Stranger Things star Matthew Modine expressed puzzlement on X this week after learning the phrase “Born to Kill” had been removed from the main menu poster for Stanley Kubrick’s classic war film Full Metal Jacket on Amazon.
Modine, who starred in the iconic film, paired a smartphone screenshot of the Full Metal Jacket poster as advertised on Amazon Prime with the original poster, which indeed showed that the phrase “Born to Kill” had been removed from the drawing of the soldier’s helmet, though it must be noted that the phrase appeared in regular search bars.
“Who decided to remove ‘BORN TO KILL?’ Modine wondered aloud. “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.”
Several users confirmed Modine’s post with screenshots of their own, which indeed showed the “Born to Kill” phrase missing. Other users, however, noted that the phrase still appeared in the search sections alongside other titles.
As to why “Born to Kill” did not appear on the main menu, Amazon did not say, but the fact its absence sparked Modine’s concern only highlights the growing distrust between cinema lovers and streaming services following the decline of physical media. As Breitbart News reported last year, the Criterion Channel, a streaming platform that prides itself on the preservation of classic cinema, was discovered to have been airing a censored version of The French Connection that inexplicably removed the line in which Gene Hackman’s character, Popeye Doyle, utters the N-word and an anti-Italian slur.
Also last year, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) threw shade at streaming services following the release of Oppenheimer on Blu-ray when he advocated that people buy physical media “so no evil streaming service can come steal it from you.”
“Obviously Oppenheimer has been quite a ride for us and now it is time for me to release a home version of the film. I’ve been working very hard on it for months,” Nolan said. “I’m known for my love of theatrical and put my whole life into that, but, the truth is, the way the film goes out at home is equally important.”
“The Dark Knight was one of the first films where we formatted it specially for Blu-ray release because it was a new form at the time,” he continued. “And in the case of Oppenheimer, we put a lot of care and attention into the Blu-ray version… and trying to translate the photography and the sound, putting that into the digital realm with a version you can buy and own at home and put on a shelf so no evil streaming service can come steal it from you.”
Director Mike Flanagan also recently criticized Netflix for allegedly being “hostile” to the idea of physical media.
“I tried very hard to get them to release my work on Blu-Ray & DVD. Netflix refused at every turn. It became clear very fast that their only priority was subs, and that they were actively hostile to the idea of physical media,” he said.
“This is a very dangerous point of view. While companies like Netflix pride themselves on being disruptors and have proven that they can affect great change in the industry, they sometimes fail to see the difference between disruption and damage. So much that they can find themselves, intentionally or not, doing enormous harm to the very concept of film preservation,” he added.
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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