Stanley Kubrick: Ranking His Films From Worst To Best

Directed in 1987, this is Kubrick’s second war movie after Paths of Glory. This diptych storyline follows a young platoon of US Marines through bootcamp, eventually being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War.

The bootcamp element of the film is perhaps the best part, focusing on two privates, Joker and Pyle, as they’re subject to the rule of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Lee Ermey). Famously, Ermey was drafted by Kubrick for a purely advisory role to help potential actors get the authenticity needed for the part. Ermey himself served as a drill instructor during the Vietnam conflict and used this experience to ad lib much of dialogue when he was eventually given the part by an impressed Kubrick.

Compared to Kubrick’s other films, the themes of the movie received very little attention. This is undeservedly so. It tackles notions of violence, masculinity, and insanity masterfully.

Despite the movie releasing alongside other massive blockbusters of the time such as Oliver Stone’s Platoon, it was met with critical acclaim and an Oscar Nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film to this day holds up well, even if fails to capture the visual mastery of other films such as Apocalypse Now and the aforementioned Platoon.