What does it mean to you to be in the military

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

Follow Stanley Kubrick as he creates his savage and brilliant Vietnam film, hewing closely to the theme that dominated his creative life for four decades - the duality of human nature. Poised between good and evil, mankind was, in Kubrick's view, a complex creature equally capable of unspeakable savagery and heart-melting tenderness. Full Metal Jacket would make his case in vivid, blood-soaked Technicolor. Through interviews with Kubrick's collaborators and cast members, including Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Ermey and Adam Baldwin, this documentary reveals how Kubrick's brilliant visual sense, astute knowledge of human nature, and unique perspective on the duality of man came together to make Full Metal Jacket an unforgettable cinematic experience, taking its place in his "war trilogy" alongside cinematic landmarks Fear and Desire and Paths of Glory.

Zack Mayo is an aloof, taciturn man who aspires to be a navy pilot. Once he arrives at training camp for his 13-week officer's course, Mayo runs afoul of abrasive, no-nonsense drill Sergeant Emil Foley. Mayo is an excellent cadet, but a little cold around the heart, so Foley rides him mercilessly, sensing that the young man would be prime officer material if he weren't so self-involved. Zack's affair with a working girl is likewise compromised by his unwillingness to give of himself.

Shattered illusions are hard to repair -- especially for a good-hearted zebra named Stripes who's spent his life on a Kentucky farm amidst the sorely mistaken notion that he's a debonair thoroughbred. Once he faces the fact that his stark stripes mark him as different, he decides he'll race anyway. And with help from the young girl who raised him, he just might end up in the winner's circle.

John Winger, an indolent sad sack in his 30s, impulsively joins the US Army after losing his job, his girlfriend and his apartment.

During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.

For Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell and his friend and co-pilot Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw, being accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots is a dream come true. But a tragedy, as well as personal demons, will threaten Pete's dreams of becoming an ace pilot.

After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell finds himself training a detachment of TOP GUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen.