Actor Matthew Modine blasted Amazon for censoring the “iconic” poster of Stanley Kubrick’s anti-war picture Full Metal Jacket on the film’s Prime Video details page.
Phillip Castle’s legendary poster features a helmet with a small peace sign insignia and, to the left of that, the phrase “Born to Kill” handwritten on the cap. On June 17, Modine took to X (formerly Twitter) to blast the streamer over altering a pivotal detail.
“Who decided to remove ‘Born to Kill?’” Modine asked. “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,’” the Dark Knight Rises actor explained.
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
Modine starred in Kubrick’s film, which follows a group of recruits from boot camp into the battlefields of Vietnam, as James T. “Joker” Davis, to whom the signature helmet belongs. At one point in the film, a colonel asks his character the meaning of the decorations.
“You write ‘Born to Kill’ on your helmet and you wear a peace button? What’s that supposed to be, some kind of a sick joke?”
“I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir,” Modine’s character responds. “The Jungian thing, sir.”
On June 19, two days after Modine blasted Amazon for their perceived censorship, Deadline reported that the streamer was quietly restoring the poster art to its original form. “According to sources, Warner Bros. has asked that the ‘detail page’ for Full Metal Jacket be updated to reflect the original art,” the outlet claimed.
Amazon restored the original helmet’s design on the details page, but changed the thumbnail from the classic poster to a solo shot of Modine’s character wearing the helmet. The phrase is technically there, but “Born to” is obscured by the top of the helmet and “Kill” is the only word plainly visible.
It’s also worth noting that Amazon raised the film’s purchase price by $10—from $4.99 to $14.99—in the days following the controversy.
Modine is staunchly anti-conflict, so much so that he turned down Tom Cruise’s iconic Top Gun role due to its glorification of combat. However, three of Modine’s siblings served in Vietnam and the star continues to devote himself to veteran’s causes. In 2005, he wrote a book, entitled Full Metal Jacket Diary, about his time on Kubrick’s volatile set.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Men’s Journal.
