Continuity mistake: In the opening scene, Gunnery Sgt. Hartman is making his speech and passes by Privates Cowboy and Joker on his way to the other side of the barracks. On his way he passes Private Pyle standing to the right of Private Joker. Later in the scene, when he rushes over to confront Private Joker and then moves on to Private Cowboy and then Private Pyle, Private Pyle is on the left of Private Joker. (00:02:00)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Vincent D'Onofrio, Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard
About three soldiers (including Cowboy and Eightball) are killed by the VC Sniper. Private Joker (Matthew Modine) and the others search a demolished building that they believe the sniper is in. Joker spots the sniper but his gun jams at the last minute. He avoids the sniper's bullets by hiding behind a post, before Private Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard) saves his life, by shooting the sniper. The sniper is actually a female and starts asking the men to kill her. The last scene shows the surviving troops walking next to a flaming Hue City at night and singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme song.
Private Pyle
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: How tall are you private?
Private: Sir, five foot nine, sir!
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Five foot nine, I didn't know they stacked shit that high!
Trivia: Not really a mistake, given the need to maintain the story arc in the first half of the film, but in real life, Pyle would have been discharged from the Marine Corps within days of his starting basic training - for his own good. It happens all the time - dropout rate of boot camp recruits varies but is generally around 10%.
Question: Who's idea was it, or the reason, Kubrick decided to kill off Gunnery Sergeant Hartman? Was it to merely show the casualty of war?
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Answer: It was Gustav Hasford's idea. It happened in the original book that the story is based on, "The Short Timers."
Captain Defenestrator