Jarhead DVD

Advantages: Interesting subject, Great Perfomances.
Disadvantages: A little too long.

Jarhead DVD Released: 2006 Director: Sam Mendes Runtime: 125 mins Approx Certificate : 18. Main Feature. Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Anthony Swofford, Sam Mendes and his cast and crew take you back to the first Gulf War in 1989 to reveal what, during Operations Desert Shield and Storm, the troops had to endure. Signing up to join the US Marine Corp was a tradition for Anthony Swofford's ( Jake Gyllenhaal) ...
... My Opinion. Jarhead is a war movie without any war in it. This is about the changes in modern combat and the glorification of serving your country against the realism of actually been there. The acting in this movie is exceptional, with Jake Gyllenhaal proving his excellent acting talents once again, he is completely believable in his portrayal of Swoff. He is in every single scene in this movie, and yet he still keeps you interested, much ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting as it's still politically relevant. great cast and acting.
Disadvantages: It's real.

Gyllenhaal takes up the gun and camouflage as marine sniper, Swofford (or "Swoff" as he becomes known) through the dangerous, hot and generally unappealing deserts of Iraq in this intense yet darkly funny war drama about the first Gulf War. (Based on the book of his own memoirs by Anthony Swofford himself which was released in 2003). From enlisting in the army against his better judgement to honour his father who had also served, through his training ...
...desolate sands of the Middle East, we follow Swoff's unpleasant life with the marines in graphic detail. Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (who also directed American Beauty, Road to Perdition) does a brilliantly unnerving job of portraying the burning oil fields from the perspective of the troops on the ground. Friendly fire is embodied, and the importance of solidarity amongst the men is made startlingly clear. The film does have a 15 certificate, ... Read review

Advantages: Great performances, a strong script and spot-on direction
Disadvantages: You don't get to know the supporting characters well enough

Swoff is a third-generation sniper deployed to the Persian Gulf during the first Gulf War. Having been trained to do nothing other than kill, he and his comrades are denied the opportunity by the advent of automated war. "Jarhead" shows what happens when you get a bunch of psyched-up military men and drop them in the desert with nothing to do. Director Sam Mendes marries style with substance in this tale of tedium and frustration. He has put together ...
...with lyrical visuals. Instead of focussing on the glorified guns and ammo aspect of war, he concentrates on the suicide-inducing levels of boredom experienced by the American combatants in the first fully automated war. He captures the frustration of men whose sole purpose is to kill, but who are kept on permanent standby. The only respite for them comes in dodging friendly fire attacks from their own air force and occasional scorpion fights. As ... Read review

Advantages: Brilliant acting, story and directing.
Disadvantages: some may find the lack of action throughout disappointing

Jarhead is a film that takes us on a journey from the troubled bootcamp of a marine to the more sophisticated and highly trained snipers unit whereby he studies the art of death. The tough training of the marines and the imprint of the rifles importance is placed in their minds, all instruments used so that they were prepared for war. However, nothing could have prepared them for the reality and our young marine Swofford soon enters a war within ...
...cheated on by their wives his sense of reality becomes lost and a torment within the person himself can be seen. When first watching this film i expected a typical american show of victory and violence. However i was pleased to find that this was a film about the dread of war and its disappointing nature. Appropriately brought out after the beginning of the second Iraq war it shows world whereby no victory was being won and the soldiers were becoming ... Read review

Advantages: tackles many political issues, troops perspective on modern warfare
Disadvantages: takes a while to get going

Jarhead follows a group of marines from the early stages of training boot camp to active duty in the Persian Gulf during the first Gulf War conflict. The film explores the impact war has on young soldiers minds and the variety of emotions they experience; it is very much told from the perspective of the fighting troops. The main plot of the film shows how little frontline soldiers actually did in terms of combat, what with modern warfare techniques. ...
...haven't seen it. Jarhead is a good film and as war films go is up there with the best. Yet, the film could be considered out of date. You see it was realised at the beginning of the Iraqi conflict of recent times as a sort of anti-war protest, as there was a lot of ill feeling towards it at this time. The film portrays the frontline troops during modern warfare as not doing much fighting, however, you only have to look at the current Afghanistan ... Read review

Advantages: Mos Def's character Eddy
Disadvantages: Mod Def's character's voice

...and I liked that, they even go under the city where apparently there are loads of oriental people living their lives normally, if I came away with anything from this film it was a strong desire to go underground in New York. I would recommend it for a fiver, it's now in my DVD collection and its not the type of film that'll just sit there for ever never to be watched again (Jarhead). The extra features includes an alternative ending whihc to be honest I didn't like. The ending is perfect as it is and I think thelaternative ending would have left me with a whole different feeling at the end but alternative endings are a dvd extra I enjoy unlike what you usually get. There are then some deleted scenes with commentary by the writer and director, they're not very interesting and you can sortof see why they were cut out and you definately don... Read review

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