A psychological study of operations desert shield and desert storm during the gulf war; through the eyes of a U.S marine sniper who struggles to cope with the possibility his girlfriend may be cheating on him back home.
A couple who is expecting their first child travel around the U.S. in order to find a perfect place to start their family. Along the way, they have misadventures and find fresh connections with an assortment of relatives and old friends who just might help them discover "home" on their own terms for the first time.
Director:
Sam Mendes
Stars:
John Krasinski,
Maya Rudolph,
Allison Janney
Shot documentary-style, this film follows the daily grind of two young police officers in LA who are partners and friends, and what happens when they meet criminal forces greater than themselves.
Director:
David Ayer
Stars:
Jake Gyllenhaal,
Michael Peña,
Anna Kendrick
A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children.
Director:
Sam Mendes
Stars:
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Kate Winslet,
Christopher Fitzgerald
When asked by his boss' wife to take care of her son, Andrea takes the chance to curry favor with the boss although it's his birthday, but his friends will put on a wild party for him which will devastate the rich woman's house.
Director:
Giovanni Bognetti
Stars:
Diego Abatantuono,
Antonio Catania,
Francesca Cavallin
In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, four soldiers set out to steal gold that was stolen from Kuwait, but they discover people who desperately need their help.
Agents of an oil tycoon vanish while exploring a swamp marked for drilling. The local sheriff investigates and faces a Seminole legend come to life: Man-Thing, a shambling swamp-monster whose touch burns those who feel fear.
Director:
Brett Leonard
Stars:
Jack Thompson,
Matthew Le Nevez,
Steve Bastoni
160 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis.
1% is set within the primal underworld of outlaw motorcycle club gangs. It follows the heir to the throne of a motorcycle club who has to betray his president to save his brother's life.
Anthony "Swoff" Swofford, a Camus-reading kid from Sacramento, enlists in the Marines in the late 1980s. He malingers during boot camp, but makes it through as a sniper, paired with the usually-reliable Troy. The Gulf War breaks out, and his unit goes to Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield. After 175 days of boredom, adrenaline, heat, worry about his girlfriend finding someone else, losing it and nearly killing a mate, demotion, latrine cleaning, faulty gas masks, and desert football, Desert Storm begins. In less than five days, it's over, but not before Swoff sees burned bodies, flaming oil derricks, an oil-drenched horse, and maybe a chance at killing. Where does all the testosterone go?Written by
<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Staff Sgt. Sykes originally had a tattoo of a panther on the back of his shaved head. Jamie Foxx sported it during his award sweeps for Ray (2004). The tattoo was eventually digitally removed in post-production because director Sam Mendes felt it made the character too "hard core." See more »
Goofs
Some of the Marines wear their dog tags outside their t-shirts. U.S. Marines are supposed to wear them inside their t-shirts. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Anthony 'Swoff' Swofford:
A story: A man fires a rifle for many years, and he goes to war. And afterward he turns the rifle in at the armory, and he believes he's finished with the rifle. But no matter what else he might do with his hands, love a woman, build a house, change his son's diaper; his hands remember the rifle.
See more »
Crazy Credits
At the end of the credits, Sykes can be heard calling out the following military cadence, with his platoon responding: 'All my life it was my dream/ To be a bad motherfucking U.S. Marine.' See more »
Alternate Versions
Military theatrical versions of the film remove some footage, including the scene where a soldier dies during training. See more »
I saw a promotional screening of the film, sponsored by my university. Following the screening was an audience Q&A with the author (and main character), Tony Swofford.
And it was no surprise that the very first question from the audience was, quite ambiguously, "Do you support the military?" When Swofford dismissed the question as too broad and complex to be answered with a simple yes or no, the inquirer followed up with, "Well, do you support the war?" Swofford dismissed this even more readily.
To me, this was perfectly representative of how the film handled its potential political implications.
As Troy says early on in the film, "To hell with politics. We're here now." And that's essentially how the movie went.
It bypasses the soapbox and simply tells you how it was, from the perspective of a single soldier. And while the opening boot camp scenes may seem like Full Metal Jacket Lite, the rest of the film is truly unique.
Sam Mendes directs with his usual brilliance, showing once again his affinity for bright, vivid color, even in the largely monochromatic desert.
Jake Gyllenhaal gives an excellent performance as Anthony Swofford, complemented by the able talents of Jamie Foxx and Peter Sarsgaard.
The film's only real flaw is that, like the war on which it was based, it's pretty slow, and not a lot really happens.
In the strictest sense, I would have a hard time even classifying this as a war film, and it's certainly not a deliberately political film.
But in its own way, it tells an intense, personal story. Beyond that, you're simply left to make your own judgments.
7/10
378 of 482 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
I saw a promotional screening of the film, sponsored by my university. Following the screening was an audience Q&A with the author (and main character), Tony Swofford.
And it was no surprise that the very first question from the audience was, quite ambiguously, "Do you support the military?" When Swofford dismissed the question as too broad and complex to be answered with a simple yes or no, the inquirer followed up with, "Well, do you support the war?" Swofford dismissed this even more readily.
To me, this was perfectly representative of how the film handled its potential political implications.
As Troy says early on in the film, "To hell with politics. We're here now." And that's essentially how the movie went.
It bypasses the soapbox and simply tells you how it was, from the perspective of a single soldier. And while the opening boot camp scenes may seem like Full Metal Jacket Lite, the rest of the film is truly unique.
Sam Mendes directs with his usual brilliance, showing once again his affinity for bright, vivid color, even in the largely monochromatic desert.
Jake Gyllenhaal gives an excellent performance as Anthony Swofford, complemented by the able talents of Jamie Foxx and Peter Sarsgaard.
The film's only real flaw is that, like the war on which it was based, it's pretty slow, and not a lot really happens.
In the strictest sense, I would have a hard time even classifying this as a war film, and it's certainly not a deliberately political film.
But in its own way, it tells an intense, personal story. Beyond that, you're simply left to make your own judgments.
7/10