JARHEAD - Blu-ray review

The first Gulf War was over fast. Damn fast. I know, because my deployment orders to Saudi Arabia were canceled due to the hasty victory. There was no more need for additional Mechanized Infantry. So, I stayed on home soil. Instead of Saudi Arabia, I was blessed with the sand dunes of Fort Benning, Georgia. The first Gulf War is sometimes called the "100-Hour War," as that is about how long Operation Desert Sabre lasted. The American buildup for the war was called Operation Desert Shield. Its period of time was from August 7th, until Desert Storm began on January 17th of 1991. The air war continued and the ground assault, Operation Desert Sabre, began on February 24th. A cease-fire was signed on February 27th. The ground war lasted just 100 hours.

"Jarhead" is about the long and boring build up to Operation Desert Sabre and the quick and surprising end of the conflict for a platoon of Marine snipers. Based upon the book by Marine Anthony Swofford (portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal in the film), "Jarhead" is a true recollection of the events of the first Gulf War from the vantage point of the real-life men featured in the film and typical events and stories in the life of a marine scout sniper. Marine life is difficult. Training to be a Marine is difficult. War is hell. The waiting and training to go to war can be even more demanding and dangerous than war itself. "Jarhead" takes a good look at the trials and tribulations of a Marine and the effects of the long wait to take a walk in the sand.

I was able to emphasize with much of this film. Having went through Army basic in preparation for a long drawn-out conflict in Iraq, the training was demanding and the psychological uncertainty of not knowing my eventual role in the conflict was just as difficult. CS gas became a routine taste in my mouth. Learning to hydrate constantly in 100 degree plus weather brought about a dislike for the taste of water. I wanted to get my training over with and board that plane for a long trip to the sandbox. Many of the terms and sayings in the film brought back warm reminders of my day as a soldier. If there are any two ‘groups' in the military that are most alike, it is the Infantry and the Marines. We both have a "Jody" that steals our girlfriends while we are away. We both have cum receptacles for a mouth and we both have our weapon. There are many others like it, but our weapon is ours.

Screenwriter William Broyles Jr. infuses some of his experiences in the Vietnam War into the memoirs of Anthony Swofford in the film "Jarhead." The film traces key moments in the military career of Anthony "Swoff" Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) from his original training up until a victory party in the Gulf War. Swofford is reluctant at first when he joins the Marine Corps and is unsure of whether or not he made the correct decision in joining the Marines. After leaving Basic, Swofford joins the scout snipers led by Staff Sergeant Sykes (Jamie Fox). He forms a scout sniper team with Troy (Peter Sarsgaard). Swofford quickly finds his place behind the scope of the sniper rifle.

During a screening of "Apocalypse Now," Swoff, Troy and the rest of their unit learn they are to be leaving for Saudi Arabia. They are eager and ready to go to war, but they are not ready for the tedious and repetitive tasks that await them for much of their stay in the desert as they must prepare and train for the eventual armed conflict. Swoff slowly starts to unwind in the heat of the desert and Troy must come to terms with his own problem regarding the Corps. They do whatever they can to make their existence in the sand less dull, but the heat and neverending sand are unrelenting.

Finally, the day comes and they are to go to war against the regime of Saddam Hussein and his Republican Guard. It is under a barrage of artillery that Swofford see his first combat action and hit task is mundane enough – fetch a battery for the radio. They then go on patrol and quickly realize that war can be harsh. An A-10 Warthog fires upon them in a friendly fire incident and the night skies rain oil from the countless burning wells they come upon. Swoff is able to draw his gun once and put a target in his crosshairs. However, they are called off and after returning to camp, realize that the war is over and after all of the long and hard training, Swoff was never able to fire his gun.

Sam Mendes gets my seal of approval for much of the film. Mendes had very little knowledge of the military and went to great deals to guarantee authenticity. He tries to not take sides in this film and does not make either a pro-war or anti-war movie. Mendes focuses on the hardships of preparation for a war and the tasks that surround a soldier as they prepare. A lot of my life in the Army was ‘hurry up and wait.' Much of it was far from exciting. There were times of great hardship and times of great boredom. Mendes captures this well. The very little amount of time Mendes focuses his cameras on combat is nicely done. The frightening A-10 attack, the mortar attack and the air assault on the tower feature some fine special effects. The Gulf War lasted only one hundred hours on the ground, but the Marines and Infantry spent a much longer amount of time during Operation Desert Shield. Mendes makes an effective story about the effects of that wait and the short conflict that followed.

Video:

The Blu-ray release is essentially identical to the HD-DVD release, but I noticed a stronger contrast on the oil fires in the film and felt the color reproduction was brighter and better saturated than what was on the HD-DVD title. The film is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen. "Jarhead" takes the same stylistic approach as films like "The Kingdom" and "Black Hawk Down" showcases a good looking picture, but suffers from the high-contrasted look that is becoming typical for war movies. Through most of the film, the colors are slightly washed out and dull. A few scenes stand out, such as the Christmas Party and a scene with blazing oil fires in the background. There isn't much color in a typical Marine Corps outfit, so the stylized choice made by Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins fits the military hues and tedious period detailed in the film. Black levels are fine, as are shadow detail. The film is very clean and features absolutely no defects.

Sound:

"Jarhead" is given a fresh new DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio soundtrack that sounds a smidgeon louder, but essentially identical to the previous HD-DVD release. "Jarhead" is not an explosive, combat heavy film like "Black Hawk Down" and does not contain many sequences that will leave you ducking for cover or avoiding explosions. Aside from four moments in the film, there is very little need for more than the front channel in most of this film. Dialogue is well rendered and quite intelligible. The soundtrack is done nicely and shows good separation between its five channels. The subwoofer is utilized nicely when it is necessary. The musical numbers are rendered nicely and "Don't Worry, Be Happy" sounds quite good. Again, "Jarhead" is not a high-energy soundtrack and is nothing like "Apocalypse Now," "Saving Private Ryan" or countless others. The film does not focus on the combat aspect and doesn't require a heavy soundtrack.

Extras:

I'll start out immediately with the bad news on "Jarhead" on Blu-ray. The HD-DVD release of "Jarhead" is a far superior release when it comes to bonus features. That disc contained nearly all of the material from the two disc collector's edition release of the DVD. There were deleted scenes, three very lengthy documentaries and other brief items pertaining to the film and the experiences it details. There were video diaries and I found it quite disappointing that "Jarhead" on Blu-ray lacks the wealth of bonus materials that were included on both DVD and HD-DVD. I'm assuming this was a budgetary decision to squeeze the film onto a single BD-25 platter. Disappointing!

The only two bonus features to make their way to the Blu-ray release are two audio commentaries. The first feature commentary with director Sam Mendes. The second feature commentary with screenwriter William Brayles Jr. & Author Anthony Swafford is the money track. The first commentary track is a decent enough of a listen, but hearing the two Marines from different eras discuss the differences in the film as opposed to Swofford's book and their own recollections of their wartime experiences makes for a very interesting two hour commentary. I recall this second commentary track as being one of my favorites up until the time I had reviewed this title on HD-DVD and I still feel it is one of the best commentary tracks I have heard in a long while.

Closing:

I was looking forward to retiring my HD-DVD copy of "Jarhead" with the Blu-ray release, but I was mortified to discover that most of the supplements were pruned from this release. This was another disappointing example of Universal seemingly taking the cheap path of re-releasing their films onto Blu-ray after very nice HD-DVD releases. Are they expecting a spiffier version of "Jarhead" with some future double-dipping, or has the ‘next gen' format proved lesser than previous releases of the film? I find it inexcusable that a film with the nice set of bonus features that "Jarhead" contained is a hollow shell of a previous release and am not pleased with the treatment this film received.

I served in the U.S. Army Infantry during the time of the first Gulf War. I never laid foot in the sandbox, but I trained for the war. This training and the effects of it are wonderfully done by Sam Mendes in "Jarhead." The film forgoes the usual war movie formula of lots of gunfire, blood and guts and takes a look at the emotional side of preparing for war. Mendes never served in the military and he had very little knowledge of the film. Still, he nailed it. He could have included one or two gas chamber shots for humor value, but I never said the film was perfect. It is just very good.