The Italian dubbing of Full Metal Jacket was one of the most complex: choosing the right voices for the young actors who played the Marines took months. It was a real arm wrestling between Kubrick and Maldesi.

Meeting after meeting, phone call after phone call, with the help of Riccardo Aragno who translated most of their conversations, Maldesi wasn't succeding in making Kubrick approve the voices he had chosen. In the end, Maldesi followed his intuition and realized the dubbed version with the actors he wanted, without Kubrick's approval. When he sent the Italian voices he got no reply from Kubrick. After Full Metal Jacket premiered becoming a great success in Italy, Kubrick wrote this letter proving that Maldesi's choices where right and that he considered the Italian version of this film an excellent work.

Letter to Mario Maldesi by Stanley Kubrick February 4, 1988 Dear Mario, I am forever in your debt for the beautiful work you did directing the Italian version of Full Metal Jacket. Everyone who sees the film will know the crucially important contribution you made to the success of the film in Italy. The infinite care and attention you gave to the work can be heard in every line of dialogue. I cannot thank you enough. Your sincerely, Stanley Exclusively for ArchivioKubrick