Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford. The title refers to the full metal jacket bullet type of ammunition used by infantry riflemen. The film follows a squad of U.S. Marines from their Boot Camp through their participation in the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War.

The film is divided into two parts. In the first part, a group of new recruits in the United States Marine Corps have just arrived at Parris Island for recruit training. After they have their heads shaved, they meet their drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey), who wastes no time in starting the process of making these civilians into Marines. The Vietnam War is in full swing, and his job is to produce trained Marines. The film's first section focuses on the physical and psychological treatment of the recruits, in particular Leonard Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio), whom Hartman derisively nicknames "Gomer Pyle."

Hartman immediately pegs Pyle as a misfit. He is socially awkward, dimwitted, overweight, out of shape, and afraid of heights. He has trouble coping with the physical rigors of recruit training and does not respond well to orders and procedures. These deficiencies get the constant attention of Hartman, who punishes him to encourage him to perform better as well as to provide a lesson to the others. Hartman ultimately appoints the protagonist "Joker" (Matthew Modine) as Pyle's squad leader, bunkmate, and mentor, stressing that Joker will set Pyle straight, or else. Pyle eventually begins to straighten up and become a more disciplined recruit on some fronts, but forgets to lock his footlocker before a barracks inspection. Opening it, Hartman finds a contraband jelly doughnut inside and immediately puts a new rule into effect: every time Pyle "fucks up", Hartman will punish everyone else in the platoon because they are not helping Hartman by encouraging Pyle to work harder toward becoming a Marine. Shortly afterward, the other recruits gang up on Pyle during the night and give him a blanket party, pinning him to his bunk using a blanket and beating him severely with bars of soap wrapped in towels and socks. Joker, the last one to hit Pyle, covers his ears once he is back in his bunk to block out the latter's moaning and sobbing. Wikipedia