Review Detail
9.5 3 10
(Updated: August 06, 2016)
Overall rating
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
8.0
Maniac takes Full Metal Jacket, one of my favorite Kubrick films, and prunes it down to two main stories: Parris Island and Hue. Boot camp sadism and guerilla hell.
Video - 1980 X 1080p MPEG 4. Images and textures are really sharp. Street fighting in Hue are red bonfires bleeding into dusk. Solid. Noticed some pixilation on my computer (after fast-forwarding, so likely shame on me), not a glitch on the plasma screen.
Audio - 2 Channel AC3, 128 kbps. No subs. Dialogue is clear and pristine during the Parris Island sequences, murkier in Hue. Certainly by design, to capture the garbled chaos of combat. Not catching everything adds to the confusion and sucks the viewer deeper into this.
Narrative - This is, in essence, two stories. One is self contained - beginning, middle, ending. The other is a surreal dreamlike fragment. There is narrative to the Parris Island material, with the focus being on “Pyle.” Pretty much everyone else is discarded or marginalized, save for Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half shifts to Vietnam and zeroes in on the street ambush. This edit, like the source, feels unfocused and unfinished.
Enjoyment - If I were to fast forward through Full Metal Jacket, which sadly I have, Parris Island and Hue are the two sequences I would watch. The first because it is funny as hell. The sergeant is spitting razors. Hue is all bombs, gunfire and anxiety, with bad behavior displayed. First half training - second half, what training?
I enjoy how Maniac opens the film. This is smart, dropping you straight into the minefield. His music alterations were fine, in that I did not notice them. His editing, both technical and in his choices, were well done. I still dislike the bipolar nature of the film, though that is source, and I don’t think Maniac had in mind to reconfigure that.
You want a version boasting a first act of venomous humor followed by a second act of blood and fire?
This would be a fine choice.
Video - 1980 X 1080p MPEG 4. Images and textures are really sharp. Street fighting in Hue are red bonfires bleeding into dusk. Solid. Noticed some pixilation on my computer (after fast-forwarding, so likely shame on me), not a glitch on the plasma screen.
Audio - 2 Channel AC3, 128 kbps. No subs. Dialogue is clear and pristine during the Parris Island sequences, murkier in Hue. Certainly by design, to capture the garbled chaos of combat. Not catching everything adds to the confusion and sucks the viewer deeper into this.
Narrative - This is, in essence, two stories. One is self contained - beginning, middle, ending. The other is a surreal dreamlike fragment. There is narrative to the Parris Island material, with the focus being on “Pyle.” Pretty much everyone else is discarded or marginalized, save for Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half shifts to Vietnam and zeroes in on the street ambush. This edit, like the source, feels unfocused and unfinished.
Enjoyment - If I were to fast forward through Full Metal Jacket, which sadly I have, Parris Island and Hue are the two sequences I would watch. The first because it is funny as hell. The sergeant is spitting razors. Hue is all bombs, gunfire and anxiety, with bad behavior displayed. First half training - second half, what training?
I enjoy how Maniac opens the film. This is smart, dropping you straight into the minefield. His music alterations were fine, in that I did not notice them. His editing, both technical and in his choices, were well done. I still dislike the bipolar nature of the film, though that is source, and I don’t think Maniac had in mind to reconfigure that.
You want a version boasting a first act of venomous humor followed by a second act of blood and fire?
This would be a fine choice.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
V