10 Most Intense Scenes In War Films

Private Pyle's breakdown completely changes Full Metal Jacket. It introduces a weight to everything that's come before, giving a brutal sense of consequence to the act of making men into soldiers.

After enduring abuse from and feeling betrayed by his comrades, all with the goal of turning him into an infantryman, Pyle, played by Vincent D'Onofrio, has been left with something like a psychotic break.

He is found in the restroom by the protagonist of the film, Joker, loading his rifle. The scene escalates from there. Pyle begins performing rifle drills, spitting out The Rifleman's Creed, both of which were drilled into him by his drill instructor, his tormentor.

Director Stanley Kubrick puts us level with Pyle's eyes - it feels that his glare is upon us.

Pyle gets louder, waking up all of the recruits, including the drill instructor. Pyle is either going to be brutally punished, or he's going to use his training to violent effect.

And with a big grin on his face, he does. All of his pain explodes from his gun and into the drill instructor's chest as the film changes to slow motion. It is an outpouring of the psychological damage we have witnessed over the course of the film. Then, in a moment of shockingly realized violence, he takes his own life, relieving the unbearable tension, but leaving a sick feeling in our stomachs. No other scene in this first half of the film can be viewed the same way now as we know each moment was building up to Pyle's fate, brick by brick.