Jarhead (DVD)

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 ...

Leigh36295 28.03.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

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, ...

bengar 30.08.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

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 ...

afy9mab 10.07.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

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 ...

willyham 26.06.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

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 ...

beanie8844 20.03.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

War war war war war war war war War. Charge!!!!! There's no-one here. That was a bit of a disappointment. So if you've seen Full Metal Jacket you'll find your self wondering straight away about the originality of this film. It's like it's chewed up Full Metal Jacket and spat it out only this film isn't so much a war film as a bit of a drama. All about some guy Swoff or something (I don't know how to spell the fools name.) He enters the army out of ...
...and then flies off to Iraq. The rest of the story then revolves about how he wants to shoot people as far as I can see. The actual film doesn't once show any conflict as the main character is said to have never fired his gone once during the war. It's not the film alot of people would expect whenpicking up the DVD and looking at the cover. This is not "Three Kings" or "American Soldiers" Iraq this si the side of Iraq the media dont tell you about. ...

Phelthew 06.06.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

Based on the autobiography of Anthony Swofford, this film follows the story of 'Swoff' as he goes through basic training before being deployed to the Middle-East in time for the Gulf War. He didn't actually fire a shot during the conflict so this film has a different view point to many war films. I first found out about this film when I participated in an online survey before its original cinema release date and was immediately interested in seeing ...
...that I didn't see it at the cinema, but as soon as it came out on DVD, I bought it. I found the film entertaining but have to admit, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. I think this is partly due to the trailers that I had watched made it appear more comical. There are laughs but the film must be approached with an open mind and the humour is hidden among the interaction between the marines. For those that aren't big fans of bad language, ...

StereoMike1983 19.05.2006 (20.05.2006) · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

...hand copy of the book Jarhead by Anthony Swofford. I loved it, reading it cover to cover in day. I found the book to have an amiable and honest style of writing and was eager to see the film on DVD. With strong names involved such as Jake Gyllenghal playing the lead role of Anthony Swofford and produced by Sam Mendes, I was expecting a good film. It's not that it is a bad film, because it isnt. A lot of sharp witty observations in the book are displayed ...
...Martin Sheen in Apocoplyse Now, Jarhead does not cpome out favourably and i do not think we truly understand Anthony Swofford as we do in the book and the other lead roles in other war films. i do not want to spoil anything for any people out there who haven't read the book and wish to but in my humble opinion.... watch the DVD as it is a good entertaining film but definitely read the book. ...

Funzo 24.11.2007 (25.11.2007) · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

Signing up to join the US Marine Corp was a family tradition for Anthony Swofford (Gyllenhaal) but he didn't really think that way. Through basic training he was able to make it into a sniper unit where you first meet the amazing array of characters, all with their own storylines. When Iraq invades Kuwait, he and his unit is sent to protect the oil fields around the area, far from the war that many of them were hoping for. The film uses the adaptation ...
...the troops had to endure during Operations Desert Shield. Swofford's Marine sniper unit were one of the first waves of troops but it would be over one hundred (as regularily mentioned in the film) before they even saw any form of combat (which is infact quite minimal) Bringing this story to life are some great performances from some great Actors. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the lead actor in the film as Anthony Swofford or 'Swoff' as his comrades know ...

m.kerby 09.02.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

Jarhead - the slang term for Marines - is a war film based on the 2003 book of the same name written by U.S. Marine Anthony Swofford's memoirs of the 1991 Gulf War conflict. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Swofford and includes Jamie Foxx as Swafford's Sergeant while serving in the war. The film is all about Swafford's dream to become a marine scout sniper, choosing the career path of his father who served in the Vietnam War. While training with the Marines, ...
...him which leads them both into the Gulf War during Operation Desert Shield. During the operation though - Swafford is demoted for switching watch shifts and an explosion happens during one of the times hes supposed to look out and therefore believes he won't get his dream of serving his country the way he would have liked to. However acts of bravery in the case of heavy artillary fire means he, and Troy, get their chance to become heroes and kill ...

fernando160 21.06.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

The film looks good. Yes, it's relatively realistic. The only unrealistic scenes are :- The marines getting shot by the A-10's. As memory serves me (and I was involved in Live Operations so I know what I'm talking about) only The British were shot at & killed by A-10's. Don't bother asking why this happened. About 100 people know and it's so classified it'll never be talked about. How Swoff isn't shipped out on a section 8 after he tries to kill ...
...final scene where Swoff is bitching because he never fired his weapon and then they all started firing wildly into the sky. Even Jamie Foxx who is supposed to be in charge of discipline. Only a few scenes before Swoff had spoken about what would happen if he shot someone. He'd get done for negligent discharge (known as an ND) and then spend time in the stockade. Well, if the US do the same as the British do, you get billed for every round. About ...

atytyut2434 28.07.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

Jamies Foxx and Jake Gyllenhaal take up arms as US Marine Snipers during the first gulf war. The film takes you from their initial spell at boot camp training to become the "elite" sniper team through to their assignment to the Gulf and the way that troops initailly handled the many months of waiting and training in the desert before they were given the green light. The film provides you with a clear understanding of their frustrations of being ...
...minds and then eventually entering the conflict to only not fire a single shot The film has a few negatives as it focuses on two individuals and doesn't really allow you to understand the supporting memebers of the cast and their characters. In addition the film is nearly 2 hours long although this could have been easily cut to one and a half hours without losing any of the plot. If you are expecting an action movie then look else where as this ...

morebath 14.10.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

This Oscar winner film featuring a group of young 'Jarheads' is told with honesty and irrevence. It cleary portrays the realistic atmosphere of the explosive days during the Gulf War. ...

topran569 14.07.2007
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

This film is in many ways more true to 'war' and the horrors of war than any I have seen. It documents the daily activities a soldier serving in Iraq will face, and the fears they must conquer. Unusually, this involves no combat what so ever. In this film, the fears and horrors each soldier must face are of a physical and mental appearance. The fact they fail to witness any action is the key to their suffering. They are trained, trained again, and ...
...see death, destruction and horrific violence before being given the chance to avenge the innocent lives lost. But when the time comes, and they are denied that oppontunity, what do you expect their reaction to be? Actor Jake Gyllenhaal plays the star role, Anthony Swofford, a quiet, self-sufficient young soldier fresh from college and hoping to make something of himself through military means. He passes basic training and is shipped off to Iraq to ...

bilbobaginz 06.07.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a Jarhead- slang for Marine, called Anthony Swofford who starts off in a boot camp and then swiftly finds himself fighting in the Gulf war which they do not understand . During the training they are taught things like "this is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine. Without my rifle i am nothing, without me my rifle is nothing. They are also taught to use hand grenades, snipers, rifles, paint balling and running ...
...how hard it is to fit in and all the abuse they get when they join, such as fighting. This film is by far one of the best army films around as it shows how hard family life can be when you are in the army and how often you get to talk to your loved ones. ...

Lita123 27.11.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Jarhead (DVD)