Prime Video censors Full Metal Jacket and it annoys Matthew Modine
“Who decided to remove ‘Born to Kill’?” publicly asks the actor, who pushed Amazon to review its thumbnail of the film.
“You are level zero of life on Earth. You’re not even human, you bastards! You’re just a vegetative jerk, a bunch of amphibian shit, crap! Because I’m a cow’s skin, you will hate me… but the more you hate me the better you will learn. I’m cow but I’m fair! No racial bigotry here. You’re all just real assholes.”
No, it’s not one of Sergeant Hartman’s (R. Lee Ermey) famous speeches to his young recruits that was censored by Amazon. The trainer’s language is still as flowery…
To promote Full Metal Jacket on this streaming service, Prime Video chose the design that had previously been used on the poster for Stanley Kubrick’s film, namely a soldier’s helmet with contradictory inscriptions, the message “Born to Kill (“born to kill”) being attached to a pin “Peace” (peace). The problem is that on this thumbnail, the message has disappeared.
“Who decided to withdraw ‘Born to Kill’ ?, asks the helmet wearer publicly, Matthew Modineon X. Not only does this alter the iconic work of Philip Castle (the illustrator hired by Kubrick to create his poster, editor’s note), but what’s more it shows that they completely misunderstood the message. The Guignol Soldier (Joker, in original version) wear this helmet with ‘written on it’Born to Kill next to the peace sign to defend an opinion. It’s a way of showing the duality of man.”
Who decided to remove “BORN TO KILL?” Not only did they alter a piece of iconic art by Philip Castle, but they completely misunderstood the point of it being there. Pvt. Joker wears the helmet with “BORN TO KILL” and the peace ☮️ button as a statement about “the duality of man.” pic.twitter.com/9XQwINJj4l
— Matthew Modine (@MatthewModine) June 18, 2024
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A message which is also made explicit during this scene from the war film:
Full Metal Jacket: everything we love about Stanley Kubrick’s cult war film
The retouched vignette not having gone unnoticed, Prime Video decided to replace it with a photo of the cult film released in 1987 at the cinema, with Matthew Modine wearing the helmet on which “Born to Kill” is fully visible. The service would have been contacted directly by Warner Bros., distributor of Full Metal Jacketrequesting that this error be corrected, specifies Deadline. The American site then shows the before/after versions of the thumbnail:
Full Metal Jacket is also to (re)see on Première Max. Here is its trailer: