Anthony Swofford Quotes on Movies (3 Quotes)

We watched 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Full Metal Jacket' before we went to war. It was pornography for us. They opened up this historical and psychological narrative. This is what men do when they go to war, we thought. It's a received image of war through film.

War is always seductive, ... 'Full Metal Jacket' didn't make me want to join the Marines. I already had fallen in love with the idea of combat. I think whether somebody feels that about our movie is subjective. It depends on the viewer. I got letters from people who said 'I was thinking about joining up and I read your book and now I can't wait' and I got letters from people who said 'I was thinking about joining up and I read your book and now I'm going to go to college.'

I don't think so, ... What we fell in love with was the idea of combat, and this movie doesn't really give you what those movies did. It doesn't give you exploding body parts and gore the way 'Saving Private Ryan' or 'Platoon' did. It's more interior.