Coming Soon – Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket
Article Series by Ray Schillaci
After wowing audiences with the science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, dipping us into the controversial world of a bit of the old ultra violence and sex in Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, unraveling a masterpiece of imagery in Barry Lyndon, and daring to bring us a beloved Stephen King book with his own nightmarish vision, Stanley Kubrick returned to war with Full Metal Jacket. On September 22nd, Warner Brothers will finally release this 1987 film with a new 4K scan from the 35mm camera negative with HDR10 high dynamic range giving the viewer a wider color spectrum with more lifelike colors. The 4K scan from the 35mm is under the supervision of Kubrick’s longtime personal assistant, Leon Vitelli, who’s been working with the team at WB. The disc will also come with 5.1 DTS Master Audio soundtrack. Exciting news for any Kubrick and/or Full Metal Jacket fan.
Kubrick displayed the full strength of his directorial prowess with his fourth feature, Paths of Glory, his first anti-war film taking place during WWI. Full Metal Jacket returned to that theme during the Vietnam War. At the time of its release, the film seemed to be not as innovative as his other ventures. It explored many familiar themes of other popular anti-war films: Platoon, The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now! and Kubrick’s take did not have the powerhouse acting presence that Brando, Sheen, De Niro, Walken, Berenger and Dafoe had in the previous films.
Although, there was one under appreciated performance by Vincent D’Onofrio as the overweight, dim-witted, put-upon private that eventually snaps during boot camp. Kubrick also captured the mental brutality of boot camp like no other film. In fact, the power of Kubrick’s vision seemed to be lessened once we go to war due to the intense impact of the first half of the film. In my opinion, nothing quite matches that first half. But, time has been kind to Kubrick’s second to last film, building an even bigger following than it had from the start, his visionary flair enhanced with this new presentation.
The new cover art is definitely collector worthy, but the exclusive Best Buy steelbook art is less to be desired. It seems as if the Best Buy art for steelbooks is rarely as good as what the studio has to offer. Not much to get excited about regarding extras. They’ve been ported from the Blu-ray with only…
• Commentary with Adam Baldwin, Vincent D’Onofrio, (Oscar nominated) R. Lee Ermey and critic/screenwriter Jay Cocks (not to be confused as one of the writers of FMJ
• Featurette: Full Metal Jacket: Between Good and Evil
• Theatrical trailer
Shame on WB for not giving us a more extensive look into a fan favorite. At least we do get the finest presentation of one of Stanley Kubrick’s most celebrated films. Also, I cannot help but mention one of my fave of Kubrick’s even though he denounced it after its release, the 4K version of Spartacus is now available! The restoration is beautiful, and there is a hefty amount of bonuses.
As the story goes, Kirk Douglas fired the original director, Anthony Mann (El Cid) and brought in Kubrick who he had worked with on Paths of Glory. Unfortunately, the two clashed terribly. Kubrick wanted more control and Douglas “kept him on a tight leash.” Kubrick washed his hands of the film after its release even though he had run roughshod over the cinematographer, Russell Metty who was an accomplished director of photography for such films as Orson Welles’ The Stranger and Touch of Evil, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, and Man of a Thousand Faces. It was a highly contentious affair that actually resulted in Metty winning the Oscar for Spartacus. Honestly, I will probably purchase Spartacus before I get Full Metal Jacket.
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