Full Metal Jacket three to four times a week, for hours at a time. Kubrick had already written a detailed treatment, and Kubrick and Herr got together at Kubrick's home every day, breaking down the treatment into scenes. From that, Herr wrote the first draft. The filmmaker worried that the book's title might be misread by audiences as referring to people who only did half a day's work and changed it to "Full Metal Jacket" after discovering the phrase while going through a gun catalogue. After the first draft was completed, Kubrick phoned in his orders, and Hasford and Herr mailed their submissions
Full Metal Jacket into a series of self-contained set pieces, none of them quite satisfying" and concluded that the film's message was "too little and too late", having been done by other Vietnam War films. However, Ebert also gave praise to Ermey and D'Onofrio, saying "these are the two best performances in the movie, which never recovers after they leave the scene." This review angered Gene Siskel on their television show "At The Movies"; he criticized Ebert for liking "Benji the Hunted" (which came out the same week) more than "Full Metal Jacket". Their difference in opinion was parodied on the television show