Full Metal Jacket (Deluxe Edition)[HD DVD]
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Movie Reviews of Full Metal Jacket (Deluxe Edition)[HD DVD]
Movie Review: Horrible video quality for an HD DVD!
Summary: 1 Stars
Although I enjoyed seeing the training part of this move (my brother recently went through it and became a Marine), the movie does end up feeling un-American and un-Patriotic. But this is not a surprise, since when does Holly Wood create anything positive about the nation that gives it the freedom to create boring unpatriotic movies.
The main reason I took time to right this review is to warn everyone that the video quality is truly horrible for an HD DVD. If you like this movie for its story or for some other reason, maybe you should just get the DVD. This HD DVD is definitely not one you would want to show someone if your trying to convince them to upgrade to HD.
Movie Review: Kubrick's last classic film manages to comment on both the 60's and the 80's
Summary: 4 Stars
First up a commentary about the qualty of the Blu-ray presentation then for those that are interested an analysis of Kubrick's film. The Blu-ray presentation is nearly flawless with a rich looking, terrific presentation with sharp images and an accurate representation of the color scheme of the film.
Note: Keep in mind that this film was ALWAYS grainy and Kubrick intentionally went with a "flat" look for the lighting of the film. However, an earlier edition of the film used an older HD master that didn't do the film any favors and had issues with the MPEG2 compression technology not being able to do an adequate job of keeping up with the shifting images (particularly in the latter half of the film. This probably isn't the disc to "knock your socks off" about Blu-ray because of the way it was shot. The new edition, however, accurately reflects the "look", textures and feel of the original film much more accurately than ANY other version to date.
The extras which include a commentary track by the cast (although curiously Matthew Modine is absent), is extremely good providing bits of detail about the production of the film. As Vincent D'onofrio points out Kubrick would probably be very unhappy if he was alive and knew there was a commentary track on the film. Kubrick wanted his films to be accepted without commentary or observations about those involved in the production (much like Spielberg)but it does help to have these observations to provide a context about the making of the film. As with the DVD we get a number of terrific featurette "Beyond Good and Evil" that provides insight into the making of the film and themes that Kubrick shapes.
How does this compare to the DVD? It looks better of course. How does this compare to the HD-DVD? Since both used the same encoding, it should look roughly the same but I haven't had time to do a side-by-side comparison. I can't compare this to the previous Blu-ray edition because I don't have it.
Any film is truly about the era the film was made in whether it be a period drama, science fiction or romantic comedy set in another time it captures the essence of that era, comments on it through the actions of the characters and behaviors and even the themes itself. This was true of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Jaws" as much as it is about "Citizen Kane" and "Vertigo". Great films, however, manage to also transcend the era about which they were made because they manage to touch on much more sweeping, grand (or in this case intimate) themes pursuing the essence of what it is to be human. "Full Metal Jacket" Stanley Kubrick's penultimate film fits in this category. It's as much about the Reagan/Bush era as it is about the Vietnam/60's experience and manages to be both clinical and intimate touching on the small moments that altered these individual's lives unlike the epic "Apocalypse Now" (to which this film is a terrific companion piece).
The story is, essentially, broken into two sections equally powerful and satiric; the first half is set on Paris Island where new recruits are indoctrinated into the military way--their identities are symbolically taken away as they are "reborn" with their heads shaved, they are given a new set of rules and codes to live by and are "reborn" to kill. This section focuses on the tools these men are also given to be both killing machines and survival with the hopes that they can retain some sense of humanity as well.
The second half focuses on their experience in Vietnam itself where they've "grown up" into the hunters they were retrained to be. Kubrick manages to be both satiric and, surprisingly, allows us the audience to connect with the characters wayward humanity in scenes where they interact. Most of the what's left of these people are the surface and underneath when unleased are deadly creatures as dark, base and cynical as the astronaunts in "2001" are intellectual, detacted and curious. It's a fascinating companion piece to Kubrick's films "Paths of Glory", "Dr. Strangelove", "2001" and "Clockwork" all of which touch on the same themes.
Movie Review: The low rating is not for the movie itself...
Summary: 1 Stars
...Since I think it's one of the most powerful war movies ever made. I saw it in the theatre when I was 8, and the boot camp sequence stuck with me. The reason I'm giving this 1 star is, why is there no release of the Deluxe edition on standard DVD? Is there some research that suggests that people don't buy standard DVDs any more? I spent hundreds of dollars replacing my VHS collection with DVDs- I'm not about to do the same thing with HD-DVD. Warner Bros, you owe your customers more than this.
*Update, 3/4/08- With the recent developments in the market (Sony going with Blu-Ray and Toshiba saying they will stop making HD-DVDs), this particular product is even more irrelevant than when I first wrote the review.
Movie Review: Full Metal Jacket HD
Summary: 4 Stars
Looks like a brand new film - colors are natural, film grain barely noticeable - razor sharp image. Very pleased. Movie Review: HD DVD Review
Summary: 4 Stars
Amazon, are you all messed up or what? Why are you including non HD DVD Reviews?