Got this on DVD for christmas and have managed to get round to watching it.

Outline
Jarhead is true story based on a book written by a U.Sm Marine. The film follows the main character Anthony Swofford played by Jake Gyllenhaal about his pre-Desert Storm experiences in Saudi Arabia and about his experiences fighting in Kuwait. The film shows a somewhat brief introduction to his training before he’s packed off to the middle east. Out there the story follows his and the rest of his regiments ups down and fustrations of being 1000’s of miles away from loved ones and not seeing any fighting action.

Conclusion
The biggest thing I can say is if your looking for a war film then let this pass you by as this one definately is not, if your looking for that then your better off going with Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket. I percieved Jarhead more as a documentary following the army life of marine from training, to war, to home again. The film was shot with striking cinematography, scences in the desert especially the oil fires top the chart for me. It has some political undertones however I didn’t find them to be a distraction as there are comical pieces in the movie to stop it from getting ‘too heavy’. All in all a worth watching and I would be quite happy to sit down for a second viewing.