Aidan-Meghann Chambers

ENG 140

1a. “Gee Whiz” Review of a Drama

Full Metal Jacket vs. Hurt Locker

I really enjoyed these two movies, Full Metal Jacket and Hurt Locker, both deal with

trauma of warfare as experienced by U.S troops and by civilians in wars in developing nations.

Both are filled with a lot of character and much conflict. War in its entirety is a conflict all on its

own. Although separated by 40 years in time, these two movies have a lot of similarities and

differences. Full Metal Jacket is based upon the Vietnam War. Hurt Locker is based upon the

Iraq War.

In Hurt Locker there just seemed to be overall more compassion for the civilians. Instead

of just flying through the air and killing them as the soldier did in Full Metal Jacket. And it just

seemed so unnecessary to kill all those civilians. I did notice that in Hurt Locker it was harder to

distinguish between civilians and terrorists. For example, the guy on the roof while the soldiers

are handling the situation with the bomb, Is he suspicious or just watching to see what they’re

doing?? Does he have a detonator or not?? Bombs in Vietnam were hidden mostly in the

jungle. Where as in Iraq, they were much more clever. They hid the bombs in mounds of dirt,

dead animals, etc. U.S. soldiers in Iraq were even advised to around large mounds of dirt and

animals that were dead in the middle of the street or side of the road because it could be a
bomb and stepping on it would detonate it. Those are just some differences that I saw in the

movies. Here are some real differences of the wars: So for those of you who can’t see the

difference between Iraq and Vietnam, here’s some points to consider: 1.) Vietnam was an

undeclared war. Iraq is not. Congress authorized the conflict, whether they’re flip flopping or

not. 2.)Iraq is the US’ unfinished business. Vietnam was France’s. 3.) The US in not alone in

Iraq. 4.)The military in Iraq is all-volunteer. Vietnam War had a draft. Iraq had no draft. 5.) U.S

body count lower in Iraq. And of course this has something to do with the Body wear and

medical advancements that have been made over the last 30 years. I believe that if these things

weren’t as superior as they are compared to Vietnam that many more soldiers would be dead.

6.) The Vietnam War started as a guerrilla war and then escalated into a conventional war; in

Iraq, it started as a conventional war and now it's deteriorated into a guerrilla war.

Now for the similarities: Both movies, there is a strong theme of “brotherhood”

between the United States soldiers. They are “brothers not by blood”. They depend on each

other so heavily. War is not easy. And all these soldiers are going through it together. They are

living together, eating together, fighting together, and killing together. I notice that they make

jokes to lighten the situation because of how serious it really is. In Hurt Locker the scene where

the U.S. soldiers are deactivating a bomb, even though this bomb could go off at anytime and is

super dangerous, instead of showing his panic. One soldier says to the one deactivating the

bomb “you’re in the killing zone” as a joke as he nears the bomb. Joker in “Full Metal Jacket”,

he is always making jokes and fun. Always lightening the mood and the sadness that is in the

air. But is visibly scared when his camp is under attack and actually has to go into combat. But

still that closeness, that feeling of family that the soldiers have is so evident and so strong.
There are many similarities between the Vietnam War and the War on Terror/Iraq War. Both

have attempted to stop the spread of an ideology that confused and scared Americans. Both

revolved around fear for what might happen if we failed to win the war. Both were focused in

far off lands on the edge of Asia. Both caused America's reputation overseas to go downhill, as

American actions caused the deaths of enormous numbers of innocent people. Both involved

American intervention in the domestic affairs of distant lands as if that were an American right. Both

caused the American government to sacrifice American civil liberties. Both caused most Americans to

question the truthfulness and integrity of our government. The American government used deceit and

fabrication to justify both wars. Both involved secret operations in neighboring countries and escalations

with only temporary impact. And finally Both were extremely divisive for America. I believe that the

similarities between these two wars overpower the differences.