Talk:Jarhead (film)

first talk
The plot summary added in this edit is a presumed copyright violation, from the movie's official website (site uses Flash - click "Story"). I've removed it. &#8592;Hob 07:12, 4 October 2005 (UTC)

Well, we could quote it and credit it:


 * 'Jarhead' (the self-imposed moniker of the Marines) follows "Swoff" (Jake Gyllenhaal), a third-generation enlistee, from a sobering stint in boot camp to active duty, sporting a sniper's rifle and a hundred-pound ruck on his back through Middle Eastern deserts with no cover from intolerable heat or from Iraqi soldiers. Swoff and his fellow Marines sustain themselves with sardonic humanity and wicked comedy on blazing desert fields in a country they don't understand against an enemy they can't see for a cause they don't fully fathom.

It seems more accurate than "centers around his pre-Gulf War experiences" - the previews make it seem like it's more about military than civilian life. Uncle Ed 17:17, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

The comment about Gyllenhaal's nude scene: does it count as "Trivia," considering that it just describes a scene from the film? JustADuck 22:41, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Preview?
Does anyone know the name of the hip-hop song playing during the preview of the film?--67.184.163.248 22:38, 12 October 2005 (UTC)Ikiroid

-- Jesus Walks - Kanye West http://lyrics.rare-lyrics.com/K/Kanye-West/Jesus-Walks.html

Infobox duplication

 * Tagline: Welcome To The Suck


 * The film co-stars Peter Sarsgaard, and Oscar-winning actors Chris Cooper and Jamie Foxx.


 * This is the third film by Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes, whose previous two films were American Beauty and Road to Perdition.

I cut the above, because it doesn't tell you anything about the movie. Sure, it's nice that 2 of the actors won oscars and that it's the director's third film - but this reads more like a press release than an encyclopedia article.

Let's send one of our writers to watch the film and THEN write about it. Uncle Ed 17:05, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Existentialist overtones?
Can anyone find any primary sources confirming how much this movie was influenced by Camus' The Stranger? (it's the book he's reading throughout the movie, in fact) It's easy to draw parallels, but some commentary from the screenplay author or the director or somebody would be interesting.


 * Troy's comment about the ending of Metroid (Nothing happens and it's meaningless)
 * Killing Arabs
 * Discussions about the meaning of life
 * Finding meaning only in sex (Marie/Christina)

That's all I can really think of. JustADuck 20:21, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

JustADuck 21:42, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
 * The horse in the oil slick. Swofford knows the animal will continue to suffer and there is nothing he can do; it is meaningless
 * Swofford and Christina's graphic sex scene. The lovers say "I love you" to each other but it is truly meaningless because they are simply expressing the physical pleasure they feel at the moment. Oh ok.
 * Recurring theme of masturbation: masturbation is considered a meaningless activity within our culture because... because I don't know.

JustADuck 20:46, 26 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Throwing grenades at nothing
 * Firing at nothing
 * Navigating through empty minefields


 * I don't have any primary sources but Jarhead resembles Waiting for Godot but in a military context. Htra0497 09:59, 2nd January 2006 (AEST)

Tijer 17:39, 13th february 2006 (CET) I agree with the existentialist tone throughout the entire movie. I believe it would be fair to add it to the live page as a main theme. Though I believe we should put "absurdist" rather than "existentialist". Note, Camus was a warm adherent to human rights, I think this also has a minor-theme.

Synopsis?
Does anyone want to start work on a synopsis of the film here? It'll be a group project. Everyone join in with the bits you remember. Later we'll cut it down to a decent encyclopedic length and then edit. JustADuck 23:55, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

Opening scene:
 * head bashed in chalkboard
 * head bashed in chalkboard

Flashbacks:
 * e.g. parents conceiving Swoff

Don't Worry, Be Happy sequence:
 * branding mindfuck showcases the masculinity of the group: they grab Swoff and he immediately retaliates without taking any time to think. At this point he has no idea what they might even be thinking of doing, yet his violent retaliation seems like a reflex.
 * branding mindfuck showcases the masculinity of the group: they grab Swoff and he immediately retaliates without taking any time to think. At this point he has no idea what they might even be thinking of doing, yet his violent retaliation seems like a reflex.

Faking flu and mouth trumpeting:

Training
 * soldier shot in head
 * jogging & hydrating

Swoff falls in love with his rifle
 * scene where they zoom in on Gyllenhaal's eyes and the audience can see the pure desire for killing

Flight of the Valkyries scene:
 * every man knows every single part of the movie
 * they think it's beautiful and are practically drooling
 * Swoff starts saying under his breath "shoot that motherfucker" etc.

Chris Cooper on stage:
 * shown picture of Kurdish boy

Gas, gas, gas!:
 * the group makes comments on Christina
 * Cortez's pregnant wife

[blanking out on what goes here]

Boredom sequence:
 * endless masturbation
 * Scorpion fights

Showing off to reporters
 * soldiers talk to reporters about why they are in the Marines
 * football in MOPP/NBC suits
 * field fuck

Vacation in the rear-rear
 * Cortez finds out his wife had her/their child & Swoff finds out Christina has a new friend who's a good listener
 * brief shower scene
 * Swoff's dream
 * wife sends pornographic videotape

Swoff buys alcohol
 * "Dear sweet Gloria, I wish I was up in you now with a finger in your ass" etc.

The Christmas party
 * Swoff's nude dance
 * fireworks things go off and men are disappointed it wasn't gunfire

Burning shitters & confronting Fergus:
 * Morning Glory

Swoff speaks arabic:
 * 5 men, 3 camels/ 8 men, 5 camels ?
 * they find out Fowler shot their camels

[blanking out on what occurs here]

Warfare scenes
 * Swoff urinates in his pants
 * Swoff runs through battlefield to retrieve dead batteries

Highway of death
 * Swoff sits with charred corpses and then vomits

Oil fields
 * oily horse
 * oily horse

"Just let him take the shot"
 * Troy's breakdown

"War is over" party:
 * burning desert camos
 * firing rifles

"Soldier's Things" sequence:
 * Crazy Marine onboard bus
 * Christina had an affair
 * Kruger is in business; [Laz Alonso's character] at grocery store; Cortez with wife and two kids; Swoff smoking
 * Troy's funeral (book says he died driving drunk and then skidding on ice; would that be appropriate to mention here?)
 * last scene "we are still in the desert"

Trivia
The comment about Gyllenhaal's nude scene: does it count as "Trivia," considering that it just describes a scene from the film? It strikes me as sort of "tee hee, penis" for an encyclopedia article. It seems that somebody took it out and then someone put it back in. Should it be taken back out? JustADuck 05:03, 28 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Couldn't take it anymore. If anyone decides it's appropriate it's quoted here verbatim:
 * "In the movie, Jake Gyllenhall has a nude scene. In the scene, he is only wearing a Santa hat on his head, and his penis area." JustADuck 20:50, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

Are either of the "homage" pieces of trivia worth noting? Both are common experiences to the Corps and not specific to a particular movie other than they portrayed them first. In fact, to anyone who has served in the US military, Anthony Swofford's book and movie read like a collection of military urban legends. Many, if not most of his autobiographical anecdotes, are stories that soldiers tell to each other that start "did you hear about the guy ..." only when you try to track down that guy, he doesn't really exist. But all of these things either happened to Swofford or someone he directly knew. Dubious.

I agree with the comments about the homage. Every Marine knows and has said the Rifleman's Creed (the mantra Jamie Foxx makes his men repeat), so it's not something that is just from Full Metal Jacket. I think people just assumes it's from Full Metal Jacket, because no one has seen anything about the Marine Corps except from movies.

Correction: Dennis Miller invented the nickname for Saddam, Saddamn Insane for Saturday Night Live when he was the anchor for SNL News. I was there, I saw it happen. Don't believe me? Call the man himself.

What the bloody hell?
The Plot section of this article is nothing but a damn review, it needs to be edited immedietely!

Seriously, the section breaks Wikipedias rules so bad it's not funny, shame on the original author!

Is it really appropriate to have a list of guns shown in the movie? If you really wanted to know what sort of guns the army had in the first gulf war, why dont they just go to their page via the links? Great flick though!


 * I'm going to remove the list of weapons, because it doesn't really fit. This page is about the movie, not the props. Sum0 19:49, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Weapons

 * M9 Pistol
 * Colt M-16A2
 * M40A1 Sniper Rifle
 * M60 Machine Gun
 * M60E3
 * M249 SAW
 * Browning M2HB
 * M203 Grenade Launcher

opinion
This film is an embarrasment to the U.S.M.C, the U.S.A and to the entertainment establishment. They should be ashamed of themselves for producing a true piece of garbage like this. What a load of crap! &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by Bonnee1 (talk &bull; contribs). moved here from article -- Zondor 05:06, 12 March 2006 (UTC)
 * It's good that this was removed from the article, but this isn't a discussion page for the movie; it's a discussion page for the article. It shouldn't be here at all. 68.9.205.10 20:02, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Agreed. The user's opinion on the film has no place here at all. I'd delete it myself, but I'm unsure on the Wikipedia protocol on this sort of thing. It's hardly neutral, anyway! Ackatsis 12:18, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Edit by a dude: This is fucking Wikipedia man, no room for reviews! Go to metacritic or some shit, this place is neutral! The information here is neutral! Wikipedia is supposed to educate and show both sides of the spectrum not a battleground for arguing if it’s good or bad!

Trivia Dupes
Most of the trivia appear also in the IMDB entry. I don't think this information needs to be duplicated. The section should be pruned. gbrandt 07:52, 26 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I am of the opinion that trivia is not encyclopedic, and that the triva section of just about everything should be removed. Your thoughts? Seaphoto 03:34, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

"Cameo"
The article contains the claim: "The videogame Metroid makes a verbal cameo in the movie." This, to me, appears to stretch credibility. Can a videogame make a cameo? (No, it would be part of the mise-en-scene). And since videogames cannot talk, I have a horrible suspicion that by "making a verbal cameo" the contributor means "Metroid is mentioned by someone".

So ... someone mentions a videogame in the course of this movie. Is this worth saying at all, never mind entering on wikipedia, never mind actually reading? I'm not going to delete it, in case my interpretation is wrong, but would someone kindly explain if I've got it wrong? Garrick92 10:03, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Should this movie have a tag on it as an anti-war film? When I saw it, I thought the scene where there is a horse running around the desert and Gyllenhaal whips the oil off of it, there seems to be an underlying idea that war is senseless and the effects of it not only on humans but other creatures as well. Just a thought.

uniforms
did anyone notice no name tags on the bdu's? that is why most military films suck. Keltik31 21:09, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I was watching it and noticed that and realized that this film SUCKED because there were no nametags. I started throwing stuff around and broke a lot of furniture.Capt Jim 07:40, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

The Marines did not put name tapes on their cammies until 1992 or 1993. Marines in the Desert in 1991 would not have had name tapes. Get angry at it for other reasons - there are a few. --Bdunbar 23:54, 27 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Bdunbar is correct. --Gadget850 ( Ed) 17:42, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Slate?!
The word slate is linked to the mineral. Somebody correct that?

Novel??
I have changed the word novel to book, as novel implies fiction, where as Jarhead is a factual book

Characters List
Anyone else think we should have a character list like on the Platoon (film) article?Capt Jim 07:40, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

I've created a characters section, feel free to correct any mistakes. Capt Jim 21:28, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Paradox
From the PLOT: Fowler is seen to be spending time with his girlfriend at a bar...

Yet, under CHARACTERS:

...and after the war he is shown in a bar with what appears to be a prostitute of Asian descent.

- 75.4.200.230 09:39, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Jarhead.jpg
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Dear John video
When I first saw this movie, I called BS on the video part. I first heard that story in Germany in the late 1980's. I heard it in 1991 in Saudi Arabia. In both cases, it happened to someone in the "next unit over." Since those experiences don't count, here is what Snopes has to say about Video Bye-Bye, with the book Jarhead as a source. --Gadget850 ( Ed) 18:13, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

character personalities
You know, some of the guys in the movie are very introverted. Swofford's spotter Troy and the guy Fergus who accidentally set fire during Swofford's Christmas Eve watch are both very introverted. I thought it was very interesting that they did contribute to the Marines in their own ways. Troy actually kept Fowler in line. learnportuguese 20:55, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Plot section
The plot section keeps being expanded and having added endless irrelevant minutia, by anon ips. I understand that this being a Mendes movie, it probably has some sort of cult following, but nevertheless, I think it should be pruned. --W2bh (talk) 14:06, 1 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Comment: I also have doubts of the relevance of the extensive and precisely detailed characters section. --W2bh (talk) 14:14, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Shooting Accident
I would like to know if the shooting accident of an private, shown in the recruit training scene is based on a real fact. Or is it one of those USMC legends? Did they really use 'real bullets' for the training, like shown in this movie? Did it really happen in Anthony Swoffords unit? Maybe someone knows more about it. Thx for your response. 84.159.49.59 (talk) 10:24, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

It was his Dad!
the article says:

"The mood is disturbed when a disheveled Vietnam veteran, possibly suffering from the memories of the conflict, jumps into their bus, and congratulates them all"

It was actually his Dad - he calls Swoff 'son' when he calls the others 'Marine'. Also the flashback early of 'conversations with Dad' backs this up. I haven't changed the article as someone else might want to verify this. PseudoEdit  (yak)(track) 19:29, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

Branding
"a cruel joke played on him by the senior Marines. This involves branding onto him the initials of the United States Marine Corps, USMC, with a hot iron. This is a popular tattoo amongst Marines. He faints upon sight of the iron. After regaining consciousness, he is greeted coolly by Troy (Peter Sarsgaard), who says to him, "Welcome to the Suck.""
 * This misses out the critical point that, when he woke up, he realised that he hadn't been branded at all (with Troy explaining that the iron was cold, and if you want a brand, you have to earn it). Or did I misinterpret that scene? Wardog (talk) 14:16, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

suck
The tagline "Welcome to the suck" is probably a reference to Full Metal Jacket, taglined "Welcome to Vietnam where the wind doesn't blow, it sucks", among numerous other FMJ referencesД narchistPig (talk) 03:08, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

References to Full Metal Jacket movie
Im suprised there isnt a section about the clear references to the borrowed dialogue and scenes in Jarhead. Its been a while since I've seen Jarhead but I remember there were quite a few. Bortson (talk) 18:32, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

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Related draft page
You may be interested in the discussion of an article on a sequel at Draft:Jarhead: Law of Return. Thanks. --2604:2000:E010:1100:71FC:6C85:2112:8826 (talk) 07:55, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

Are the "sequels" actually sequels or just unrelated films where someone put the word "Jarhead" in the title?
If the latter, should they be here? - Immigrant laborer (talk) 01:23, 14 June 2023 (UTC)