Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 British-American
war film directed and produced by
Stanley Kubrick. The screenplay by Kubrick,
Michael Herr, and
Gustav Hasford was based on Hasford's novel
The Short-Timers (1979). The film stars
Matthew Modine,
Adam Baldwin,
Vincent D'Onofrio,
R. Lee Ermey,
Dorian Harewood,
Arliss Howard,
Kevyn Major Howard, and
Ed O'Ross, and its storyline follows a
platoon of
U.S. Marines through their
training and the experiences of two of the platoon's Marines in the
Tet Offensive during the
Vietnam War. The film's title refers to the
full metal jacket bullet used by
infantry riflemen. The film was released in the United States on June 26, 1987.