Full Metal Jacket - Locked & Loaded

I must just be lucky because I've watched three fan edits in a row that I really enjoyed. Fan edits at their best can either make an entirely new movie out of an old movie or reintroduce you to a movie that you have seen many many times before.

Full Metal Jacket, for me, is one of those movies I have seen many many times. I can close my eyes and walk through Full Metal Jacket line by line. Fan editing when done well can make an old movie new again. Full Metal Jacket - Locked & Loaded has done just that for me. It's been probably two years since I've watched my DVD copy of FMJ. As I said I can see this movie in my minds eye so it's not like I forgot anything. JetSetWilly accomplished what an good fan edit sets out to do. He made an old movie new again. I haven't enjoyed FMJ this much in a long time.

I appreciate the cuts made and I understand why you decided to cut what you did. I also enjoyed the deeper impression of isolation the edits gave to Pyle. The Kubrick cut always just left the impression that Pyle wasn't isolated he was just a broken third wheel. The transition of scenes wasn't always smooth but that really didn't matter as much as the overall story being being presented here.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this edit.

I've always enjoyed the first half of the movie the most. The second half is good, but not as good. Telling the second half in its own right works extremely well. The focus of the movie is squarely on Joker now, with the flashbacks to the first half showing us only what we need to know about how Joker was shaped by his experience at Parris and with Pyle. I thought more material could have been included in that regard. In this edit, it doesn't seem that Joker became Pyle's squad leader, which is an interesting change. Without Hartman's speech about giving the rifle a girl's name, the closing voiceover is robbed of impact and sounds quite out of place. A few of the transitions were a touch too long of blank screen. Overall, a very interesting edit.

Kubrick is my all-time favorite director and I absolutely love Full Metal Jacket how it is. JetSetWilly's idea for this edit has intrigued me since he first started working on it. I've watched (I think) every iteration JSW made and helped him out along the way.

This is an excellent example of re-editing a great movie to see what could have been. The dual story lines are marvelous told this way, intercutting boot camp with war. The editor chose the exact right moments to cut back and forth without having one segment drag on. The editing was smooth and this makes for a great viewing!

It's not better than the original, but it's not trying to be. Highly recommended.