlee
Ermey and let him go wild.
And it makes such an amazing movie.
But then you cut it and yourelease an hour long TV special.
Like that's the problem isit's, it's ruined from that point
(14:49):
on because anybody who talksFull Metal Jacket, not a single person
mentions Vietnam.
No, no, never.
It's Private Pile.
It's Harley Ermey.
It's, you know the, the sockscene, right?
Where they just beaten onsocks like every, every instance
(15:10):
that's ever mentioned withthis movie is in the first hour.
Is in the.
Is in the first part of thismovie where you have going through
boot camp.
There is never any mention ofanything after that.
And so I think Cooper, like,you know, probably had this great
vision of what he's gonna do,and it's almost like, fumbled because
Arlee Ermey kind of showed upand said, hey, I can actually do
(15:31):
this better than you can,because I've lived it right?
I've done it before.
I know what I'm doing.
And from that point on,Kubrick's just almost like a passenger
trying to hold on and steerthis in a direction to go, and falls
flat in many ways.
But the problem is that thefront half is so goddamn good.
Oh, yeah.
I don't think Tay's seen itjust for the first hour of the movie.
(15:53):
We have to watch it.
Like, I'm like, baby, justgotta experience just this guy just
sounding off on people andhumiliating them.
And, like, I'm sure filmingthat when if he was going off the
cusp on some of the spike, Iwas on the film crib.
Like, where did this guy come from?
Like, what.
Where did.
What did he concoct last nightin bed?
(16:15):
Like, gee, dude, I'd haveruined so many scenes because I'd
have broke so hard.
Like, I.
I still.
To, like, seriously, when he'syelling at freaking pile and he's
like, I bet you could suck agolf ball through a hose.
Like, I can't even.
I bet you're the kind of guy.
(16:35):
Guy in the ass won't even givehim a reach around.
Like, what?
But it's.
It's the way he says it too.
Like, don't have even the courtesy.
So it's not even coming upwith it.
It's saying it and then addingthose little pieces in.
I want to know how many ret.
Had to deal with crack.
Dude, I would love to see theouttakes of that if Cubert kept them.
(16:59):
But, like, man, they had tobreak so many times.
Either that or they were soafraid of the guy that they couldn't
break.
But, like, I.
I'm going with option one.
Like, I.
I am.
Seriously.
I imagine that the reason thatDenafrio couldn't keep his together
was real.
Like, that's how I think about that.
Like, the fact that he hasthat shitty grin and, like, AR is,
(17:21):
like, playing off of thatgoing, all right, if you're gonna
keep giggling, I'll show your ass.
I'm gonna make you chokeyourself on My hand.
Like, what the is that?
But yeah, like, it's justlike, Godamn.
It's so genius, like watchinghim just.
But then this, the.
The switch flips in thatmoment where Joker's helped him,
right?
And he's starting to get histogether and he's doing like, he's
(17:42):
really good at the rifle stuff.
And then like, he's giving.
Paying him compliments.
And until the donut scene,like, it's like, okay, now he's starting
to get it.
And you're like, okay, sohe'll give compliments too if you
get your together.
But man, he just tears, that guy.
It's a jelly donut.
(18:04):
Oh, what a scene, man.
What a scene.
You.
You eat it.
They.
You paid for.
They're paying for it.
Oh, God, what a scene.
Yeah, I'm with you.
Like, that's some of the bestfilm in history in the first hour
of this film.
I just like that they.
Yeah, like, let me start withthe haircutting.
They just get right into it.
There isn't like, yeah, wedon't get backstories in these people's
(18:26):
lives.
They throw you right into thebarracks with them.
And you're just experiencing it.
It's like you're almoststanding there as it's happening
and it's great.
Like, honestly, thatperformance, probably one of the
best performances I've seen in sima.
Dude, just.
He, like I said, he shouldhave been a drill sergeant.
Like, I think drill sergeantsthat watch it probably stole some
(18:49):
of his material.
Like, damn, I gotta step mygame up.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, he said some of that.
What would he have said aboutme, man?
He would have had a lot ofmaterial on me.
Bunch of redheaded, that's for sure.
Oh, he would have been allover me, dude.
(19:12):
Matson, is your dad the name Matt?
Lawrence of what, Arabia?
Private Leprechaun.
He's too tall for that.
Yeah, that wouldn't haveworked, but he would have.
He would have had some stuff.
Carpets match the drapes.
(19:33):
Yeah, it said I'm so white.
It's like sperm.
Like my daddy's sperm neverleft my.
Like my skin.
Something some weird likethat, you know.
You already know he's doing it.
Holy Jesus.
What is that?
What is that?
Private pile.
A jelly donut.
(19:54):
God, it's so good.
And the.
Yeah, the lines that came outof that, man, I like I said we.
Back in the early 90s when Ihad seen this movie, we were very
not politically correct.
And I.
There was a lot of the linesthat I won't say now that we used
to holler at each other fromthat movie.
Like, it's just thissmorgasbord of wonderful insults
(20:16):
that you can throw at yourfriends and.
And go, I know what movieyou're talking about.
And then it just becomes thisback and forth of like tearing into
each other.
What a great, great performance.
I think for me, one of thethings that there's a scene that
just really, I'm like, I getannoyed by because I think they were
(20:37):
trying to be funny and yet notfunny at the same time was when the
two guys die and the one guywas getting ready to be out on the
section 8 or whatever from his.
Because he was jerking off allthe time.
Like ten times a day.
Like that whole.
The office and he jerked off there.
Yeah, like that whole scenewhen they're going the circle and
(20:59):
they're all staring at him.
Like, I hate that scene.
Like, it actually annoys me tothe point that I was actually hitting
my skip 10 seconds.
Because I just don't feel like I.
It feels like they were trying to.
Which is ironic because it wasfilmed first, but it was like they
were trying to catch the magicthat they had in the first half of
the movie in the back half bydoing something that was so twisted
(21:21):
and having this conversationthat was so up.
These guys, this guy that theyserved with for a while now is the
two of them are dead andthey're making jokes about his jerking
off problem and whatnot.
And I'm just like, I get whatyou're trying to do, but it just
misses by a mile.
Like, I don't look at theseguys and go, what's wrong with you?
I go, this is dumb.
Like, what am I supposed tolearn from this?
(21:43):
Like, I get more from theshitty conversation when they're
sitting outside the buildingand they're like, the one girl is
like, hey, you got agirlfriend, Vietnam?
And like they're having likethose weird conversations or even
like the hilarious where the.
They're trying to like theVietnamese hooker and the guy comes
up and he's selling her andshe won't take the black dude.
(22:04):
Like, that was funny as to mebecause it's twisted and it's weird.
And then the fact that likethe one guy, animal mother was like,
no, I'm first.
And then like, that whole,like that is twisted and weird and
funny to me in the sickest way possible.
Whereas, like that scenearound, like, it just was like, I
(22:24):
know what you're trying to doand it just doesn't work.
I don't want.
I don't want seconds afteryour business is gross.
Hey man, you're out in Vietnam.
You've been out there.
I know we're desperate.
Yeah, you take what you canget sir, in that situation before
you die.
(22:44):
And I do love like the negotiation.
$15 per man.
What $5 $10 was 15 back then.
Was.
Wouldn't that have been nowlike a few hundred now?
15 bucks?
Yeah.
What would that be now?
87 like their 70s, 1970sversus now.
(23:08):
What is 70 bucks?
Probably?
Yeah.
Yeah.
70, 75.
Here.
I'll tell you 1970, 15 todaywould be 123 bucks.
So if that was 1970, I don'tremember what time they were out
(23:31):
there.
When was sizable so in 19 whenwas Vietnam?
70 wasn't like late 60s in the 70s.
1955 to 1975.
So let's say it ended.
Started at the end in 1975 was 89.
(23:54):
Dang.
Vietnam started that early?
Jeez.
Yeah.
Started the year my dad was born.
That's why goodness.
And went until he was 20 years old.
20 years.
Can't even imagine it go witha war going that long today.
That's nuts, dude.
I mean we were close in thewar in Afghanistan and like that
(24:19):
was 20, almost 22 20.
It was a long ass time.
Not nearly as many people diedthough as well.
Sure, I mean that's very different.
War tactics are very different.
I mean if you think about it,I think the Civil War is the most
highest body count in ourcountry's war history.
(24:41):
Which is saying a lot, isn't it?
Like that's.
But again that's what warlooks very different between the
generational as you get modernweapons and Hell I don't.
We don't even as far as wargoes, it's rare we even need bodies
on the ground this any muchunless it's special unit stuff, special
forces stuff.
And yeah, halftime.
(25:02):
We don't even hear about thatuntil it's over and done with.
So if we hear about it at all.
So yeah, war was I.
I think like when you thinkback I mean war is war and it's gross
and it's foul and it's.
It's a terrible thingnecessary or not in certain situations.
But I think when you thinkabout Vietnam, it's probably the
(25:23):
worst when it comes to being like.
We just weren't, you know, weweren't prepared for that.
What it was like Vietnamturned the tables on what we used
to do to people and like.
Yeah, anyway except forourselves and talking about the Civil
War.
That was the goofiest.
Hey, we just kicked the out ofthe British a handful of years ago.
(25:43):
A couple decades ago.
We're bored.
Let's do.
Let's.
Let's fight in the exact sameway that they did when we kicked
the out.
But anyway, whatever, dude.
Yeah, the one of the scenes inthe second part of me that stuck
out to me was the helicopterscene where that guy is just.
Just unloading and you're justlike, no, he's not.
(26:05):
He's not.
And then just like, wow.
And then he says how many he killed.
And then the water.
When he threw in the waterbuffalo, I was like, bro, like, all
right.
Like, what are we doing?
This is.
That was wild.
But you're like, well therefor so long and you just desensitize
yourself to.
You're just killing them oreither use them for prostitution
(26:28):
or killing all of them.
Like, that's all that they were.
It's just.
Yeah, it's crazy.
And that's what they did showand like, show that well as just
how desensitized you get.
And Warren, how you look at your.
Your enemy.
And I didn't realize we werethere for that long.
I forgot, like, geez, youdefinitely, especially those soldiers
(26:48):
that are going to late 60s,early 70s, you know, you're just
like, what the hell am I doing here?
What am I doing here?
Yeah, I mean, I can't imagineat the end of that war, like, the
last probably decade that wewere there, like, you have to be
going, why am I even going here?
Like, this war is lost andnobody wants us to be here.
And that's.
It's one that, like, you hear about.
And like, there's been a lotof movies made about the Vietnam
(27:10):
War, but, like, that's one word.
Most of the time, soldiers,even today come home.
And I mean, most of us willthank them for their service and
appreciate what they did,because, I mean, absolutely.
I have a lot of friends in themilitary, and it's like, I really
appreciate that they'rewilling to do that for whatever reason
they got into the military, whatnot.
Like that.
(27:30):
I appreciate that.
But like, man, in Vietnam,they were coming home and people
hated them for being there.
And it's like, Jesus.
Like, that to me is like, Ihave a hard time with that.
Like, when people blame thesoldiers for the.
What's going on in the war,like, that's a struggle for me.
And I'm not saying that thesesoldiers weren't doing very heinous
(27:51):
and shitty things.
But to have them come home andthen to be berated and belittled
and on for something thatthose that had never been there could
never understand, like, that'sa hard pill to swallow for me.
And again, I wasn't alive backthen, but I've talked to my mom and
dad who, you know, were.
They were kids, but they werelike, it.
It was wild the way thatsoldiers were treated, especially
(28:15):
the later half.
Later half of the war, youknow, you went through what they
went through.
Like, what, four presidents inthat war or something like that.
Like, it's.
It's nuts, man.
And the different.
Each different president had adifferent take on how they were going
to handle the war.
And, you know, none of themsaid we would ever increase, but
then they always ended upincreasing the numbers that were
sent out there because theyjust couldn't swallow the fact that
(28:38):
America can lose.
It's just like, wild.
What a shitty war.
It's also tricky thing becausethis is like a.
It's not.
It's not very much a war thatwas in the forefront of what's happening.
Yeah.
While Vietnam is happening,you have the civil rights movement
going on.
You have, you know, the fakemoon landing going on.
(28:58):
You have Nixon taking us offthe gold standard.
You have all these things thatare going on that are, you know,
Watergate and everythingthat's kind of included.
They're taking up the.
The forefront of this.
Of the news, so to speak.
And.
Yeah, Vietnam wars, you know,exciting whenever they need to.
To be exciting.
And then it kind of goes backinto the.
(29:18):
The woodwork until it comesback again and makes headlines again.
And so it's a.
It's a weird war as well,because it wasn't so much in the
forefront where, you know,World War II, it's on the front page
of every newspaper all thetime until it ends.
Yeah.
And so it's very much fought.
It's almost like it's foughtin the background.
Yeah.
Which makes it a tricky thingto follow or corroborate or even
(29:41):
pay attention to for theentirety of it.
Sure.
Well.
And it adds to the fact thelength of that war adds to the.
The ease with which you canforget that it's happening.
I mean, I'm not gonna lie,because 20 years of.
Of the Afghanistan war, like, half.
There were times when I'd belike, oh, we're still.
Yeah, we still have a lot ofgoing on over there.
We have soldiers over therefighting every day, and I'm sitting
(30:05):
here worrying about who wonthe super bowl this year.
Right.
Like, so it's like, it's.
I.
I agree.
Like, it's.
You hit.
You think about World war IIIor 2 or.
Sorry, we're predicting the future.
I was here, James.
My bad.
That movie's next week.
No, World War II.
Like, were in it, in the thickof it for three years.
(30:26):
Ish.
And then this.
We're in it for 20 years andyou can only focus your attention
on it every single day.
Eventually it becomes white noise.
Unless something happens.
Right?
And then it's in the newscycle for six months and then it's
back to business as usual.
So, yeah, modern wars are wild.
And.
And technically, I think theKorean War was the first one that
(30:48):
was considered the firstmodern, modern war.
But, I mean, Vietnam wasprobably the first real.
Real, like, seriously massiveamounts of artillery and things like
that that were happening.
And then we're marchingthrough jungles and getting just
obliterated from the shadows.
(31:10):
It's a crazy war.
Talk hours about Vietnambecause that's a war that.
I'm just like, wow, what a show.
But there it is.
But this movie's crazy.
Kubrick's a sick.
If you've watched any of his other.
Like, there's something wrongwith that dude in general.
So doesn't surprise me thatthis movie comes out of that quacko's
(31:32):
mind.
And he makes great films.
Don't get me wrong.
Like, his shit's good, buthe's cuckoo.
Correct.
Yeah, yeah, he's.
He's.
Yeah, he's Gomer pile for sure.
There's something wrong withhis ass.
And I don't know if he wascreated or he was just born that
way, but something wrong with him.
But he turned it into a lot ofreally good movies until the end
(31:53):
there.
Yeah.
What was that one he did withTom Cruise and Tom Cruise wife that
basically broke him up?
Not really.
I'm sure it was a lot morethan that, but Eyes Wide Shut or
some.
If you ever watch that one.
That's a weird movie.
I don't recommend watching it.
It's shit's weird.
But anyway, should we rateFull Metal Jacket?
(32:16):
Do it, Madsen.
Do it.
Haven't seen this all the way through.
I want to give this movie athree and a half.
Like we said, it feels like asplit movie.
I mean, I think many of ourlisteners have probably seen this
movie.
Haven't.
I mean, just for the firsthour alone.
Like, my goodness.
Like, you might leave your jawon the floor or your belly might
(32:38):
be in aches because you'vebeen laughing so much just for that.
Just go see it.
But the second half trails off.
Like Jay just said, it reallyfeels like two different movies,
but it still gets the pointacross of what it's trying to tell
overall, that the.
The morality of war and how itwears on you and what it does to
you as a human being, I thinkthat translates throughout.
But I mean, you're here forthe drill sergeant performance, and
(33:01):
that alone is worth watchingthis movie, I promise you.
And if you haven't seen itwhile, like, geez, go watch it again.
This is a movie I will watch again.
Why?
It's not rated higher.
I think it's just for the factthat it really trails off after that
first hour in ways that aren'tas exciting.
But again, it's something thatI will find myself watching again.
(33:23):
And I need to add more ofthose insults to my friendship with
these two co hosts here.
So, yeah, I can't wait to hearyou say some of those.
Yeah, never mind.
I'll stop with that.
It's my turn.
I will go.
(33:44):
I'm gonna give this movie A4.
Look, I think this movie, ifit kept the same feeling as the first
hour, would have been off the charts.
Five.
Like, but it does lose thatmagic in the back half.
I will say that there aremoments of greatness in the back
half too.
Like the scene, like the veryend when they're trying to get through
(34:05):
the sniper.
Like, that's crazy.
Like, you can see how quicklysomething can go south when the leaders
of the company, the unit,like, start going down and people
have to start moving up the ranks.
And then there it's easy foragain, like Animal Mother to be like,
nope, I'm doing what I'm doing right?
(34:26):
And like, so it's.
There are interesting parts to it.
Interesting enough for me notto over dock it, I think, in my opinion.
But it's still not enough togive it a five.
So I'm gonna give it a four.
I love it.
I watch it for the first hourand then some little bits here and
there.
But yeah, I mean, there'snothing better than the Drill Sergeant.
That first end part, you'rejust like, holy balls.
(34:49):
And yeah, it's pretty nuts.
But yeah, I like the movie.
It's good.
It's worth the watch.
It's a.
It's one of those, like,classic movies that, like, if you
haven't seen it, go see it.
Because then you join theranks of the people that have seen
Full Metal Jacket, which is,in my opinion, a lot, especially
of US 80s and 90s kids.
So anyway, worth the watch.
(35:09):
Alec, bring us home, buddy.
I'm gonna be with Matt's onthis one.
Three and a half.
I.
I'm actually curious now and Iprobably will go do this sometime
in the near future is to watchit the way it was filmed.
So watch the Vietnam scenesfirst and then go back to boot camp
and kind of get a backstory ofwhere they went to.
(35:30):
And I wonder if that wouldchange the way I feel about it because
coming off, like you guys bothsaid, coming off the first part of
this movie is just a like freefall nosedive for me.
And so I get bored or, youknow, I'm pulled out of the movie
by so much that there's almostnothing left to look forward to for
the rest of this.
So it feels like a chore toget through it.
(35:52):
So I wonder if I put that partfirst and then watch the boot camp
scenes at the end.
If it changes it.
I don't know.
But three and a half for me,this one is one where it's.
It's a lot of YouTube shortscan get you through this.
The best part of this moviefor me.
Yeah.
So I mean, it's.
It's a trick.
You want to.
I'll sit down and watch it,but probably only the first bit.
(36:18):
Unless we're doing it for the podcast.
Or something like that.
Yeah, that's fair.
Three and a half for me.
All right.
Private Snowball.
Also the greatest name ever.
Just because he just got donesaying there's no racism here.
(36:38):
What's crazy.
Yeah, like, what a wild ass movie.
I just the line.
Just because one more.
I was thinking about, like,where he's looking at pile and he's
like, did your parents haveother kids?
I'm like, oh my God.
I bet they regretted thatdecision because you ugly some.
(37:01):
Yeah, I just.
I love that.
What a.
He's such an.
Anyway, there it is.
Week two, Full Metal Jacket.
We got a couple more weeks andwar movies should be fun and interesting.
Very different from this one.
But yeah, here we go.
So with that Alec tell,everybody can find us.
Happy to jj.
Like JJ said, week two, bigroller coaster, more stuff to come.
(37:23):
There is, like I said lastweek, there is literally no pattern
to this.
It is all over the map.
We had no rules, no parametersin place for war movies.
It was just war movies and wewere cut loose.
So special thanks to ourpatrons, Charles and Rich for putting
together a selection for us.
Their fault, not mine again,so go blame them.
(37:43):
But fantastic lineup that wehave stick around for the rest of
the month.
Nothing makes sense.
It's fantastic.
Best place to get involvedwith the content is on Patreon at
what's ever reviews.
Follow us.
They get involved in thevoting process to select movies that
go in.
Normally we have a little bitmore of a structure with our months
of what we're gonna do.
(38:04):
This month was great becauseit's wide open.
War movies was the only parameter.
So join us there.
That's the best place to getour content.
There's a lot of extras on there.
We have something like 450,500 extra videos up of behind the
scenes content, special episodes.
Just us goofing off andcalling each other idiots.
It's fantastic.
So that's the best place to be.
(38:24):
Join us there.
With that, I'll kick it backto the Titan of terror, the wise
year.
Of Wap A jj Yeah, I need ajelly donut.
Bavarian cream, please.
That's right, that's right.
Yeah.
Thanks, Alec.
Appreciate it.
Go join us on Patreon.
It's a lot of fun and goofyover there and yeah, with that, as
(38:46):
always, we appreciate youtuning in.
We'll catch you on the next one.
Cinematic.
Because he ruins the movie andhe ruins it in the best way possible.
Yeah, because you have thisfront half where you get amazing.
Like, I didn't know they stackthat high.
Trying to squeeze an inch onme somewhere.
(00:24):
Welcome to the what's over podcast.
We fashion ourselves cinematicjudge and jerry.
My name is JJ Crter.
I'm here with my co hosts matzand hiner.
I say, I'll say, I'll say,I'll say better red than dead.
And Alec burgess.
Let's get it.
We appreciate you tuning in.
Go ahead, hit that.
Follow, subscribe like bellnotification buttons.
Keep up with all of our episodes.
(00:44):
Help us grow the podcast too.
And tell a friend about us,tell a family member about us, tell
a Vietnam war vet about us.
But please, not one likeprivate pile.
Alex.
Enough crazy psychotic for allof us.
We don't need another one.
Whether he was tortured tothat point or not, we don't need
(01:05):
anymore.
Yeah, it's.
Look, it's week two of warmovies and we're really shifting
gears here.
We're complete 180.
We went from very civilizedwar making to the not so civilized
at all and are doing this weekfull metal jacket here on week two.
(01:25):
It was released July 10, 1987.
It was written and directed byStanley kubrick.
Stars Matthew modine, Arleyermey, Vincent d'onofrio, Adam baldwin,
Dorian harewood, Kevin majorHoward arlis Howard, Ed O'Hare, Edo
Ross.
Sorry.
And John Terry.
It's about a pragmatic u.
S.
Marine who observes thedehumanizing effects the Vietnam.
(01:48):
Vietnam war has on his fellowrecruits, from their brutal boot
camp training to the bloodystreet fighting in hue.
Yeah, Matson, this one's yourchoice, buddy.
Kick us off.
Tell us why you chose it.
Oh, it's a movie I've alwayswanted to watch.
I'd seen, I don't know, first15 minutes, 20 minutes, something
(02:11):
like that.
And I had the intention ofwatching all the way through, but
I don't remember.
Life got the way.
Never got to it.
And even when I startedwatching this, I actually watched
it the same day that we'rerecording this.
I was like, wait, I know I'veseen the beginning of this movie.
And then I kept trying toremember, where haven't I seen this?
And it was pretty easy to tellwhere the lines got blurred because
(02:33):
did not remember private pyledoing what he decided to do.
Definitely did not see that part.
So it's just something that Iheard a lot about this movie and
just wanted selflessly, justWanted to watch it.
So I was like, well, this fitsthe billing of the theme of a wide
open war movie, so why notpick this one?
(02:54):
Having seen it all the waythrough, I would say I really enjoy
the first hour of this movie.
I think it's riveting cinema.
I.
Man, the guy that plays thedrill sergeant, I mean, I don't know
if he made up some of thoselines or who wrote those in for him.
(03:14):
And I don't care if he madesome up.
He totally delivered them.
And that guy has a second lifeas a drill sergeant.
He should sign up for theMarines and go do that tomorrow.
But, like, the.
The barracks life and allthat, really like that.
I get the pivot in Vietnam andwhat they're trying to show.
The intention of what thismovie showed, I think was spot on.
(03:36):
I appreciate it.
I just think the second halfof the movie, the pacing was a little
bit slower and just not ascaptivating as the first hour for
me.
So I feel like it trailed offa little bit.
But I appreciated thenarrative of what they were trying
to show, and I think that coretheme carried throughout.
I just like the first half ofthe movie more than the second half.
(03:58):
Yeah.
To let you know,unfortunately, R.
Lee Ermie died back in 2018.
But Kubrick originally wrote abunch of lines for him, but, like,
he was so good at what he didand improvising it that Kubrick quit
writing for it and just saidgo and that.
(04:19):
So 90 of the.
That he says to those guys is improvised.
Wasn't he, like, drillinstructor, drill sergeant as well
beforehand?
So, yeah, like, he was justriffing on stuff he used to do.
Yeah, yeah.
And apparently, like, he gaveevery single guy in that platoon,
like, nicknames.
You just only hear about themain ones.
(04:42):
But, like, all of them had himat some point throughout the thing.
And, like, he only called them.
He was wild.
And like, I think.
I mean, you see a lot of drillsergeants in a lot of movies, but
I think the ones that you seethat and you think about all, it
was either him or, like, theywere using him as, like, their mold
of what a drill sergeantshould be because he's.
(05:03):
This is probably one of themost iconic performances in movie
history when it comes to.
Especially when it comes todrill sergeants, because, geez, I
could sit here and like, evenbefore we watch.
I watched this again.
It's been years since Iwatched this movie.
But, like, there's that, like,I used.
We used to shout at each otheras kids, like, when this first came
out Like, I mean, he says somenasty ass, but man, we used to yell
(05:27):
at each other, call each otherprivate pile.
Like if you did some dumb,like, are you stupid?
Private pile.
Like, that's like what we usedto do.
And then like, yeah, it was wild.
This movie really stood outwhen I was a kid.
Like, this is one of thosethings that we snuck into the theater
to see before long before wecould see rated R movies.
And we were like, the.
Did I just watch.
(05:47):
Because it's a dark ass movie.
But yeah, this movie, like, isjust as much as Gettysburg, but for
very different reasons.
A huge part of my teenage years.
Because, like I said, we snuckout and.
And saw like replays of this,like in the dollar theater.
And because it was so popular,they used to play it so all the time.
(06:07):
And so we'd go sneak into itin the dollar theater.
And yeah, it was great.
This movie did not hold back.
I mean, those couple thingscould not stay in the air here.
And I was like, haven't heardsomeone say that one in a while in
a movie.
And yeah, damn, they.
I mean, you could say some in.
1987, even if you made a movie.
(06:28):
About that now, like, theywouldn't dare.
No, some of that stuff, like,no, I mean, even the drill sergeant
at the very beginning, he'srattling off racist names of different
national.
And I was like, I didn't evenknow some of those word words.
Maybe they weren't.
Maybe he just was that convincing.
(06:51):
Oh, no, they are.
Well.
And in 1987, you could make amovie with that chick because saying
that wouldn't get you canceledor sure.
In trouble, unfortunately, or fortunately.
I don't know, it depends onyour viewpoint, I guess.
But not saying all that needsto be in cinema today, like maybe
a little bit of that.
No, of course, stay back then.
But at the same time, like, Ilike that this movie was just able
(07:15):
to give you exactly probablywhat was said back then.
Oh, for sure.
That drill sergeant was contradictory.
Because he was like, I don'tsee color.
And then he proceeded to justberate every color known to me.
And he, I mean, no, he was norespective persons.
He gave everybody their stuff.
I was like, well, like at thesame time, you're kind of just calling
out exactly what you said.
(07:36):
You weren't gonna do something.
All right.
Yeah, yeah.
And that's, you know, if youprescribe to.
Look, I was never in themilitary, so I don't know truthfully,
like, what.
I mean, I've heard stories, right.
From different generations,but like, yeah, when you talk about
boot camp, like, their idea isto destroy you and rebuild you.
(07:58):
Like, that's sure as what thatwould do.
Like, I couldn't.
Like, and that's why Icouldn't have ever been actually
in the military.
Because even.
Even if it's not the same,like, that whole, like, Taren, like,
I can't.
I don't have that much.
Me, an authority.
Can't do it.
Like, I would be like, whatthe did you say?
(08:20):
You better shoot my assbecause I'm about to beat your old
ass.
You know?
Like, I couldn't do it.
It's just.
Yeah.
In my face and couldn't do it.
Nope.
Thankfully, I only did rotc,where in high school, like, he could
yell at our ass all the time,but he couldn't get in our faces.
And because we were highschool kids.
(08:41):
Like, we were like, get out of.
Here, J.J.
that's kicked my ass, man.
It was fun, though, about that.
Yeah.
I'm watching American Sniperright now while I'm working out.
I haven't gotten too far init, but I got to the drill instructor
part and, yeah, like.
And he was in, like, the real stuff.
Like, the.
The seals stuff everywhere.
(09:01):
I'm like, man, they really didsome crazy things.
This one was much more normal,but he was just so psychological.
And I think that's what's soobviously interesting about the first
hour of this movie is whathappens with Private Pyle where he
even gets berated.
Then that the Joker helps him,but then the Joker obviously gives
up as well.
They have a scene in thebathroom saying, I think we're losing
(09:24):
him, but he can just tell.
This kid just kind of dumb andhasn't figured it out.
But then, like, Pyle flips aswitch and starts to figure it out.
And you just.
I'm.
Because I hadn't seen before,I was like, I'm like, 99 sure he's
gonna go crazy.
Just depends on when it happens.
(09:44):
And, man, I wasn't prepared for.
I don't know what he ate thatday that he acted that scene, but
holy cow, dude.
Vincent D'Onofrio is.
Has been wildly underrateduntil recently.
Like when he did Daredevil andon Netflix and he was, you know,
(10:04):
Kingpin.
Like, that's where I think hebecame globally known and, like,
respected and appreciated.
But, like, in.
In a lot of circles, Like, I've.
Since I saw this movie, like,Vincent Onofrio has been one of my
favorite.
He's done a bunch.
Like, there was one where heplayed Robert Downey jr's brother.
And they were like.
He was Robert Downey Jr's alawyer, and his brother's like.
(10:24):
And Vincent Alfredo was an oldbaseball player that, like, his brother,
he broke his arm.
Anyway, he's great in that.
Like, there's a lot of thingsthat D'Onofrio's done that I'm like,
God, he's good.
But he's never been, like, a lead.
This was the closest to a leadhe got.
And he was only for the firsthalf, and it was just him getting
his ass ripped and chewed mostof it, and then losing his at the
end, which he does.
(10:45):
So, like, that face he makeswith, like, his hooded eyes and that
shitty, like, smile, like, God Almighty.
It's crazy.
And he's creepy.
And I love the.
The twist.
Like, so when you first meethim, like, he's sitting there trying
not to laugh the whole time,and he's getting that.
You know what I mean?
Then by the end, like, he's just.
He's cracked.
And there's, like, nothingleft of this dude to the point where
(11:07):
he just does it, you know?
And old.
Poor old drill sergeant goesdown and then he takes it and like
it.
Yeah, but what a performance.
Like, that's.
And I think, to me, like, that shift.
They try to make Adam Baldwinkind of that way that the back half
of the movie, the.
The animal mother or whatever,like, they try to have him be that.
(11:31):
And I love Adam Baldwin, don'tget me wrong.
But he's not Vincent D'Onofrio.
And so he doesn't carry thatscary, cracked losing his as well
as denafrio did.
And I think the movie suffersbecause we don't have Denafrio.
Like, I would love denofra tobeen in the back half of the movie
in some way, shape or form inthat war.
(11:53):
Because, Gez, that would havebeen a wild switch to flip and to
see how that would play out.
So I don't know veryinteresting concepts, but I will
say I'm with you.
My problem with this movie is the.
The split, because to me, itfeels like two different movies and
with the same characters.
And I.
So it's hard for me.
(12:14):
And they filmed it that way.
Like, they actually filmed theKubrick filmed the Vietnam scenes
the second half of the filmfirst and then came back and filmed
the first half in a differentplace and in a studio and whatnot.
And so they're filmeddifferently and they feel different.
And you can.
To me, I don't like the secondmovie as much as I Like the first,
(12:37):
because I'm supposed to be attached.
The only character I'mattached to is, is Joker.
And even when we see Cowboyagain, I'm like that.
I don't really like ArlisHoward that much, so I'm not really
attached to Cowboys.
So I, by then I have nobodythat I'm like rooting for like I
(12:58):
am in the first half, becauseyou meet these guys and you're rooting
for them, you want them to be successful.
The second half for me, I'mlike, as long as Joker lives, I'm
good.
You know what I mean?
Like, I, I don't know.
To me, it just doesn't,doesn't work as well.
There's not as much impact asthere is in the first half of the
Match movie.
It's not a bad movie at theback half.
It's just not.
I don't find myself as tied towhat's going on and, and the characters
(13:22):
as much as I do in the first.
Like, I want everybody to besuccessful in the first one, which
doesn't happen, but there you go.
All right, I'll shut up for a minute.
I'd love to hear what yourthoughts are.
Oh, I'm kind of in the sameboat as you guys.
I think Stanley and he messed up.
R.
Lee Ermey, go wild.
(13:42):
Yeah.
Because he ruins the movie andhe ruins it in the best way possible.
Yeah.
Because you have this fronthalf where you get amazing.
Like, I didn't know theystacked that high.
Trying to squeeze an inch onme somewhere, right?
Stacked five foot nine.
First time I heard that, Ijust like spit up whatever I was
(14:06):
eating because it's just hilarious.
And the movie just takes afree falling nosedive once you get
to Vietnam.
Like, at least for me, where I'm.
I'm sure it's a marvelousmovie, but it is such a come down
from the beginning that itfeels like absolute dog shit.
Yeah.
(14:26):
And so it's, it's like youmeans Kubrick made a mistake in the
fact that he, you know, hadthis great opportunity with Arlee
Ermey and let him go wild.
And it makes such an amazing movie.
But then you cut it and yourelease an hour long TV special.
Like that's the problem isit's, it's ruined from that point
(14:49):
on because anybody who talksFull Metal Jacket, not a single person
mentions Vietnam.
No, no, never.
It's Private Pile.
It's Harley Ermey.
It's, you know the, the sockscene, right?
Where they just beaten onsocks like every, every instance
(15:10):
that's ever mentioned withthis movie is in the first hour.
Is in the.
Is in the first part of thismovie where you have going through
boot camp.
There is never any mention ofanything after that.
And so I think Cooper, like,you know, probably had this great
vision of what he's gonna do,and it's almost like, fumbled because
Arlee Ermey kind of showed upand said, hey, I can actually do
(15:31):
this better than you can,because I've lived it right?
I've done it before.
I know what I'm doing.
And from that point on,Kubrick's just almost like a passenger
trying to hold on and steerthis in a direction to go, and falls
flat in many ways.
But the problem is that thefront half is so goddamn good.
Oh, yeah.
I don't think Tay's seen itjust for the first hour of the movie.
(15:53):
We have to watch it.
Like, I'm like, baby, justgotta experience just this guy just
sounding off on people andhumiliating them.
And, like, I'm sure filmingthat when if he was going off the
cusp on some of the spike, Iwas on the film crib.
Like, where did this guy come from?
Like, what.
Where did.
What did he concoct last nightin bed?
(16:15):
Like, gee, dude, I'd haveruined so many scenes because I'd
have broke so hard.
Like, I.
I still.
To, like, seriously, when he'syelling at freaking pile and he's
like, I bet you could suck agolf ball through a hose.
Like, I can't even.
I bet you're the kind of guy.
(16:35):
Guy in the ass won't even givehim a reach around.
Like, what?
But it's.
It's the way he says it too.
Like, don't have even the courtesy.
So it's not even coming upwith it.
It's saying it and then addingthose little pieces in.
I want to know how many ret.
Had to deal with crack.
Dude, I would love to see theouttakes of that if Cubert kept them.
(16:59):
But, like, man, they had tobreak so many times.
Either that or they were soafraid of the guy that they couldn't
break.
But, like, I.
I'm going with option one.
Like, I.
I am.
Seriously.
I imagine that the reason thatDenafrio couldn't keep his together
was real.
Like, that's how I think about that.
Like, the fact that he hasthat shitty grin and, like, AR is,
(17:21):
like, playing off of thatgoing, all right, if you're gonna
keep giggling, I'll show your ass.
I'm gonna make you chokeyourself on My hand.
Like, what the is that?
But yeah, like, it's justlike, Godamn.
It's so genius, like watchinghim just.
But then this, the.
The switch flips in thatmoment where Joker's helped him,
right?
And he's starting to get histogether and he's doing like, he's
(17:42):
really good at the rifle stuff.
And then like, he's giving.
Paying him compliments.
And until the donut scene,like, it's like, okay, now he's starting
to get it.
And you're like, okay, sohe'll give compliments too if you
get your together.
But man, he just tears, that guy.
It's a jelly donut.
(18:04):
Oh, what a scene, man.
What a scene.
You.
You eat it.
They.
You paid for.
They're paying for it.
Oh, God, what a scene.
Yeah, I'm with you.
Like, that's some of the bestfilm in history in the first hour
of this film.
I just like that they.
Yeah, like, let me start withthe haircutting.
They just get right into it.
There isn't like, yeah, wedon't get backstories in these people's
(18:26):
lives.
They throw you right into thebarracks with them.
And you're just experiencing it.
It's like you're almoststanding there as it's happening
and it's great.
Like, honestly, thatperformance, probably one of the
best performances I've seen in sima.
Dude, just.
He, like I said, he shouldhave been a drill sergeant.
Like, I think drill sergeantsthat watch it probably stole some
(18:49):
of his material.
Like, damn, I gotta step mygame up.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, he said some of that.
What would he have said aboutme, man?
He would have had a lot ofmaterial on me.
Bunch of redheaded, that's for sure.
Oh, he would have been allover me, dude.
(19:12):
Matson, is your dad the name Matt?
Lawrence of what, Arabia?
Private Leprechaun.
He's too tall for that.
Yeah, that wouldn't haveworked, but he would have.
He would have had some stuff.
Carpets match the drapes.
(19:33):
Yeah, it said I'm so white.
It's like sperm.
Like my daddy's sperm neverleft my.
Like my skin.
Something some weird likethat, you know.
You already know he's doing it.
Holy Jesus.
What is that?
What is that?
Private pile.
A jelly donut.
(19:54):
God, it's so good.
And the.
Yeah, the lines that came outof that, man, I like I said we.
Back in the early 90s when Ihad seen this movie, we were very
not politically correct.
And I.
There was a lot of the linesthat I won't say now that we used
to holler at each other fromthat movie.
Like, it's just thissmorgasbord of wonderful insults
(20:16):
that you can throw at yourfriends and.
And go, I know what movieyou're talking about.
And then it just becomes thisback and forth of like tearing into
each other.
What a great, great performance.
I think for me, one of thethings that there's a scene that
just really, I'm like, I getannoyed by because I think they were
(20:37):
trying to be funny and yet notfunny at the same time was when the
two guys die and the one guywas getting ready to be out on the
section 8 or whatever from his.
Because he was jerking off allthe time.
Like ten times a day.
Like that whole.
The office and he jerked off there.
Yeah, like that whole scenewhen they're going the circle and
(20:59):
they're all staring at him.
Like, I hate that scene.
Like, it actually annoys me tothe point that I was actually hitting
my skip 10 seconds.
Because I just don't feel like I.
It feels like they were trying to.
Which is ironic because it wasfilmed first, but it was like they
were trying to catch the magicthat they had in the first half of
the movie in the back half bydoing something that was so twisted
(21:21):
and having this conversationthat was so up.
These guys, this guy that theyserved with for a while now is the
two of them are dead andthey're making jokes about his jerking
off problem and whatnot.
And I'm just like, I get whatyou're trying to do, but it just
misses by a mile.
Like, I don't look at theseguys and go, what's wrong with you?
I go, this is dumb.
Like, what am I supposed tolearn from this?
(21:43):
Like, I get more from theshitty conversation when they're
sitting outside the buildingand they're like, the one girl is
like, hey, you got agirlfriend, Vietnam?
And like they're having likethose weird conversations or even
like the hilarious where the.
They're trying to like theVietnamese hooker and the guy comes
up and he's selling her andshe won't take the black dude.
(22:04):
Like, that was funny as to mebecause it's twisted and it's weird.
And then the fact that likethe one guy, animal mother was like,
no, I'm first.
And then like, that whole,like that is twisted and weird and
funny to me in the sickest way possible.
Whereas, like that scenearound, like, it just was like, I
(22:24):
know what you're trying to doand it just doesn't work.
I don't want.
I don't want seconds afteryour business is gross.
Hey man, you're out in Vietnam.
You've been out there.
I know we're desperate.
Yeah, you take what you canget sir, in that situation before
you die.
(22:44):
And I do love like the negotiation.
$15 per man.
What $5 $10 was 15 back then.
Was.
Wouldn't that have been nowlike a few hundred now?
15 bucks?
Yeah.
What would that be now?
87 like their 70s, 1970sversus now.
(23:08):
What is 70 bucks?
Probably?
Yeah.
Yeah.
70, 75.
Here.
I'll tell you 1970, 15 todaywould be 123 bucks.
So if that was 1970, I don'tremember what time they were out
(23:31):
there.
When was sizable so in 19 whenwas Vietnam?
70 wasn't like late 60s in the 70s.
1955 to 1975.
So let's say it ended.
Started at the end in 1975 was 89.
(23:54):
Dang.
Vietnam started that early?
Jeez.
Yeah.
Started the year my dad was born.
That's why goodness.
And went until he was 20 years old.
20 years.
Can't even imagine it go witha war going that long today.
That's nuts, dude.
I mean we were close in thewar in Afghanistan and like that
(24:19):
was 20, almost 22 20.
It was a long ass time.
Not nearly as many people diedthough as well.
Sure, I mean that's very different.
War tactics are very different.
I mean if you think about it,I think the Civil War is the most
highest body count in ourcountry's war history.
(24:41):
Which is saying a lot, isn't it?
Like that's.
But again that's what warlooks very different between the
generational as you get modernweapons and Hell I don't.
We don't even as far as wargoes, it's rare we even need bodies
on the ground this any muchunless it's special unit stuff, special
forces stuff.
And yeah, halftime.
(25:02):
We don't even hear about thatuntil it's over and done with.
So if we hear about it at all.
So yeah, war was I.
I think like when you thinkback I mean war is war and it's gross
and it's foul and it's.
It's a terrible thingnecessary or not in certain situations.
But I think when you thinkabout Vietnam, it's probably the
(25:23):
worst when it comes to being like.
We just weren't, you know, weweren't prepared for that.
What it was like Vietnamturned the tables on what we used
to do to people and like.
Yeah, anyway except forourselves and talking about the Civil
War.
That was the goofiest.
Hey, we just kicked the out ofthe British a handful of years ago.
(25:43):
A couple decades ago.
We're bored.
Let's do.
Let's.
Let's fight in the exact sameway that they did when we kicked
the out.
But anyway, whatever, dude.
Yeah, the one of the scenes inthe second part of me that stuck
out to me was the helicopterscene where that guy is just.
Just unloading and you're justlike, no, he's not.
(26:05):
He's not.
And then just like, wow.
And then he says how many he killed.
And then the water.
When he threw in the waterbuffalo, I was like, bro, like, all
right.
Like, what are we doing?
This is.
That was wild.
But you're like, well therefor so long and you just desensitize
yourself to.
You're just killing them oreither use them for prostitution
(26:28):
or killing all of them.
Like, that's all that they were.
It's just.
Yeah, it's crazy.
And that's what they did showand like, show that well as just
how desensitized you get.
And Warren, how you look at your.
Your enemy.
And I didn't realize we werethere for that long.
I forgot, like, geez, youdefinitely, especially those soldiers
(26:48):
that are going to late 60s,early 70s, you know, you're just
like, what the hell am I doing here?
What am I doing here?
Yeah, I mean, I can't imagineat the end of that war, like, the
last probably decade that wewere there, like, you have to be
going, why am I even going here?
Like, this war is lost andnobody wants us to be here.
And that's.
It's one that, like, you hear about.
And like, there's been a lotof movies made about the Vietnam
(27:10):
War, but, like, that's one word.
Most of the time, soldiers,even today come home.
And I mean, most of us willthank them for their service and
appreciate what they did,because, I mean, absolutely.
I have a lot of friends in themilitary, and it's like, I really
appreciate that they'rewilling to do that for whatever reason
they got into the military, whatnot.
Like that.
(27:30):
I appreciate that.
But like, man, in Vietnam,they were coming home and people
hated them for being there.
And it's like, Jesus.
Like, that to me is like, Ihave a hard time with that.
Like, when people blame thesoldiers for the.
What's going on in the war,like, that's a struggle for me.
And I'm not saying that thesesoldiers weren't doing very heinous
(27:51):
and shitty things.
But to have them come home andthen to be berated and belittled
and on for something thatthose that had never been there could
never understand, like, that'sa hard pill to swallow for me.
And again, I wasn't alive backthen, but I've talked to my mom and
dad who, you know, were.
They were kids, but they werelike, it.
It was wild the way thatsoldiers were treated, especially
(28:15):
the later half.
Later half of the war, youknow, you went through what they
went through.
Like, what, four presidents inthat war or something like that.
Like, it's.
It's nuts, man.
And the different.
Each different president had adifferent take on how they were going
to handle the war.
And, you know, none of themsaid we would ever increase, but
then they always ended upincreasing the numbers that were
sent out there because theyjust couldn't swallow the fact that
(28:38):
America can lose.
It's just like, wild.
What a shitty war.
It's also tricky thing becausethis is like a.
It's not.
It's not very much a war thatwas in the forefront of what's happening.
Yeah.
While Vietnam is happening,you have the civil rights movement
going on.
You have, you know, the fakemoon landing going on.
(28:58):
You have Nixon taking us offthe gold standard.
You have all these things thatare going on that are, you know,
Watergate and everythingthat's kind of included.
They're taking up the.
The forefront of this.
Of the news, so to speak.
And.
Yeah, Vietnam wars, you know,exciting whenever they need to.
To be exciting.
And then it kind of goes backinto the.
(29:18):
The woodwork until it comesback again and makes headlines again.
And so it's a.
It's a weird war as well,because it wasn't so much in the
forefront where, you know,World War II, it's on the front page
of every newspaper all thetime until it ends.
Yeah.
And so it's very much fought.
It's almost like it's foughtin the background.
Yeah.
Which makes it a tricky thingto follow or corroborate or even
(29:41):
pay attention to for theentirety of it.
Sure.
Well.
And it adds to the fact thelength of that war adds to the.
The ease with which you canforget that it's happening.
I mean, I'm not gonna lie,because 20 years of.
Of the Afghanistan war, like, half.
There were times when I'd belike, oh, we're still.
Yeah, we still have a lot ofgoing on over there.
We have soldiers over therefighting every day, and I'm sitting
(30:05):
here worrying about who wonthe super bowl this year.
Right.
Like, so it's like, it's.
I.
I agree.
Like, it's.
You hit.
You think about World war IIIor 2 or.
Sorry, we're predicting the future.
I was here, James.
My bad.
That movie's next week.
No, World War II.
Like, were in it, in the thickof it for three years.
(30:26):
Ish.
And then this.
We're in it for 20 years andyou can only focus your attention
on it every single day.
Eventually it becomes white noise.
Unless something happens.
Right?
And then it's in the newscycle for six months and then it's
back to business as usual.
So, yeah, modern wars are wild.
And.
And technically, I think theKorean War was the first one that
(30:48):
was considered the firstmodern, modern war.
But, I mean, Vietnam wasprobably the first real.
Real, like, seriously massiveamounts of artillery and things like
that that were happening.
And then we're marchingthrough jungles and getting just
obliterated from the shadows.
(31:10):
It's a crazy war.
Talk hours about Vietnambecause that's a war that.
I'm just like, wow, what a show.
But there it is.
But this movie's crazy.
Kubrick's a sick.
If you've watched any of his other.
Like, there's something wrongwith that dude in general.
So doesn't surprise me thatthis movie comes out of that quacko's
(31:32):
mind.
And he makes great films.
Don't get me wrong.
Like, his shit's good, buthe's cuckoo.
Correct.
Yeah, yeah, he's.
He's.
Yeah, he's Gomer pile for sure.
There's something wrong withhis ass.
And I don't know if he wascreated or he was just born that
way, but something wrong with him.
But he turned it into a lot ofreally good movies until the end
(31:53):
there.
Yeah.
What was that one he did withTom Cruise and Tom Cruise wife that
basically broke him up?
Not really.
I'm sure it was a lot morethan that, but Eyes Wide Shut or
some.
If you ever watch that one.
That's a weird movie.
I don't recommend watching it.
It's shit's weird.
But anyway, should we rateFull Metal Jacket?
(32:16):
Do it, Madsen.
Do it.
Haven't seen this all the way through.
I want to give this movie athree and a half.
Like we said, it feels like asplit movie.
I mean, I think many of ourlisteners have probably seen this
movie.
Haven't.
I mean, just for the firsthour alone.
Like, my goodness.
Like, you might leave your jawon the floor or your belly might
(32:38):
be in aches because you'vebeen laughing so much just for that.
Just go see it.
But the second half trails off.
Like Jay just said, it reallyfeels like two different movies,
but it still gets the pointacross of what it's trying to tell
overall, that the.
The morality of war and how itwears on you and what it does to
you as a human being, I thinkthat translates throughout.
But I mean, you're here forthe drill sergeant performance, and
(33:01):
that alone is worth watchingthis movie, I promise you.
And if you haven't seen itwhile, like, geez, go watch it again.
This is a movie I will watch again.
Why?
It's not rated higher.
I think it's just for the factthat it really trails off after that
first hour in ways that aren'tas exciting.
But again, it's something thatI will find myself watching again.
(33:23):
And I need to add more ofthose insults to my friendship with
these two co hosts here.
So, yeah, I can't wait to hearyou say some of those.
Yeah, never mind.
I'll stop with that.
It's my turn.
I will go.
(33:44):
I'm gonna give this movie A4.
Look, I think this movie, ifit kept the same feeling as the first
hour, would have been off the charts.
Five.
Like, but it does lose thatmagic in the back half.
I will say that there aremoments of greatness in the back
half too.
Like the scene, like the veryend when they're trying to get through
(34:05):
the sniper.
Like, that's crazy.
Like, you can see how quicklysomething can go south when the leaders
of the company, the unit,like, start going down and people
have to start moving up the ranks.
And then there it's easy foragain, like Animal Mother to be like,
nope, I'm doing what I'm doing right?
(34:26):
And like, so it's.
There are interesting parts to it.
Interesting enough for me notto over dock it, I think, in my opinion.
But it's still not enough togive it a five.
So I'm gonna give it a four.
I love it.
I watch it for the first hourand then some little bits here and
there.
But yeah, I mean, there'snothing better than the Drill Sergeant.
That first end part, you'rejust like, holy balls.
(34:49):
And yeah, it's pretty nuts.
But yeah, I like the movie.
It's good.
It's worth the watch.
It's a.
It's one of those, like,classic movies that, like, if you
haven't seen it, go see it.
Because then you join theranks of the people that have seen
Full Metal Jacket, which is,in my opinion, a lot, especially
of US 80s and 90s kids.
So anyway, worth the watch.
(35:09):
Alec, bring us home, buddy.
I'm gonna be with Matt's onthis one.
Three and a half.
I.
I'm actually curious now and Iprobably will go do this sometime
in the near future is to watchit the way it was filmed.
So watch the Vietnam scenesfirst and then go back to boot camp
and kind of get a backstory ofwhere they went to.
(35:30):
And I wonder if that wouldchange the way I feel about it because
coming off, like you guys bothsaid, coming off the first part of
this movie is just a like freefall nosedive for me.
And so I get bored or, youknow, I'm pulled out of the movie
by so much that there's almostnothing left to look forward to for
the rest of this.
So it feels like a chore toget through it.
(35:52):
So I wonder if I put that partfirst and then watch the boot camp
scenes at the end.
If it changes it.
I don't know.
But three and a half for me,this one is one where it's.
It's a lot of YouTube shortscan get you through this.
The best part of this moviefor me.
Yeah.
So I mean, it's.
It's a trick.
You want to.
I'll sit down and watch it,but probably only the first bit.
(36:18):
Unless we're doing it for the podcast.
Or something like that.
Yeah, that's fair.
Three and a half for me.
All right.
Private Snowball.
Also the greatest name ever.
Just because he just got donesaying there's no racism here.
(36:38):
What's crazy.
Yeah, like, what a wild ass movie.
I just the line.
Just because one more.
I was thinking about, like,where he's looking at pile and he's
like, did your parents haveother kids?
I'm like, oh my God.
I bet they regretted thatdecision because you ugly some.
(37:01):
Yeah, I just.
I love that.
What a.
He's such an.
Anyway, there it is.
Week two, Full Metal Jacket.
We got a couple more weeks andwar movies should be fun and interesting.
Very different from this one.
But yeah, here we go.
So with that Alec tell,everybody can find us.
Happy to jj.
Like JJ said, week two, bigroller coaster, more stuff to come.
(37:23):
There is, like I said lastweek, there is literally no pattern
to this.
It is all over the map.
We had no rules, no parametersin place for war movies.
It was just war movies and wewere cut loose.
So special thanks to ourpatrons, Charles and Rich for putting
together a selection for us.
Their fault, not mine again,so go blame them.
(37:43):
But fantastic lineup that wehave stick around for the rest of
the month.
Nothing makes sense.
It's fantastic.
Best place to get involvedwith the content is on Patreon at
what's ever reviews.
Follow us.
They get involved in thevoting process to select movies that
go in.
Normally we have a little bitmore of a structure with our months
of what we're gonna do.
(38:04):
This month was great becauseit's wide open.
War movies was the only parameter.
So join us there.
That's the best place to getour content.
There's a lot of extras on there.
We have something like 450,500 extra videos up of behind the
scenes content, special episodes.
Just us goofing off andcalling each other idiots.
It's fantastic.
So that's the best place to be.
(38:24):
Join us there.
With that, I'll kick it backto the Titan of terror, the wise
year.
Of Wap A jj Yeah, I need ajelly donut.
Bavarian cream, please.
That's right, that's right.
Yeah.
Thanks, Alec.
Appreciate it.
Go join us on Patreon.
It's a lot of fun and goofyover there and yeah, with that, as
(38:46):
always, we appreciate youtuning in.
We'll catch you on the next one.
Cinematic.
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