The terrifying tale of the dehumanization of a platoon of fresh Marines, seen through the eyes of ‘Joker’ (Matthew Modine). The tour of duty begins on Parris Island, where Joker and his fellow grunts are trained by a wild-eyed, merciless drill sergeant (R. Lee Ermey), leading to the psychological destruction of a crazed recruit nicknamed ‘Gomer Pyle’ (Vincent D’Onofrio), who becomes the vicious killer the Marines want him to be. When Joker leaves the island and goes out to see Vietnam for himself, he confronts all manner of horrifying situations, but an encounter with a fearsome sniper proves that the true horror lies only within himself.