Stars: Chris Cooper, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhaal, Katherine Randolph, Jacob Vargas

Director: Sam Mendes

Summary: A young American Army recruit is sent 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.

Young American Army recruit Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) undertakes 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. 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. 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.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 H D Widescreen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Commentary by director Sam Mendes, Commentary by screenwriter William Broyles Jr and author Anthony Swofford, Swoffs fantasies, News interviews in full, Deleted scenes
Subtitles:	Spanish, Dutch, Norweigan, Finnish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Danish
Year:	2005
Release Date:	December 4, 2006
Runtime:	123 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	8246648
Keywords:	War, Gulf, Jarhead
Genre:	War