Watched 'Jarhead' last night

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BulletFan

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So a friend of mine let me borrow the movie Jarhead a couple of days ago and my wife and I sat down and watched it last night. Overall I thought it was a great movie. It didn't have that bogus hollywood dramatic script that they claim is "Based on actual events." it felt like you were just sitting there, spending time with a soldier and his comrads.

There were several parts in the movie that were real eye openers. I never knew it rained oil when those idiots lit the oil on fire. I knew it was unbearable conditions because of the heat, smoke, dust etc, but I never knew it rained oil. Wow, welcome to the suck.

Any Gulf War Vets care to share their experiences? Have you seen the movie? Was it accurate? You know anybody like the guy in the movie?

God Bless America!
God Bless our Troops!
 
The book is better. The book and the movie don't resemble each other. I was a little disappointed with the movie. It still had way too much Hollywood drama. As for entertainment purposes, it was fine. Not one I'll watch over and over, like "We Were Soldiers", "Saving Private Ryan", etc.
 
I will agree with Big Larry on this one. The book is much MUCH better than the movie. The movie was decent, but as Larry said, it does not portray the book accurately. If you get the chance, pick up the book...if you even remotely liked the movie, you'll love the book.

Regards,
 
Go over to Amazon.com and read the reviews of the book.

There aren't many lukewarm ones, they either love it or hate it.


You can read between the lines and tell that most of those who love it never served and are already biased against the military/war/The US and every Marine that reviewed it flatly calls the author a liar (and worse).
 
one of the worst movies Ive ever seen.The whole premise of it was based on a guy who hates being in the Marines and couldnt wait to get out.Seemed like a a movie to make the military look negative.
There was little action to capture me as a viewer,and the scene about the guy getting a "DEAR JOHN" video just was unneccessary.

I recently saw 2 movies in German,The Downfall and Stalingrad,those were 2 good movies specially The Downfall,I recommend those 2.The Downfall is about the last 10 days of Hitler,thank God we beat them cause the movie left me feeling no sympathy for the Nazis what so ever.
 
I have watched 'JARHEAD' as well.

I really enjoyed the movie as well. I cannot comment on the facts of the Gulf War and what is going on now. What I can comment on is the training to do a job, and not getting the chance to use the training. Keeping a 'Warrior' at 'READY' is a factor that will ebb and flow. You spin him up, but can only hold him the for a finite length of time. The length of time will differ from person to person. It is like a chamionship team. You gather your team, train them up to their highest level of performance, holding them at that level is tough.
 
The book is whiny too much of the time and contains many half truths (or worse if coming from some of the folks he served with apparently); the movie okay. Both display pretty well however the sometimes unreal/funny/maddening/angry comradery (or lack thereof) one can find in those situations. The movie has more than a bit of Hollywood in it: the half-assed highway of death they were nowhere near in r/l, and them starting the attack into Kuwait on banker's hours-late morning on a clear day. It was neither (zero dark thirty and oil fire smoke and firelight as well as Army MLRS's missles firing over our heads as I remember it).

Yes, it did rain oil: on my only pair of desert cammies I wore there that I still have, there's oil stains from that rain still quite visible (there weren't enough desert cammies to be issued beforehand, and we actually had to buy our boonyhats out in town becuse none of those were to be had); we coughed up lots of black gunk for weeks at a time too. That same rain stained almost permantly glass windows on vehicles as I recall.

As far as hating it, well just about every Marine I ever knew had a love/hate relationship during their time in: loving some of it, hating others...I know I had plenty of both. Swofferd just happened to write about his, and that's something I can't fault him for (his untruths about other things in his book are different stories however.)

(Also FWIW, I also recall hearing about that wife cheating movie when there too...prolly true somwhere along the line, but its one of those things that gets larger and more frequent the more the story was told...shoot by now, probably half the units in the Corps has stories that say it happened to one of thier Marines there).

Chris
 
I understand that there may be love-hate feelings being in the military depending on a persons point of view and I have never served so I cant say first hand.Then there was the scene where he sticks his M16 down the other Marines throat...***?
I understand that most of the time you go thru mundane BS,and I understand that with all the training a G.I would want to use it but I would have more enjoyment listening to your personal story or seeing a documentary like Into Baghdad on the military channel then watching the movie Jarhead.

eh,I just did'nt like the movie,from a civilian pov.
 
I read the book, and finished it only because I have some sort of a disorder that won't allow me to stop watching or reading until I'm done, no matter how bad. The book was interesting, but the guy was whiny and looked only at the negative. It's fine by me if he wants to write it, but I don't like those type of people.
 
Damn that was terrible

OK.

First, the homo-erotic undertones were disgusting and did not line up with my life experiences and the character of the Marines I served with.

Second, the homo-erotic undertones were disgusting and did not line up with my life experiences and the character of the Marines I served with.

Third, the homo-erotic undertones were disgusting and did not line up with my life experiences and the character of the Marines I served with.

Frmr. Cpl. DW
USMC
 
Saw it, as RocketMan said. Wasn't worth the time.
Almost crap, just other Hollywood movie.
 
Vets:

Thank you for your service and I appreciate your responses. I was only a wee little chap when we went to the Gulf the first time and I didn't really understand why we were there. I find it fascinating to here the stories.
Of course I understand now (to a point) but one can never stop learning.

Thanks again,
Matt
 
I thought the sniper training was interesting (hadnt seen it in any other films...certainly not reali life either)
The movie sucked though.
I wonder if hollywood will ever make a military film where the characters aren't crazy, want to serve, and are good people. (plus its a post WWII film).
 
it should have been called "Broke Back Jarhead "
to match the other movie that one guy played in
"Broke Back Mountian" or should it have been named "Broke Over Mountain"
 
I read part of the book but put it down due to the negativity.

I watched the movie and it was dull and disappointing. Won't watch it again.
 
I haven't seen it and doubt I'll ever watch it unless it comes on late night TV and then, from what I've heard, I'll probably turn it off.

Hollywood's idea of the USMC is idiotic at best.

The only movie I have ever seen about the USMC that was even 10 percent correct is Full Metal Jacket and I found myself cussing a few times during the show.


Sgt. USMC
1955-1963
 
I ranked it, without a doubt, one of the worst movies I have ever seen! At best is was 2 hours out of my life that I will never get back. I walked out of the theater dumber for the experence and with $8 less in my pocket!
 
Just for general information, the script was written by William Broyles, Jr.

First, Broyles was USMC, an Lt. of a Rifle Platoon in Vietnam.

He came back and joined the anti-war crowd. He is extemely anti-guns owned by us worker peasants. He was a journalist for the L.A. Times, I believe, plus he became an editor for either "Newsweek," or "Time" magazine. (Can't remember which.) Then he went back to Hollywood. Believe me, Hollywood pays their screenwriters of movies a lot more than Broyles would have made, staying in journalism.

Everything I've read written by Broyles is biased to the left.

So, whatever you Marines think about the movie, consider the screenwriter's ideology.

FWIW. L.W.
 
I actually saw it last week for the first time as well. I had forgotten all the commentary about it from when it first came out.

I have had no military experience. I did rent and see "Sniper School" which was a documentary about the Army sniper school, which seemed a lot more regular and mundane than the Hollywood USMC verion in Jarhead.

Lots of hollywood in that story. Mrz Jamz asked me at one point if they really would have branded the new guy in the barracks lke that. I doubted it quite a bit, unless the whole group wanted to get thrown out.

-James
 
If you've ever served, all the movie was... all the old sea storys that are around, passed on down from the Sr personel that live in the barraks, and drunken tails told in the bars, the old saltly war storys of the Staff Sgt about how hard time was in Desert Storm, while you're sitting in an A/C's tent in Iraq. If you're still active duty or were, you probly left the movie saying one of two things; "that happened to me" or "my buddies and I could have done much better"

Holly Wood makes life in the Marine Corps even more irritateing, by showing the American public that we're just a bunch of wild animals. Then I'm haveing a converstion with one of my buddies in the PX down the road and I say the "F-word" or $h*t and the next thing you know I have some LtCol sticking me at the position of attention while I take an @$$ chewing about being so politically incorrect.

My Buddies, My Boys and Myself could have made a better movie, cause this one time... In Iraq or this one time in Afganistan...
 
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