20 Baffling IMDb Top 250 Placements You Won't Believe
16. Full Metal Jacket
The Film:
Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam War drama, which is examines the dehumanizing effects of war. The film starts at a military boot-camp before moving to the war in Vietnam, which was incredibly recreated entirely in England since Kubrick never flew anywhere.
Placement: #93
Why It's Wrong:
Again, Full Metal Jacket is another fine film that is just placed too high up. It's got some fabulous performances, it's disturbing in a good way as all war films should be, and Stanley Kubrick is, as usual, being an unnatural genius in the director's chair.
If the entire thing was the first half, then yes this placement on the Top 250 would be justified. Unfortunately, this is a film of 2 halves and the second half is a noticeable step down. The boot-camp scenes are perfection, yet once we actually get to Vietnam, it's nowhere near as interesting.
There are many relevant faults with Full Metal Jacket that have been cited by many reviewers, so it's strange that one of Kubrick's less popular films have managed to get so far up the list. It's only half a great movie, and given its inconsistency it makes little sense to consider it one of the top 100 films of all time.
It deserves to be on the list - it's Stanley Kubrick after all - and there are many brilliant things in it. It's just unfortunate that Kubrick's normally stellar writing skills falter a little here, and it belongs somewhere further down.
Where It Should Be: #200-#250