Jarhead

Mat Sklansky · #1 07-05-2006, 04:27 AM

What are thoughts on this movie?

I never read the book, but I liked this movie because it got me thinking about stuff. If I had been in the mood to escape reality and be taken on an adventure, I would have been very disappointed.

BTW, I searched for this movie in these forums, so please direct me to the thread if it's out there and I missed it.

Blarg · #2 07-05-2006, 04:30 AM

Mat, this forum was created after that movie came out, as I recall. There were discussions of it in OOT, though. I think they played themselves out in that forum.

yukoncpa · #3 07-05-2006, 04:52 AM

I was never in the armed forces, but from a humanistic view, this movie struck me as extremely realistic. I loved it.

kitaristi0 · #4 07-05-2006, 05:08 AM

I think I had my expections up too high. Sure it was realistic, but I didn't really do anything for me.

I'd say it's worth watching if you have nothing else to do.

Mat Sklansky · #5 07-05-2006, 05:08 AM

That's one of the things that struck me. Are there any marines out there to comment on this?

CamusEatsSumTum · #6 07-05-2006, 05:46 AM

I didnt watch it all the way to the end, but will one day. I thought Jamie Foxx was miscasted as a Drill Sargent. I thought the GF wall was very original/interesting. I thought the scene where the guys wife taped over his video seemed direly unrealistic and melodramatic. That one actor who was in Red Eye, Garden State and some other movies has a really grainy voice and gets on my nerves. Overall, I thought the movie was interesting, but tended to be melodramatic. It was also over-hyped which never helps.

TylerD · #7 07-05-2006, 06:01 AM

My overall impression was that it was pretty darn boring.

stigmata · #8 07-05-2006, 06:06 AM

I enjoyed the movie, but I don't think it really had much to say that hasn't been said in previous movies (e.g. Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket).

What was interesting about the film was how the Marine training scene was almost word-perfect to that potrayed in full metal jacket. Yet when they went to war, it was to a new type of warfare, where the Marines were irrelevant. For me, that was the most interesting point of the movie - of bored, extraneous grunts, trained to kill and becoming increasinly frustrated at the lack of action (in both ways!).

In the previous war films, this build up of frustration and lack of action was actually potrayed better, IMHO. However, in Jarhead, the point of the film was that there never was any resolution, never was any action.

However, the first gulf-war was a unique situation. It was a war of distanced tactical strike and minimal allied losses. (we were supposed to believe this was the future of war, but that did not prove to be the case....)

Mat Sklansky · #9 07-05-2006, 06:14 AM

Miscast or not (he seemed fine to me), but did it strike you that his character was a psychopath? Last I read it is estimated that 1% of the population are psycopaths. If this is close to true, obviously the vast majority of psycopaths are not criminals. But one of the things this movie made me wonder was how many people in the service fall into this category?

That seemed to me almost the point of the movie. Also, I watched it on the on-demand channel where they interviewed real Marines afterwards. The words that were used to describe their experience was interesting. Yes there was a little fear, but mostly they seemed to remember excitement.

That seems weird to a pacifist like me. But it also got me thinking a little differently about soldiers. I'm the first one to admit that I am benefitted from the armed forces, but I always felt like the soldiers performing these duties had drawn a short stick. I didn't really think it was very probable that these guys could enjoy battle.

But this movie made me think a little differently. To me, that makes it a worthwhile movie. But it also really makes me curious how many of our modern day soldiers enjoy their work and why. Occasionally I'll get an email from someone who happens to mention the armed services, but I don't know their handles. Do we have any known soldiers actively posting on these forums?

CamusEatsSumTum · #10 07-05-2006, 06:38 AM

I also noticed that Jarhead seemed to have ripped many scenes off from other War Movies. Like the scene where they are cleaning the bathrooms. The first thing I thought was that I had already seen it in Platoon. He is reading an anti-war(if i remember correctly) book in the bathroom... Saw it in Tigerland. Boot Camp scenes didnt really add anything original, weren't presented in a very interesting style. Tigerland, Platoon, FMJ, T.R.L, A.N were all about the same points, but were presented with a better style, and were much better movies.

It does not surprise me at all that most Marines are psycopaths. They are 18 year old men who decide that they want to kill people for a living. Or maybe they just want to protect America, but how exactly does one do that?

I graduated high school few years ago. The kids going to The Marines definitely tended to be the types who liked doing dangerous things drunk. I wouldn't really call any of them intelligent.