From NetFlix:

Marine recruits (including Matthew Modine and Vincent D’Onofrio) endure the grueling ordeal of basic training and later face the unrelenting Viet Cong during the 1968 Tet Offensive in this grim Stanley Kubrick drama, based on a novel by Gustav Hasford. One of the most authentic depictions of warfare ever put on the big screen, the film teems with howling madness, stark images and troubling questions about duty, honor and sacrifice.

Vincent D’Onofrio is one of my favorite actors, possibly because he is so quirky. Looking at his IMDB resumé I discovered one of his earliest films “Full Metal Jacket” made in 1987 when he was only 28 years old. Probably he has always taken unusual roles and this film is no exception.

D’Onofrio’s part of the film is the first part involving Marine training in which he plays ‘Gomer Pyle’. His supporting buddy during training was ‘Joker’ played by Matthew Modine. After watching the entire film, I decided that I could have stopped watching after that first part. For the rest of the film we see a succession of war episodes most of which involve Matthew Modine. If you read the well-written and interesting Wikipedia article about the film, you will find that some critics found the second half somewhat formless and disappointing.

Obviously this is an anti-war film, or at least an anti-Vietnam-war film. In fact, it is a little too obvious which is to say almost preachy in its choice of episodes. Nonetheless, all the episodes are gripping in one way or another.

For the sake of film history I am glad I watched the entire story.