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Full Metal Jacket.Which half of the film do you prefer? (warning possible spoilers)

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View Poll Results: Which part of Full Metal do you prefer?
First Half
54
62.07%
Second Half
1
1.15%
The whole movie is great
29
33.33%
The whole movie sucked
1
1.15%
Twikoff's Cut
2
2.30%
Voters: 87. You may not vote on this poll

Full Metal Jacket.Which half of the film do you prefer? (warning possible spoilers)

Old 02-09-03, 01:11 PM
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Full Metal Jacket.Which half of the film do you prefer? (warning possible spoilers)

Okay.So alot of people have debated whether the first half or the second is the best.I decided to start a thread on this to see what you all think.Is the first half the best or the second, or do you like the entire movie.For me i only liked the first half.If you ask me the film should have just been about the training the men go through before vietnam.It would have been in my opinion, a much better film.So what do you all have to say on the subject?
Old 02-09-03, 01:25 PM
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First half is great, second half is just okay.
Old 02-09-03, 01:34 PM
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M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E MICKEY MOUSE!!
Old 02-09-03, 03:27 PM
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Second half is pretty good, but the Gomer Pyle part is classic.
Old 02-09-03, 03:50 PM
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The whole film is great.

I like the first half, but I also like the end.

the "middle" is what isn't that good.

The middle to me is:
Spoiler:
after boot camp and before the start of the sniper shootings


The middle is fine, but it does drag a little.

I think the film is great, either way.
Old 02-09-03, 03:50 PM
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i must be in the small minority that stopped watching it during. I got throught the 1st half, and it was good. the second half was so boring that I turned it off and send it back to Netlfix. I am sure I will get flamed, but oh well.
Old 02-09-03, 03:52 PM
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Definetly the 1st half.

The 2nd half just never gets going.
Although the tension with the sniper starts out promising, its always tough to look past the fake idea of an AK-47 taking soldiers out with perfect accuracy.
Old 02-09-03, 04:23 PM
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1st half. Second half was terrible and I don't own the movie for just that reason. But then again, I don't care for Kubricks films in general.
Old 02-09-03, 05:24 PM
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Most films that use that pattern seems to be better in the opening boot camp part. Private Benjamin and Stripes come to mind. Their second halves are not nearly as good as their first halves.
Old 02-09-03, 08:15 PM
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I used to be a 'first halfer' like many others, then after repeat viewings I can't do without any part of the movie. The boot camp and the Nam scenes compliment one another and go together and people should really watch the whole film much more actively. I love the second half.
Old 02-09-03, 10:58 PM
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I think the whole film is great & much better than Platoon which i felt was very overrated
Old 02-10-03, 12:24 AM
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"Get some, get some!"

I like the first half, but Joker and Cowboy in the huey. Priceless.
Old 02-10-03, 01:02 AM
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the entire movie is great.
Old 02-10-03, 10:12 AM
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I'm all about the movie as a whole. This was the first Kubrick I saw in its entirety when it first came out on home video. And as much as I love the boot camp and Lee Ermey's performance, the second half has some great moments in and of itself. Of course, there's "me so horny," the lesson on writing a proper story, "Get some! Get some!" "the Jungian thing," "soul-brother too beaucoup," and my favorite, "if I'm gonna die for a word, that word is poontang." After the boot camp, I think the movie whizzes by at a great pace.
Old 02-10-03, 11:13 AM
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Originally posted by LBPound
First half is great, second half is just okay.
my sentiments exactly...
Old 02-10-03, 11:23 AM
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My problem with the second half is that it becomes every war movie ever made, which is not to say that the first half isn't loaded with cliches, either.
Old 02-10-03, 03:36 PM
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Originally posted by silentbob007
My problem with the second half is that it becomes every war movie ever made
Yep.
Old 02-10-03, 05:20 PM
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The second half is as important as the first. I dislike it when people say the first half is brilliant and the second sucks. The 2 parts complement each other and neither would be as strong without the other.
Old 02-10-03, 05:25 PM
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Originally posted by devilshalo
"Get some, get some!"

I like the first half, but Joker and Cowboy in the huey. Priceless.
"You think we waste gooks for freedom? If I'm gonna die for a word...That word is 'Poon Tang'" Go ahead and put that on my Tomb Stone, greatest line ever!

Between that and "me soooo horney!" the second half is just as quotable as the first. If not more so.

I would say that "me sooo horney!" is arguably (and oddly) Kubrick's greatest contribution to pop culture. Everybody recognizes that line, even people who havn't seen (or even heard of) the movie.

EDIT: Just saw Sundog's post...he beat me to it, but I stand by everything in my post. Very good film.

That said, I also hate people who see the film ONLY as a comedy and seem to not want to engage with the film's deeper ideas about dehumanization. People who watch the first half over and over again and laugh their asses off scare me most of all. Anyone who doesn't like the second half probably just enjoys laughing at the exploits of Gomer Pyle without thinking about the ramafications. Ya'll probably turn it off before the suicide even.

Last edited by Pants; 02-10-03 at 05:30 PM.
Old 02-10-03, 07:12 PM
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Originally posted by LBPound
First half is great, second half is just okay.
I am in complete agreement.
Old 02-10-03, 07:34 PM
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Originally posted by LBPound
First half is great, second half is just okay.
A little less good than okay though.
Old 02-10-03, 08:31 PM
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Hey, Twikoff got a vote. From my understanding he has a cameo in it, does he not?
Old 02-10-03, 09:02 PM
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R. Lee Ermey is a riot. A bit off topic, but the R. Lee Ermey doll is priceless. A friend of mine got one off fleaBay and we played with it till the batteries died. The dang thing had us laughing so hard.

Oh, I guess this means I like the first half more than the second half.
Old 02-11-03, 08:11 AM
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Originally posted by Pants
That said, I also hate people who see the film ONLY as a comedy and seem to not want to engage with the film's deeper ideas about dehumanization . . .
I think a lot of these reactions come from home viewing. It's way too easy for the audience to turn it off or tune it out when watching on a small screen. When I saw this in a theater a few years ago, the difference was astounding. People laughed at Ermey's early verbal barrages, but ten minutes in, the place was silent. Up on that big screen, the first half of the film may be the scariest thing Kubrick made.

Of course, in the theater the correlations and rhythms between the two halves are much easier to discern as well.
Old 02-11-03, 08:44 AM
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The whole films is great but the first half works better than the second half in my opinion, mainly because the first half attains more closure. It gives a terrific overview of the mauling of human beings into killing machines, but the second half clearly adopts different topics to examine (such as politics) and thus feels somewhat like it doesn't cover everything it could have.

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