Written and directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman

• If you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training... you will be a weapon, you will be a minister of death, praying for war. But until that day you are pukes! You're the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human fucking beings! You are nothing but unorganized grabasstic pieces of amphibian shit! Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn. I am hard, but I am fair! There is no racial bigotry here! I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops, or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless! And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps! Do you maggots understand that?

• Tonight... you pukes will sleep with your rifles! You will give your rifle a girl's name! Because this is the only pussy you people are going to get! Your days of finger-banging old Mary Jane Rottencrotch through her pretty pink panties are over! You're married to this piece, this weapon of iron and wood! And you will be faithful!

• The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle. It is your killer instinct which must be harnessed if you expect to survive in combat. Your rifle is only a tool. It is a hard heart that kills. If your killer instincts are not clean and strong you will hesitate at the moment of truth. You will not kill. You will become dead Marines. And then you will be in a world of shit. Because Marines are not allowed to die without permission! Do you maggots understand?

• Today... is Christmas! There will be a magic show at zero-nine-thirty! Chaplain Charlie will tell you about how the free world will conquer Communism with the aid of God and a few Marines! God has a hard-on for Marines because we kill everything we see! He plays His games, we play ours! To show our appreciation for so much power, we keep Heaven packed with fresh souls! God was here before the Marine Corps! So you can give your heart to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the Corps! Do you ladies understand?

• Today you people are no longer maggots. Today you are Marines. You're part of a brotherhood. [voiceover] From now on, until the day you die, wherever you are, every Marine is your brother. Most of you will go to Vietnam. Some of you will not come back. But always remember this: Marines die, that's what we're here for! But the Marine Corps lives forever. And that means you live forever!

Others

• Crazy Earl: These are great days we're living, bros. We are jolly green giants, walking the Earth with guns. These people we wasted here today are the finest human beings we will ever know. After we rotate back to the world, we're gonna miss not having anyone around that's worth shooting.

• Marines: This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy, who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. Before God I swear this creed: my rifle and myself are defenders of my country, we are the masters of our enemy, we are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace. Amen.

Dialogue

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Jesus H. Christ! Private Pyle, why is your footlocker unlocked?

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, I don't know, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Private Pyle, if there is one thing in this world that I hate, it is an unlocked footlocker! You know that, don't you?

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, yes, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: If it wasn't for dickheads like you, there wouldn't be any thievery in this world, would there?

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, no, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Get down!

[Private Pyle steps down from the footlocker. Hartman flips open the lid with a bang.]

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Well now... let's just see if there's anything missing!

Sergeant Hartman begins rummaging through the box, then freezes. He slowly picks up a jelly doughnut and holds it in disgust with his fingertips.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Holy Jesus! What is that? What the fuck is that? What is that, Private Pyle?!

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, a jelly doughnut, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: A jelly doughnut?!

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, yes, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: How did it get here?

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, I took it from the mess hall, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Is chow allowed in the barracks, Private Pyle?

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, no, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Are you allowed to eat jelly doughnuts, Private Pyle?

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, no, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: And why not, Private Pyle?

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, because I'm too heavy, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Because you are a disgusting fat body, Private Pyle!

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, yes, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Then why did you hide a jelly doughnut in your foot locker, Private Pyle?

Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, because I was hungry, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Because you were hungry?

[Sergeant Hartman starts to walk down the line of recruits, with the jelly doughnut still at hand.]

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Private Pyle has dishonored himself and dishonored the platoon! I have tried to help him, but I have failed! I have failed because you have not helped me! You people have not given Private Pyle the proper motivation! So, from now on, whenever Private Pyle fucks up, I will not punish him, I will punish all of you! And the way I see it, ladies, you owe me for one jelly doughnut! Now, get on your faces!

[The other recruits get in front-leaning-rest position.]

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: [to Pyle] Open your mouth!

[He shoves the jelly doughnut into Pyle's mouth.]

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: They're paying for it, you eat it!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: [referring to Lee Harvey Oswald and mass murderer Charles Whitman] Do any of you people know where these individuals learned how to shoot?

[Private Joker raises his hand.]

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Private Joker?

Private Joker: Sir, in the Marines, sir!

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: In the Marines! Outstanding! Those individuals showed what one motivated Marine and his rifle can do! And before you ladies leave my island, you will all be able to do the same thing!

Private Joker: Are those... live rounds?

Private Gomer Pyle: Seven-six-two millimeter, full metal jacket.

[Pyle smiles grotesquely.]

Private Joker: Leonard, if Hartman comes in here and catches us, we'll both be in a world of shit.

Private Gomer Pyle: I am... in a world... of shit!

Taglines

• In Vietnam The Wind Doesn't Blow It Sucks

• Vietnam can kill me, but it can't make me care

• Acclaimed by critics as the best war movie ever made

• Born to Kill

Cast

• Matthew Modine - Private Joker/J.T. Davis
• Vincent D'Onofrio - Private Gomer Pyle/Leonard Lawrence
• R. Lee Ermey - Gunnery Sergeant Hartman
• Adam Baldwin - Animal Mother
• Dorian Harewood - Private Eightball
• Arliss Howard - Private Cowboy
• Kevyn Major Howard - Rafterman
• Ed O'Ross - Lieutenant Touchdown/Walter J. Schinoski
• John Terry - Lieutenant Lockhart
• Kieron Jecchinis - Crazy Earl
• Kirk Taylor - Payback
• Peter Edmund - Private Snowball
• Tim Colceri - Doorgunner
• Gil Kopel - Stork