Full Metal Jacket at Revival House Perth
Lock and load for Stanley Kubrick's brutal masterpiece about the dehumanizing machinery of war. This 1987 Vietnam epic stands as one of the greatest and most unflinching war films ever made, split into two distinct halves that together create a devastating portrait of how violence is manufactured and deployed.
The film's legendary first act follows Marine recruits through boot camp under the sadistic Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey in a career-defining, largely improvised performance). Kubrick transforms basic training into a systematic destruction of identity, where young men are broken down and rebuilt as killing machines. The psychological horror of this section—culminating in one of cinema's most shocking sequences—proves more terrifying than any battlefield.
The second half drops us into the chaos of the Tet Offensive, following Private Joker (Matthew Modine) and his squad through the rubble of Huế. Kubrick's Vietnam is a surreal nightmare of confused objectives, casual cruelty, and the absurdity of men singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme while marching through devastation. The final urban combat sequence is masterfully choreographed tension that strips away any remaining romanticism about war.
Shot entirely in England (including a derelict gasworks standing in for Vietnam), Kubrick's meticulous control creates an artificial environment that somehow feels more real than documentary footage. His collaboration with cinematographer Douglas Milsome produces images of haunting beauty that contrast grotesquely with the horror they depict.
This is Kubrick at his most coldly analytical—dissecting exactly how society creates soldiers and what it costs us all.
Presented in authentic 35mm film for the true cinematic experience!
When: Thursday, November 6th at 7:45 PM and Saturday, November 9th at 7:45 PM
Where: Revival House Perth
Rating: R18+ - High impact violence, coarse language, and disturbing themes
Kubrick's unflinching examination of the war machine—brutal, brilliant, and impossible to shake.
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