Full Metal Jacket: The Story of How R. Lee Ermey Made Hartman an Icon
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The character of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket was made iconic by the actor R. Lee Ermey. Ermey spent thirty months as a drill instructor in San Diego and then he was sent to the front lines of the Vietnam War where he took shrapnel from an enemy rocket, which “ended his dream of a long career in the Corps.”
He would never leave the Marine Corps behind, but it wasn’t until making Full Metal Jacket in the 80s that he would bring not only a real sense of authenticity to a Vietnam War film, but draw on his past experiences to create one of the most memorable characters of all time. Here’s how it happened…
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This video essay was written, edited, and narrated by Tyler Knudsen.
Sources:
Cinephilia & Beyond - Run Through the Jungian: Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Full Metal Jacket’, a Phenomenological Treatise on War -
[Eyes on Cinema] Stanley Kubrick works on dialogue with R. Lee Ermey for Full Metal Jacket -
[Commentary] Full Metal Jacket - Blu-ray
[CBC] How R. Lee Ermey knew how to act in Full Metal Jacket, 1987 -
[Wygant] R Lee Ermey for “Full Metal Jacket“ 1987 - Bobbie Wygant Archive -
[FMJ Diary] Full Metal Jacket Diary by Matthew Modine -
[Military Makeover] The Gunny Tribute Special: Remembering R. Lee Ermey -
[NY Times] ‘Jacket’ Actor Invents His Dialogue By Aljean Harmetz
./1987/06/30/movies/
[FMJ Making] Full Metal Jacket: Between Good and Evil - FMJ Blu-ray
[History Channel] Lee Ermey History Channel Segment -
An Interview with Stanley Kubrick (1969) by Joseph Gelmis
[Indie Wire] 5 Things You Might Not Know About Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Full Metal Jacket’
[AC] American Cinematographer Sept ‘87 -
[Cahill] The Rolling Stone Interview: Stanley Kubrick in 1987 By Tim Cahill
[Ciment] Kubrick: The Definitive Edition - Michel Ciment
[Den of Geek] Full Metal Jacket and Its Troubled Production - Den of Geek -
[Siskel] Candidly Kubrick by Gene Siskel -
Movies:
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Se7en (1995)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Toy Story (1995)
The Boys in Company C (1978)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Frighteners (1996)
Music:
Epidemic Sound