#19. Full Metal Jacket
By the time The Shining had been released in theaters, Stanley Kubrick had already decided that for his next project he wanted to make a film that depicted what war was like. Based on Gustav Hasford’s novel The Short-Timers, and little more than seven years later, Kubrick presented Full Metal Jacket to the world. The film also served as a star-making opportunity for Vincent D’Onofrio, who gained 70 pounds to star in the film.
R. Lee Ermey was the technical advisor for the movie before telling Stanley Kubrick that he wanted to play the drill instructor instead. As Kubrick wasn’t convinced, Ermey decided to shoot his own audition tape where he shouted obscenities and insults into the camera, for a full 15 minutes. Kubrick also let Ermey write his own lines. The drill instructor is thought to have written around 150 pages of insults that could have been used in Full Metal Jacket