39 Years Later, HBO Max's Legendary War Movie Is Still One of the Best Ever Made

Many great directors have given their own views of the triumphs and tragedies of war – Steven Spielberg recreated the D-Day landings for Saving Private Ryan; Christopher Nolan took audiences to Dunkirk; and Francis Ford Coppola went deep into the jungle for Apocalypse Now. Few filmmakers, however, have looked at the toll of conflict through the same lens as Stanley Kubrick. 1987’s Full Metal Jacket showed the experience of the Vietnam War through the eyes of a soldier, in a way that showcased both the futility of war and the system that prepares young men for it. Nearly three decades later, the work is one of the great director’s most haunted and darkly comic works.