Jarhead [UMD for PSP] | ![Jarhead [UMD for PSP]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F1016H1FL._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Sam Mendes
Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Scott Macdonald, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx, Lo Ming
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy New: $4.17
You Save: $25.81 (86%)
New (13) Used (7) from $4.17
Avg. Customer Rating:  205 reviews
Sales Rank: 52822
Format: Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Arabic (Original Language), English (Original Language), Latin (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: UMD for PSP
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 123
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: DU25080
UPC: 025192508028
EAN: 0025192508028
ASIN: B000DZIGEE
Theatrical Release Date: November 4, 2005
Release Date: March 7, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: This item is BRAND NEW and factory fresh (sealed if applicable). This item is NOT returned or refurbished. May have store or price stickers affixed.
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Amazon.com
Based on Anthony Swofford's excellent memoir about his experiences as a Marine Sniper in Gulf War I, Jarhead is a war movie in which the waiting is a far greater factor upon the characters than the war itself, and the build up to combat is more drama than what combat is depicted. To some viewers hoping for typical movie action, this will seem like a cruel joke. But it's not. It's just the story as it was written, and if you liked the book, you will probably like the movie. If you didn't, then the movie won't change your mind. The movie follows the trajectory of Swofford (played with thoughtful intensity by Jake Gyllenhaal) from wayward Marine recruit (he joined because he "got lost on the way to college") to skilled Marine sniper, and on into the desert in preparation for the attack on Iraq. No-nonsense, Marine-for-life Staff Sgt. Sykes (Jamie Foxx), the man who recruited Swofford and his spotter Troy (Peter Sarsgaard) into the sniper team, leads them in training, and in waiting where their lives are dominated by endless tension, pointless exercises in absurdity (like playing football in the scorching heat of the desert in their gas masks so it will look better for the media's TV cameras), more training, and constant anticipation of the moment to come when they'll finally get to kill. When the war does come, it moves too fast for Swofford's sniper team, and the one chance they get at a kill--to do the one thing they've trained so hard and waited so long for--eludes them, leaving them to wonder what was the point of all they had endured. As directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty), the movie remains very loyal to the language and vision of the book, but it doesn't entirely work as the film needs something more than a literal translation to bring out its full potential. Mendes's stark and, at times, apocalyptic visuals add a lot and strike the right tone: wide shots of inky-black oil raining down on the vast, empty desert from flaming oil wells contrasted with close-ups of crude-soaked faces struggling through the mire vividly bring to life the meaning of the tagline "welcome to the suck." But much of the second half of the movie will probably leave some viewers feeling disappointed in the cinematic experience, while others might appreciate its microcosmic depiction of modern chaos and aimlessness. Jarhead is one of those examples where the book is better than the movie, but not for lack of trying. --Dan Vancini
Description
Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx and Jake Gyllenhaal star in this critically acclaimed, brilliantly unconventional war story from Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes. Jarhead (the self-imposed moniker of the Marines) follows Swoff (Gyllenhaal) from a sobering stint in boot camp to active duty, where he sports a sniper rifle through Middle East deserts that provide no cover from the heat or Iraqi soldiers. Swoff and his fellow Marines sustain themselves with sardonic humanity and wicked comedy on blazing desert fields in a country they don't understand against an enemy they can't see for a cause they don't fully grasp.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 200 more reviews...
 Interesting Movie October 19, 2008
Too bad HD-DVD is dead, but if you still own a player, this is a great movie for the price. I think those of us who are soldiers and have been to Iraq can understand this movie a little better than those who haven't. Some of the scences can be too close to home and somewhat overbearing for non-military viewers, but helps to remind us how much of a sacrifice we made in both wars. The picture quality and sound delivers, though this more of an enhanced DVD than a true HD movie.
 Really wants to be Apocalypse Now... October 14, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you want a war move that probes the depths of madness and incorporates surerealism while exploring the lives of soldiers trapped in a pointless microcosm of a wider war, you have two options. Get a pretty lame and boring variation on this theme in Jarhead, or get Apocalypse Now. The later is the infinitely better choice.
 Good Movie for a Boring Day August 3, 2008
This isn't the most captivating movie in the world, but it does have humor in it with a serious underlying message. It's a good movie to watch when you're tired, but not so good for real brain stimulation.
Not at all what I expected July 27, 2008
I rented this one last night, expecting a typical war story. What I got was something else entirely. This is the movie adaptation of the autobiographical book of the same name by Anthony Swofford about his experiences in the Marines during the first Gulf War. As a former military guy myself from that era, I was initially drawn into the story because I could relate to Swofford's introduction into military life at boot camp. It was a scene familiar to anyone with armed forces experience. Unfortunately, the movie went downhill from there.
As the story traces Swofford's short military career through his garrison time and into Desert Shield, there remains an aura of credibility, although frankly some of the behavior depicted by the servicemen began to stretch the limits of what was believable based on what I knew of military life. As Desert Shield drags on for months, the focus shifts to the emotional and psychological toll of wartime inactivity, which admittedly is more pronounced among sex-starved young men who know nothing but loneliness and boredom. Even so, these scenes become exaggerated and even caricatured by the onset of the Desert Storm phase.
Finally, the theme moves on to the futility and senselessness of war from the perspective of the average grunt on the ground. Again, there was some familiarity here for one who had lived through eight years of often nonsensical and contradictory military culture. However, some of the Marines' responses simply didn't jive with the reality of their circumstances, or reflect fairly on the immense professionalism that characterizes the modern U.S. military, both now and during the early 90s when this story takes place.
Oddly enough, for a "war movie" this had almost no violence in it whatsoever. It is much more of a character study and a psychological inquiry into the nature of young men trained to fight and kill. It renders an indictment of high-level military leadership which, while true, is also one-sided. In short, this story offers up heavy doses of both reality and exaggeration, and it is up to the viewer to try to sort out which is which. For people with military experience that shouldn't be too hard, but others will likely walk away with a distorted view of our armed forces.
Doesn't Represent the Marines I Know July 16, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I read the book and thought that a movie about Desert Shield/Desert Storm would be interesting. The special effects and photography were great. especially the scenes of the famous destroyed cars and busses of the poor folks who attempted to flee Kuwait and the burning oil wells. The war and the locale is probably pictured accurately but the Marine unit personnel portrayed in the movie didn't act like any of the soldiers, Marines, and sailors I had the privilege to serve with for 22 years. The guys in the movie were a bunch of Hollywood sterotyped animals. They constantly fought among themselves and seemed to have IQ's that seldom exceeded 80. The "why am I here?" theme for the "hero" of this wasted evolution goes on and on ad nauseum. It was difficult to have any degree of pride for this collection of disorganized misfits and if this is the Marine Corps of the 1990's and beyond God save us. If you want to see soldiers, officers, and Sargeants as they actually are, please watch WE WERE SOLDIERS.
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