The Marine recruits in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket train at Parris Island.
Parris Island is a real United States Marine Corps recruit depot in South Carolina. In the film’s first half, recruits undergo boot camp there under the relentless instruction of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, played by R. Lee Ermey. The training sequences focus on discipline, dehumanization, and the transformation of civilians into Marines.
The movie then shifts to Vietnam, where Private Joker works as a military journalist during the Tet Offensive. This two-part structure distinguishes Full Metal Jacket from many war films that remain on one battlefield or follow one continuous campaign.
Parris Island is sometimes confused with Camp Pendleton, another major Marine Corps installation. Camp Pendleton is in California, while Parris Island is the long-established Marine recruit depot depicted in the film. Full Metal Jacket was released in 1987 and adapts Gustav Hasford’s novel The Short-Timers.