An exhibition of images captured by actor Matthew Modine during the filming of “Full Metal Jacket” will be on display at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia from March 2 through September 2025.
“Full Metal Modine” gives a glimpse into the making of the war film and includes dozens of images captured during the filming of the movie and printed on metal. Modine, who played war correspondent Pvt. Joker in the film, captured the black-and-white images on a Rolleiflex camera given to him by a friend.
While director Stanley Kubrick seldom allowed photography onset, his response upon seeing Modine with the Rolleiflex was “Listen, if you’re going to take pictures on my set, this is the camera you need to get….,” according to Modine.
“He told me about a state-of-the-art 35mm camera and which lens I should get. He even told me what kind of camera bag to purchase. The important part of this story is that he said, 'If you’re going to take pictures on my set.’ That was something unheard of. And I took full advantage of that invitation,” Modine said in an earlier interview.
Modine felt keeping a photographic and written diary would be a beneficial opportunity for his preparation as a war correspondent in the film. Now the images mean even more to him.
"I can look back at those days as being part of another person's life, this young kid who went on a journey to work with the legendary filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick,” Modine said.
According to a release from the museum, the film doesn’t necessarily reflect Marine Corps values, but inspired some to join the Corps and has become a cult classic.
Modine made the images available to the museum for display and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation paid to have them printed on metal and framed.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.