Full Metal Jacket/Platoon

For me, Full Metal Jacket was a more engaging, more involving account of Vietnam(compared to Platoon). We got a deeper look into the soldiers' reality and a sense of their experience. It felt less "Hollywood" and more raw and real. The characters were more relatable, and I actually felt emotion when they died; I had a sense of compassion for them. Contrastingly, I felt the characters in Platoon(well, most) were made out to be strictly villains. Stone really captured a feeling of barbarianism, and made Americans out to be ruthless murderers-which we were.

One thing I found interesting in Full Metal Jacket was Kubrick's choice of music. He juxtaposed scenes of death and destruction with upbeat songs. I'm not quite sure what he was doing rhetorically with this? Maybe this stark contrast makes their reality seem that much more horrific? Or maybe he's allowing the viewer to escape the harsh things going on on-screen, just as the soldiers try and escape their reality. But the songs do lighten the mood and change the tone completely-at least for a moment.