A psychological study of a soldier's state of mind during the Gulf War. Told through the eyes of a U.S. Marine sniper who struggles to cope with boredom, a sense of isolation, and other issues back home.
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>
When Swoff is getting his first firing training to be a Scout Sniper, his first shot is fired and he scores a hit on the upper right side of the target in the head. When he re-chambers to prepare for his next shot and we see through his cross-hairs, his last shot appears to have been a bullseye in left center of the head. 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.
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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 »
Soldier's Things
Written by Tom Waits
Performed by Tom Waits
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises See more »
T the same time if you served in the marine Corps like me.
The actors do a good job of portraying the situation and the locals give it a realistic feeling.