MovieChat Forums > Platoon (1987) Discussion > Which do you prefer: Platoon or Full Met...

Which do you prefer: Platoon or Full Metal Jacket?


I know that may be a silly question, and a difficult one to answer. It's like having to choose between Goodfellas and Casino.

But I've thought long and hard about this, and I'm gonna have to go with Full Metal Jacket. The battle scenes are just so much more intense and realistic, as far as a Vietnam era flick goes. But Platoon is also still really good. But I think Full Metal Jacket is the winner of that genre.

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In the 90s and early to mid 2000s it was full metal jacket. I think probably more so because of the comedic relief in it..the drill Sargent scenes to name 1..but as I've gotten older I've come to really like Platoon...it has the comedic relief from the actor's..but also the dramaticness of being in Nam. Don't get me wrong FMJ has the drama as well but for me I feel like platoon almost puts me in like a first person view. I feel like I am going through what the characters are going through, as if I am in movie with them.

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Platoon was a cinematic achievement. The actors, the director, the production, the gut churning plot, and even the score were fantastic. Full Metal Jacket had it's moments but nothing like Platoon.

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I think Platoon is overrated. Meandering character study with social commentary substituting for plot. Excellent performances, though. Deer Hunter did this far better.

FMJ is the best by far.

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Agreed. Full Metal Jacket is hands down the best. I still enjoyed Platoon though. It's just not in the same league as Full Metal Jacket.

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Agree. Platoon is morality tale. It felt very melodramatic at times. Allegorical.
FMJ is war, no right side, no wrong side, no judgement. Almost documentary like.

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I prefer Platoon
Both movies made war look extremely random and awful but I feel Platoon had a better script

The training scenes in FMJ were really amazing though

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"extremely random"
This was my primary problem with Platoon. Hardly a war movie, IMO.

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I saw it as a series of random incidents that changed a 'Crusader' into a nearly broken man during his Hellish time at war

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I have never been in a war, but I think was is "extremely random."

Whether you or your buddy standing next to you gets his guts shot out. Very random.
One inch to the left. Hospital.
One inch to the right. Morgue.
One inch higher. Just fine.

To answer the original question. I prefer Full Metal Jacket because it is so surreal, as i expect war would be.

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Exactly
No rhyme or reason, just random and awful destruction

FMJ was great

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Oliver Stone has made some interesting movies, but he's not in the same league as Kubrick, and these films demonstrate why. It's like saying both the Beatles and Backstreet Boys were boy bands, which one was better? The answer is insanely obvious.

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You overrate Kubrick. "Lolita" got so eye-rolling story-wise I had to turn it off near the beginning of the last act. Stone has some dogs too, but certainly a few notable ones. The two are about even in output IMHO.

"Platoon" and "Full Metal Jacket" aren't even comparable in quality; the latter was shot in freakin' England.

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"You overrate Kubrick."

This comment doesn't make sense. It's impossible to "overrate" Kubrick.

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Good answer. :)

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Kubrick may be a better director overall but Platoon is a better film than anything Kubrick ever did.

I’ve also noticed that Stanley Kubrick and Pink Floyd fanatics are some of the most obnoxious people on the face of the planet.

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Easy: Platoon.

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FMJ is depressing nearly all the way through. From the fat retard who somehow turns into a psychotic murderer cuz boot camp was hard...to half of their squad getting sniped to death by ONE teenage girl.

Yeah I enjoyed Platoon a lot more

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I would easily say Platoon. I like FMJ, for sure, but Platoon is much more realistic overall, and done by a team of vets to boot. Think about this - remove R. Lee Ermy from FMJ and would you like the film nearly as much? Whereas Platoon did a great job of showing the war while still having some plot involved. Again, I like both, but I thought Platoon was possibly the best Vietnam film made.

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FMJ seemed like two different movies.

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It literally is. The structure of the film and its Jungian philosophical underpinnings are inseparable.

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