Jarhead

Early B.

Anyone see this movie yet? Watched it yesterday. Not sure what to think about it. In some respects it was good such as the dialogue and the whole Marine tough guy thing seemed fairly realistic. Good acting. SQ was mediocre. And there were a couple of funny moments. However, the movie left me wondering where the last two hours of my life went. Without spoiling it, all I can say is that it's a war movie with a different perspective.

bobman1235

Yeah, I thought it was good, if a little slow at times. Some great imagery. Very "real", a la Full Metal Jacket. I really liked Jaime Foxx's character. And it was good to see a "war movie" with, like you said, a differnet perspective. There's only so many times you can make the same "gritty footage" of war.

Very raunchy though. LEave the kids in the other room for this one....

polkatese

It is interesting to see lots of references to the war classics of the past, such as Apocalypse Now, Deer Hunter, etc. and song/music from those times too.

I did a blind purchase on it, which I shouldn't. 6 out of 10 for me.

Ron-P

I almost bought this blind, glad I did not. I will rent it though.

avelanchefan

Just finished watching it. I am with Early B. In some respects it was very refreshing, but when it was all said and done, I was like WTF did I just watch:

Spoiler Below..........





























A bunch of Marines wacking their puds in the desert?

aaharvel

Huge fan of Sam Mendes. It was OK but expected better from him.
Mendes has this thing for movies that show the darkside of the human psyche.

BIZILL

Ron-P wrote:

I almost bought this blind, glad I did not. I will rent it though.

had it in the cart at best buy, but upon walking up to the checkout gal, decided to ditch it. good call, instincts!!! but i'll give it a good renting soon.

mantis

Ron-P wrote:

I almost bought this blind, glad I did not. I will rent it though.

It must be a thing. I went to Best Buy to buy it and ended up buying other things. Funny I had it in my hand then put it down. I'm gonna rent it as well.

Dan

woodyjacobs

Watched this yesterday and I too am in the same boat. I thought the film had some tremendous imagery (the desert at night, the oil well fires, etc.) and some interesting dialogue by the author but the story just didn't really seem to flow. I think this one might have been over-edited, for once. I usually feel after watching a lot of films that they could have been edited more...this one seemed to be cut down too short. I intend to watch the deleted scenes on this one to see if they make the story (and the title character) make a bit more sense. Even Sam Mendes' commentary track (which were great on American Beauty and Road to Perdition) seem to me kind of lackluster.
Its a shame too, I think this was a great cast and very interesting material.
I actually think that "Three Kings" might have been a more interesting (if maybe less accurate) portrayal of Gulf War pt. 1 than "Jarhead."

thehaens@cox.net

I took my whole shop (platoon) to the opening of the movie when it was making the run in the theatre. It was good in my opinion. I guess you had to be there. The jargon, phrases and what not are dead on. It isn't always shoot em' up hollywood glamour to be a Marine. But this movie hit the reality of what combat is and can be, down right boring. You have to find ways to keep yourself, your mind, and the libido occupied But I can definitely see where a "civilian" would not quite get it.

Scott

mrbigbluelight

So we figured it would probably be a good movie.
(they have awful taste in movies).

You know what ? They were right.

Not every military movie will be a "Saving Private Ryan" or "Blackhawk Down" because the storyline is different.

But it should have some "meat" to it. Left feeling like I had watched the second half of "Full Metal Jacket".

Early B.

thehaens@cox.ne wrote:

I took my whole shop (platoon) to the opening of the movie when it was making the run in the theatre. It was good in my opinion. I guess you had to be there. The jargon, phrases and what not are dead on. It isn't always shoot em' up hollywood glamour to be a Marine. But this movie hit the reality of what combat is and can be, down right boring. You have to find ways to keep yourself, your mind, and the libido occupied But I can definitely see where a "civilian" would not quite get it.

You make some good points. The movie kinda highlighted the "down right boring" part of war, so when the movie gave out of steam, they seemed to put the ending together in a piecemeal fashion.