Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Universal Studios Home Entertainment – 2 hrs 3 mins – 2005 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 2.35: 1 – DTS-HD Lossless Master 5.1 Audio

Since the dawn of filmmaking, war movies have always been one of the premiere genres that Hollywood loves to make. The most obvious reason is the “show off” factor, where a director says ‘my war battle scene will be bigger and better than the last guy’s.’ This is something that has been happening from Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, to Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. Movies that feature the first two world wars and Vietnam, have been successful, but anything involving either of the Middle East wars don’t seem to catch on with audiences. The obvious reason for this is that the Middle East situation is still fresh and it may take a decade before moviegoers want to look at it. Jarhead, the 2005 film centering of the first George Bush’s Desert Storm war, is now available o Blu-ray from Universal Home Video.

THE MOVIE

Jarhead is based on the bestselling book by Anthony Swofford about his own experiences getting ready to fight in the early 90’s Desert Storm battle. The difference between this war-based story is that unlike most movies where the soldiers see a lot of action, most Desert Storm troops never saw any real action at all. The film follows Swoff, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. as he enlist in the Marines to become the next great American soldier. When the gulf war breaks out, he is sent to the battlefield hoping the kick some major ass Rambo style as he was promised, but after 175 days he and his troop mates nearly lose their minds, because instead of killing the enemy all they do is sit around in the boiling sun, clean the latrine, play football, fight each other, party, and hear about how everyone else is getting some gun action but them. Then they are sent home confused about what the hell just went on and try to adapt to regular life again.

Directed by Sam Mendes who did the Oscar winning American Beauty, Jarhead tries to deal with the human side of war demonstrating the brainwashing it takes to build the soldier, and how they may self destruct if all that adrenaline that was pumped in them is not released on the killing field. Unfortunately, what works in a book does not always translate well on the screen, because even though Jarhead is a well made film with good performances; it’s also very slow placed and feels whiney in places. Mendes knows how to handle characters and make them real people as he’s proven in his past films, but audiences have a different mentality when it comes to war films, wanting the see the traditional large scale battles where most of the soldiers we are introduced to in the beginning are later dismembered are killed to show the horrors of war.

Jarhead does offer a great cast including Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Peter Sarsgaard Lucas Black, and a solid cameo from Dennis Haysbert. But with the exception of a few scenes, this is mainly a talking heads film that may bore some expecting to see the next Black Hawk Down. Another issue with Jarhead is that because of the current war in the Middle East, does anyone even remember the 90’s Desert Storm, or for that matter even care anymore?

As a time capsule look at an event that happened in America history, Jarhead is acceptable, but when it’s over you may feel like, popping in Apocalypse Now or Platoon to get your war movie fix. That sounds harsh, but hey, if you see a comedy that’s not funny, or an action film with no violence, you’ll feel like something is wrong. Jarhead might leave you with the same taste in your mouth. Rent this one first.

VIDEO

Jarhead delivers some excellent photography and this Blu-ray shows it off with style, offering a full 1080p image in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Films like Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down raised the bar with how audiences expect a war film to look, so cinema photographer Roger Deakins gives Jarhead a washed out look to emulate how the heavy sun of the desert has wiped everything of solid colors. The image is extremely sharp, showing you every drop of sweat that rolls down the actor’s faces; and though there is grain in the darker interior scenes, overall the film looks good.

AUDIO

With a DTS-HD Lossless Master 5.1 sound mix, Jarhead offers crystal clear sound and balances nicely between high and low points. This film is more dialogue than action, so every word spoken will be heard with no problem, even during the louder sequences. Background ambience definitely stands out with heavy chatter and sound effects, so if you’ve got rear-positioned speakers you’ll benefit from the mix.

EXTRAS

If you do enjoy this film, you’re going to be very let down by the bonus features that are completely anorexic. The standard DVD offered a whole mess of goodies, but for some reason no of them made it over to the Blu-ray.

There are only two audio commentaries, one featuring director Sam Mendes and a separate commentary with screenwriter William Broyles, Jr. and the author of the book, Anthony Swofford. Of the two, Mendes is the better choice, but there’s still no reason that more bonus material was not included when it’s obviously already available on the DVD.

BOTTOM LINE

Maybe one day Jarhead will be re-discovered by a new audience, but as it stands now it falls short on what was promised. The Blu-ray offers good picture and sound quality, but its inexcusable absence of bonus material really makes it drops some points. If you never seen this film it’s worth a rental, but does it belong in your Blu-ray collection? That’s up to you.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 2.5

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 2.0

Bottom Line: 2.5