Surprisingly Good

Rating: 7/10 (10 March 2006)

This is based upon a true story by Anthony Swofford of Marines getting ready to fight in the first Gulf War and Jake Gyllenhaal plays Swofford in the movie. You can be sure that many things in this movie did happen and you can be surprised/shocked or not.
I said this is surprisingly good because I am a little tired of war movies as they all seem to be the same. Not this one.
The acting is good all around. The cinematography is also very good and some scenes of the oil fires (remember them?) almost make you feel like the oil is raining down on you too. Those scenes are that good. But, this movie first deals with the time before the war actually starts for these Jarheads as they wait in the desert for the signal to go. Now, you can see how the time was spent and as mentioned already these things did happen and you can judge the results for yourself. Some questions you might ask yourself: is war good, bad, the same as other wars or different?
Now understand that this unit of soldiers are all Snipers and there is one thing I didn't understand. When one mission was to take out two enemy officers in the same place, only one team was sent, the Shooter and the Spotter. Why weren't two teams sent? I mean you shoot one enemy officer and the other one has an opportunity to get away. That was the only thing I found wrong here. But, I wasn't there so
There is an awful lot of language, and a lot of very crude sex talk in here so be prepared for that. But, I would venture to say that the events rang true.
And, you will also learn why Marines are called Jarheads. Hoo Ray!