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Jarhead

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Jarhead (2005)

60%
38%
78%
N/A
N/A
N/A
60 %
Reviews Counted: 182 Fresh: 110  Rotten:72 Average Rating: 6.4/10
 
Consensus: This first person account of the first Gulf War scores with its performances and cinematography but lacks an emotional thrust.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: 15

Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins

Theatrical Release: 13-01-2006

Synopsis: For his third feature film, British director Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY) turns to the pages of Anthony Swofford's 2003 book on his experiences in the first Gulf War, and enlists William Broyles Jr.--a former Lieutenant who fought in Vietnam--to convert it into a screenplay. Mendes's film... For his third feature film, British director Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY) turns to the pages of Anthony Swofford's 2003 book on his experiences in the first Gulf War, and enlists William Broyles Jr.--a former Lieutenant who fought in Vietnam--to convert it into a screenplay. Mendes's film strays into FULL METAL JACKET territory as it opens, with young recruit Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) undertaking some rigorous basic training under the steely, watchful eye of Staff Sgt. Sykes (Jamie Foxx). Impressed, Sykes invites Swofford to join his team, and partners him with Troy (Peter Sarsgaard), ultimately taking them to Saudi Arabia to fight in the first Gulf War. But once they arrive in the punishing heat of the desert, the long wait for battle sends many of the Marines dangerously close to the brink of insanity. Drawing on the experience of acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) to help viewers get a close-up taste of the Marines' punishing life in the desert, Mendes's film enters into deeply unsettling territory, the likes of which many cinemagoers won't have experienced since Martin Sheen lost his tenuous grip on reality in APOCALYPSE NOW. Indeed, Mendes deploys a few similar tactics to those that made Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film so effective: a hip soundtrack that uses songs from artists as varied as Public Enemy and the Rolling Stones, and a feeling of disillusionment and futility among the troops that really digs in when the battle finally blackens the desert skies. Avoiding any overt antiwar sentiments, Mendes instead provides a thoughtful account of life as a modern day soldier, demonstrating how technology has made the average Marine's job all but redundant, and created disaffected troops who are as much a threat to each other as the enemies they wait to face in the trenches. [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Peter Sarsgaard, Jacob Vargas, Chris Cooper

Director: Sam Mendes, Wade Williams
Screenwriter: William Broyles
Producer: Lucy Fisher, Douglas Wick, Sam Mendes
Composer: Thomas Newman

DVD Info

Release:

Aug 8, 2006

[DVD Details]

HD-DVD Features:

  • Red HD Case
  • Widescreen - 2.35

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital Surround Sound Plus 5.1 - English, French, Spanish
  • Subtitles - English SDH, French, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Commentaries
  • Interviews
  • Featurettes - 1. "Over 35 Minutes of Deleted Scenes Including More of Swoff's Fantasy Sequences"

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/06
Sight and Sound
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Ratings Image
3/5

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Full Review | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
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N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
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N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
01/17/06
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/5

All talk, very little action.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/15/06
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
01/14/06
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
01/13/06
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
Ratings Image
3/5

Gyllenhaal effortlessly carries the film, making an engaging lead, even if his character's lust for the pink mist is a little disturbing.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/12/06
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image
4/5

Atrikingly visual and thematically stirring, but it doesn't say anything terribly revealing.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/25/05
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
01/15/08
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Ratings Image
5/5

As a depressive riff on Generation X's first war...it's exceptionally well-crafted.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/24/07
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image
3/4

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
Ratings Image
N/A

As time passes, waiting for orders becomes like waiting for Godot, an absurdist tragicomedy of frustration, madness and masculinity gone awry.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/10/07
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
Ratings Image
2/4

A series of disjointed, shocking, and often unintentionally-humorous vignettes designed to celebrate boy-boy camaraderie while fomenting anti-Arab sentiments in the name of God, mom, and Apple Pie.

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
05/31/07
Kam Williams
Upstage Magazine
Ratings Image
2/4

The first 20 minutes of have masterpiece written all over them, unfortunately, that fire peters out quite constantly until the film comes to a near flat lining ending.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/23/07
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card
Ratings Image
N/A

As usual, when the US makes war against the rest of the world, it's the artist who steps up to the plate to expose the lies and senseless tragedy, not the faint of heart or soul politicians and media.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/10/07
Prairie Miller
WBAI Web Radio
Ratings Image
2.5/5

full review in Greek

Full Review | comment Comment
10/03/06
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses
Ratings Image
3.5/4

Thanks to its poignancy and expert crafting, Jarhead could become a classic war drama -- one that speaks for a new era of soldier and worldliness.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/25/06
Todd Hertz
Christianity Today
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
05/12/06
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image
3/4

Nos muestra en forma efectiva la experiencia de un soldado humano (no una caricatura tipo Rambo) en una guerra distinta.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/03/06
Flavio J. Arosemena
Doncinema.com
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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