Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 autobiographical novel The Short-Timers. It stars Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Baldwin, Dorian Harewood, and Arliss Howard.

The storyline follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their boot camp training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. The first half of the film focuses primarily on privates J. T. Davis and Leonard Lawrence, nicknamed "Joker" and "Pyle" respectively, who struggle under their abusive drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half portrays the experiences of Joker and other Marines in the Vietnamese cities of Da Nang and Huế during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War. The film's title refers to the full metal jacket bullet used by military servicemen.

Full Metal Jacket was theatrically released in the United States on June 26, 1987, by Warner Bros., and in the United Kingdom on September 11, 1987. It was the last of Kubrick's films to be released during his lifetime. The film grossed $120 million against a budget of $16.5–30 million and was widely acclaimed. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and was also nominated for two BAFTA Awards, while Ermey was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his performance. In 2001, the American Film Institute placed the film at number 95 in its poll titled "AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills."

During the Vietnam War, a group of USMC recruits arrive for the eight-week basic training at Parris Island. Drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman uses harsh methods to train them for combat. Among the recruits are the wisecracking J. T. Davis, who is nicknamed "Joker" after mocking Hartman, and the overweight and dim-witted Leonard Lawrence, whom Hartman nicknames "Gomer Pyle".

During boot camp, Hartman relentlessly targets Pyle and later names Joker squad leader, charging him with helping Pyle improve. During hygiene inspection, Hartman notices that Pyle's footlocker is unlocked and finds a jelly doughnut inside. As the rest of the platoon "have not given Private Pyle the proper motivation", he collectively punishes them while continuing to exclude Pyle from training activities. The next night, the recruits haze Pyle with a blanket party, which Joker reluctantly participates in under pressure. Pyle appears to reinvent himself into a model recruit, showing particular expertise in marksmanship. Joker, however, worries Pyle may be suffering a mental breakdown when hearing Pyle talk to his rifle. The night before the recruits are to leave Parris Island, Joker, on fire watch duty, discovers Pyle in the barracks latrine loading his M14 rifle with live ammunition, executing drill commands, and loudly reciting the Rifleman's Creed. Awakened by the commotion, Hartman orders Pyle to put down the rifle, but Pyle aims it at him. Provoked by Hartman insulting him again, Pyle fatally shoots him and then kills himself in front of Joker.

By January 1968, Joker is a sergeant based in Da Nang for the newspaper Stars and Stripes alongside Private First Class "Rafter Man", a combat photographer. Their base is unsuccessfully raided as part of the Tet Offensive. The following morning, Joker and Rafter Man are sent to Phu Bai, where Joker searches for and reunites with Sergeant "Cowboy" Evans, a friend from Parris Island who now serves in a unit dubbed the "Lusthog Squad". While reporting at a site where civilians were massacred, a Marine Corps colonel challenges Joker on the inconsistency of his wearing a peace symbol pin button on his uniform's lapel, while having "Born to Kill" written on his helmet. Joker claims he does not know its meaning, nor where he procured the button, but when pressed, surmises he intended it as commentary on the duality of man. After a pause, the baffled colonel responds "Whose side are you on, son?" He later tells Joker to "... jump on the team and come on in for the big win", and concludes "We've gotta try to keep our heads until this peace craze blows over."

During the Battle of Huế, platoon leader Lieutenant Walter J. "'Mr. Touchdown" Schinoski falls victim to a surprise bombing attack, leading Sergeant "Crazy Earl" to take his place as squad leader. As they enter the city, an unnamed Marine is shot dead, before Crazy Earl kills two Vietnamese soldiers. In a sequence featuring "Surfin' Bird", Cowboy looks toward the viewer's camera and shouts "Hey, start the cameras, this is Vietnam, the movie!" Later, a booby-trapped rabbit toy kills Crazy Earl, leaving Cowboy in command. Becoming lost in the city, the squad is attacked by a Viet Cong sniper who fatally shoots three more members: "Eightball", "Doc Jay", and Cowboy.

Assuming command, squad machine gunner "Animal Mother" leads an attack on the sniper. Joker locates her first, but his M16 rifle jams. The sniper, a teenage girl, overhears this and opens fire, while Rafter Man shoots and mortally wounds her. As the squad converges on the sniper, she begs for death, leading to an argument over whether to kill her or leave her to die in pain. Animal Mother agrees to a mercy killing but only if Joker will handle it; after some hesitation, Joker shoots her. As night falls, the Marines march to the Perfume River singing the "Mickey Mouse March". A narration of Joker's thoughts conveys that, despite his being "in a world of shit", he is glad to be alive, and is "not afraid."