Full Metal Jacket (1987) is a classic war film. It has its critics, particularly, with regards to its second half, but Stanley Kubrick's scathing genre film pulled the curtain back on the process of being trained as an American soldier, and the psychological abuse that comes with it.
The film is an indictment of masculinity, and the process of breaking down American citizens to make them better soldiers. These themes, and intentions, were seemingly lost on President Donald Trump, who recently used the film in a campaign ad. The ad draws parallels between Trump and the infamous drill sergeant played by R. Lee Ermey.
Modine believes the ad corrupts the film's themes
WE WILL NOT HAVE A WOKE MILITARY! pic.twitter.com/zpWZhSKcEs
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2024
Only, the parallel is intended to be a positive one that speaks to Trump's traditional masculine values. This is something that Matthew Modine, the star of the film, was baffled by. He talked about Trump's ad during a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, and made it clear that he did not support it:
"Trump has twisted and profoundly distorted Kubrick’s powerful anti-war film into a perverse, homophobic, and manipulative tool of propaganda."
Modine went on to compare Trump to Adolf Hitler, and the propaganda of this recent campaign ad with the Nazi propaganda made by Leni Riefenstahl during World War II. It is a bold declaration, of course, but one that has been made before by other notable public figures.
Modine's co-star also denounced the campaign ad
"It is no exaggeration to see Trump’s reflection in the terrible figure Hitler was," Modine asserted. "Trump has shown us who he is and made no secret of what he intends to do." The actor was not the only one who distanced themself from Trump's latest ad.
Vincent D'Onofrio is the other actor featured in the Full Metal Jacket scenes featured in the ad. A rep for the actor stated that he did not "provide any consent for this usage by the Trump Campaign." He's also been critical of the former President in the past.
Vivian Kubrick, meanwhile, has had the opposite reaction to the Full Metal Jacket campaign ad. She claimed that her father, Stanley Kubrick, would be a Donald Trump supporter if he was still alive today. “Truthfully, I believe my father (who supported Reagan), would very much approve of saving America," she tweeted.