A young man gets a crash course in the madness of war in this fact-based drama from director Sam Mendes. Anthony "Swoff" Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) decides to join the Marines, just like his father and his father before him, and signs on just in time to be sent to Iraq to fight in the Gulf War in 1991. After experiencing the rigors of boot camp, Swofford and his pal Troy (Peter Sarsgaard) are trained to be snipers, and under the leadership of Sgt. Sykes (Jamie Foxx) and Lt. Col. Kaczynski (Chris Cooper), the two land in the middle of a desert where they're up against an enemy they can't always see under a blazing sun with hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Swofford, Troy and their fellow soldiers rely on the wits, their sense of humor and their friendship of their brothers in arms to deal with a situation that doesn't much resemble what they saw on television at home. Jarhead was based on the memoirs of the real life Anthony Swofford, who did serve as a sniper in the 1991 Gulf War; the title comes from military slang for a Marine enlistee.

Comes out this Friday (Nov. 4th)
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From the massive commerical campaign, it looks awesome. Somehow I don't see Jamie Foxx as a Marine though. Anyways, I'm still looking forward to viewing it.

i myself am looking forward to this movie. i have high hopes for it but you can only show so much in a movie. i was a marine but never had the ability to go to war. hopefully it is a good movie

I'm really looking forward to this movie. It looks fantastic. I never imagined Jake Gyllenhaal would be in a war movie, but he looks good in it, as does Jamie Foxx. I'm hoping to go see this this weekend.

This movie is gonna be so awesome.

Oo-rah!

well as it turns out Swofford was in military slang a "sh**-bird". I respect that he enlisted and served but no need for him to bash the military like that with his book.

Hey now, unless you've ever served, you have no idea of the bs that goes on in the military. Some very interesting read: special people often get put into decision making positions...I don't believe he's bashing the military at all, he's just telling the truth.

Looks like another 90 minute MTV music video

Ack. That would really suck. But I don't think it will be. From the scenes I have seen already at least. If you watch tv at night, they have massive commercial time bought up, advertising this movie.

I'm looking forward to it. All the previews look pretty good, and I always loved "Bubble Boy", he's good.

The song they play in the backround is really good for the scenes they lay in the trailer.

I don't know whats with me, but movies like these don't strike a chord in my system. I really enjoy the Medievil and WW2 movies, but not too much with the movies associating with 'Desert Storm' or 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'. I dunno y.


Kanye West's 'Jesus Walks'? or is it another one?

No it's jesus walks.
It really ups the intensity.

hmm, according to a lot of reviews I have read, its boring.

Indeed, i've also read alot of negative reviews.
The movie is actually about marines getting trained to kill, then going to war.. and waiting around doing nothing for a 2 hour movie. Nothing at all. Gyllenhaal is apparently attrocious in it, since he only has one face and seeming completely unaffected by whats not going on around him, and the movie deals with how 'troops masturbate to deal with boredom' which is exactly what the audience would probably have to resort to to get any enjoyment out of seeing this movie.


That's just what i've read. Alot. *shrugs*

lol, one review i read said.

"the tagline is welcome to the suck....hmmm.. truth in advertising must be making a comeback."

Yeah, reading reviews to... more bad then good. I'll still try and watch it though.

Full Metal Jacket did that same about the Marines training and then going to war, and it is an awesome movie. Guess I can't really judge though till I watch it.

Burnside hit the nail right on the head, the movie was a complete snorefest.

I saw the movie, and it was boring. I wish I could have went to the Doom or SawII movies, but my cousin and brother dragged me into seeing this movie.

The positives however, was that it had quite a few emotional reactions, the acting was pretty good. Jamie Foxx did alright, and so did Jake Gyllenhaal...except in one part in the end, his acting made me cringe.

I give it a 5.5/10 for its focus on tense emotional parts.

I don't think I'll be spending money to go see it. Thanks for the critique Hailo!

SO the reviews were spot on eh.
Well, i'll certainly be passing up.

Yeah I was reading reviews today and everyone said it was very boring. A lot of reviews said it was still good also, somehow. It didn't sound like the average war movie, and I guess it's not. I was really looking forward to this. I guess I'll have to wait until Harry Potter comes out for another good movie, although Derailed is coming out next week and that looks very good too. Oh well. I'll wait for the DVD of Jarhead to see it.

No the reviews are wrong.
This movie is awesome i just got back from seeing it,
The visuals are incredible and the scenes are amazing.There is one with them walking in the desert and its night time the oil wells are on fire and oil is raining down on them it's so cool.
Do not pass this movie up it's worth paying 8 bucks for.

Thanks . But it really depends if you like Action, or Drama. This movie had more Drama than it did Action...in very large proportions like 20:1


Its a very well made movie, for those who aren't looking for the average war-time screenplay. There was a lot of talking in the movie, and so i'd like to call it drama. However, I didn't find any climactic action scenes, so I can't accept it as an action movie.

I don't see how you think its amazing though.

<SPOILER ALERT>

During the part when they walk through the oil fields, it did drag me into the movie quite a bit, mainly because it was something different. I noticed how when Jamie Foxx's character mentioned how he liked being in the Corps., and when that one dude wanted a picture with him posing with a dead guy and Jake's character comes up and takes it away. I really didn't find the movie that interesting overall.

? ?

SPOILER









Yeah that squishy face guy was a real jerk.
I really wish he died.But when Jamies character came over to swoff amd was talking to him about the core it was a great scene.

i'd have to say the movie was alright at best.. i knew the movie wasn't a typical "war" movie, as in action scenes, battles, and such. so i was expecting it to have some overall meaning behind it or unique story. BUT IT DIDN'T. the movie wasn't really boring, but it just didn't strike me as a very good movie. little to NO action and a pretty bland plot.

6 out of 10.

Before you see this movie you have to know it was based on Anthony swoffs 2003 memoirs.
It wasn;t about the war itself it was about him.

A friend of my dad's was in Swoffords platoon. he said that it was a pretty accurate depiction of the platoons history. however some things were embellished or made up. (in order to sell books)
for example

If i'm correct Sarsgards character in real life didnt die from enemy fire, he died stateside in a car crash.

In the movie they don;t tell you how he died but he dies after they come home.
Not in battle.

I watched Jarhead Sunday and I have to say that I really enjoyed it.


But of course it could have been the fact that I enjoyed looking at all the good looking men and the scene with Jake's but.

i am buying the DVD just for jakes butt