Jarhead (Blu-Ray)
The war film (minus the war) comes to Blu-Ray (minus the extras)
Tags: misc dvd 2008 Categories: DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Jake McNeill on Dec 17th, 2008
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Jarhead is an interesting movie in that it pays tribute to classic war films while doing something completely uncharacteristic of the genre. Parts of this film mirror Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now (the latter even shown briefly within the film), and the film gets all geared up for the macho mixture of testosterone and terror that’s sure to follow… but never really does. As a film about marine snipers in the first US-Iraq war (AKA The Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm), Jarhead is a movie about what happens when you take a group of young men and push them to the edge of combat without ever letting them actually get involved in it. This is a war film without a war.
As such, the film’s focus is the effect on the mentality of this group of guys who have gotten all prepared and psyched up for combat that could break out at any moment but largely doesn’t, resulting in an insanity-inducing mix of tension and boredom. Based on a memoir by a real Iraq war veteran, with a screenplay by a Vietnam war veteran, Jarhead exudes an amazing sense of realism, even amidst the often surreal scenery encountered in Iraq. In particular, the movie does a phenomenal job depicting the otherworldly transformation the Kuwait desert undergoes as the Iraqis set the Kuwaiti oilfields ablaze, shooting columns of fire into the air and drenching the marines in a rain of oil.
The acting here is superb, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard drawing viewers in and helping them to understand the unique form of tortured madness their characters are forced to endure, with the supporting cast putting in an excellent performance as well. Some people may have a difficult time watching this movie because it’s largely anticlimactic. However, I feel that this is all too appropriate, as it’s a film about anticlimax.
However, while I have a great deal of respect for this film, I cannot ignore the despicable treatment Jarhead has been given in its DVD release. Of all the features included in the film’s DVD and HD-DVD releases, only two survive to make it into the Blu-Ray release – the two commentaries. And while both commentaries (one by director Sam Mendes and one by writer and screenwriter Anthony Swofford and William Broyles J.) are excellent and cover the film from interesting and unique angles, it’s painful to hear mentions within them of features included on the DVD, yet inexplicably missing here. Oh, and Universal has thrown in their “My Scenes” bookmarking feature – whoop de do.
This is a trend I’ve seen a lot of lately in Blu-Ray movies and it disgusts me. People pay more for Blu-Ray versions of a film, and they expect to get more. People expect a Blu-Ray release to be the ultimate, definitive version of a release. Because if it isn’t, what are they paying for? A cleaner picture that the majority of people will only barely be able to notice? And that also asks the question why extra content from a previous release didn’t make it into this version – are they just trying to make an excuse to re-release a double-dip edition a few years down the road to bilk Blu-Ray owners out of more money? Whatever the reason, it’s despicable, and it needs to end now.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ A great war film, albeit one that many will have difficulty with + Superb acting + The commentaries are both wonderful |
6.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
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- What happened to all the special features from the earlier releases? What a rip-off! - The only new feature is a bookmarking feature? |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| A great war film in a Blu-Ray release that is simply insulting. Unless you don’t care about extra features at all, just buy the DVD version. | |
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Tags: misc dvd 2008
Posted by Jake McNeill on Dec 17th, 2008 and is filed under DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
