Jarhead (2005)

Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago at May 19 7:59

"The Bible says "Thou shalt not kill." But hear this: FUCK THAT SHIT!" Jarhead is the newest directorial feature from much-admired UK-born director Sam Mendes (a man who has helmed a number of outstandingly successful movies including American Beauty and Road to Perdition): this is an absorbing film regarding the dramas of war. Mendes' intricately made film is set in the harsh deserts of Kuwait scarcely preceding the first Gulf War. Based on memoirs of a soldier who developed his own memories of the experience, Jarhead is centred on young Anthony "Swoff" Swofford (Gyllenhaal) who has recently joined the Sniper Corps in the United States Marines. In the vein of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, this film looks in-depth at the physically and mentally arduous boot camp training unde...Read more

Rating : 7/10

Posted : 2 years, 6 months ago at May 20 10:11

Okay, I admit, I got bored half way through this. It was grueling, de-humanising, switching between the terribly bad and the terribly boring experiences that the marines face. It's a testiment to the soilders and what they went through. This doesn't make it entertaining viewing, however.

The trouble is, I've already seen Full Metal Jacket. So what's new? Maybe the ending had something worthwhile in it, but I never made it that far, so who knows?