Full Metal Jacket vs. Platoon

Both Platoon and Full Metal Jacket were focused on the Vietnam War, but their styles differ greatly and they approach the Vietnam War differently, yet they both reach the same conclusion: war is bad. That sounds so simple, almost as if it is common sense. But after watching a total of more than four hours of bloodshed between the two, there is nothing left to say other than yes, war is bad.

Unlike Full Metal Jacket, Platoon follows a particular protagonist (Chris) throughout the entirety of the plot. He is the narrator, the audience’s central focus, the emotional attachment for the viewer. This emotional attachment first comes up when he writes home to his grandma, stating that he thinks he may have made a big mistake by coming to war. Because of Full Metal Jacket’s lack of an attachment to one character, it is more difficult for the audience to feel a personal connection to any of the many characters. Thus, rather than the movie following one man’s journey (like Platoon), it is more like a bird’s eye view of the war, with broader focuses on the entire events that took place, from the training camps to the deaths and how every man deals with the dehumanization of war.

The most striking thematic similarity in both Full Metal Jacket and Platoon is that the soldiers eventually turn against each other. In Full Metal Jacket, this occurs earlier on, when Private Pyle shoots his officer and then turns around and shoots himself while they are both still in the training camps. In Platoon, there are numerous different incidences of men turning on each other and killing Americans. It is partly because of this that we find ourselves watching the end of the movie and realizing that one by one, all but a handful of the main characters have been killed off, and for no particular reason at all. Which brings me to my next point: as you sit here watching both movies, you witness murder after murder and you get sucked into it, mesmerized yet disgusted by what is on the screen. However, if you truly step back and examine it, what are we even watching? Why are they doing this? This is the main similarity in both movies: neither ever presents the reason for why they’re fighting a war. Instead, the men are merely doing what they were told.