But the performance garnering significant acclaim is R. Lee Ermey’s portrayal as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. A film enthusiast praised the movie, saying: "A fantastic satire of the Vietnam War ...

Split between the harrowing boot-camp tyranny of R. Lee Ermey’s drill instructor and the urban violence of the 1968 Tet Offensive, “Full Metal Jacket” fuses both ends of the war machine.