Search - Full Metal Jacket (Deluxe Widescreen Edition) on DVD

Good to have a deluxe edition, but phony widescreen is a mis

oldpink | Indiana, US | 01/06/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I mainly bought this for the nice little featurette explaining some of the details of how this movie was made, and for the commentary track, featuring actors Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Adam Baldwin, and critic Jay Cocks.
D'Onofrio seemed to have the most commentary, while I was a bit disappointed to hear so little from the man who made the most lasting impression to me with this movie, R. Lee Ermey.
I was also a bit puzzled about why the producers of this DVD did not manage to get commentary from the man who played the central character in the movie, Matthew Modine.
I am afraid that I am probably unable to determine if the video/audio quality were improved, but I AM qualified to say that the widescreen of this is a cheap trick, intended to fool buyers into thinking they are getting an enhanced product.
The reason I have that criticism is because Stanley Kubrick originally filmed this movie in 4x3 aspect ratio, NOT in the now commonplace 16x9, so the way they made this "widescreen" was to chop off the top and bottom of the image, resulting in LESS instead of more image area.
It is for that reason that I will hang onto my original non-deluxe edition of this movie, which is in its full and proper 4x3 ratio.
Those considerations aside, this remains one of my favorite movies ever, especially for the first 45 minutes, which are probably the best depiction of how a boot camp operates, minus the physical violence from the Drill Instructor and racial slurs.
I heard many of the exact same profanities from my Navy company commanders over 20 years ago, and this takes me back to when I was still young.
The second half of the movie is quite different, although the character of "Joker" retains that sardonic attitude and wry grin throughout.
I also appreciate that Kubrick did not turn this into an anti-war vehicle or other kind of preachy commentary, instead describing how there is much gray area in combat, particularly when the combatants are fighting to survive.
Excellent movie, but this DVD should have retained the full frame, and it really was a pity that Modine is nowhere to be found in the extras."