Sam Mendes has traveled a lot as a director. Best known are his two James Bond adventures, Skyfall and Specter, as well as his big breakthrough, American Beauty. He has also made dramas, comedies and gangster films. Two war films can also be found in his filmography.
On the one hand, there is 1917, which was supposedly shot in one shot and takes you into the trenches of the First World War. On the other side is Jarhead – Welcome to the dirt from 2005, which deals with the events of the Iraq War and tells the true story of soldier Anthony Swofford.
Netflix still has Jarhead until December 15, 2024 in the program.
Quickly on Netflix: The true story tells of the waiting and the horror of war
Swofford, a sniper, published his memoirs in 2003. These served the script as a basis. Swofford is portrayed in the film by Jake Gyllenhaal, who came fresh from the success of The Day After Tomorrow. Peter Sarsgaard, Lucas Black and Jamie Foxx also star in the film.
Jarhead spends a lot of time looking at the Watching soldiers waiting. After the tough training, they are stuck in the shade in the desert at 40 degrees while the war is fought with missiles and fighter jets. Mendes brings many critical undertones to this waiting and, together with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, creates some memorable images to illustrate the horror of war.
The combination of a true story, an unusual approach away from the action and breathtaking images makes it one of the best and most worth seeing war films of the 2000s. Jarhead doesn’t have to hide next to big 00s war films like Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down from 2001 and Kathryn Bigelow’s Deadly Commando – The Hurt Locker from 2008.
Although Jarhead was not a theatrical success ($97 million grossing on a budget of $72 million excluding marketing costs), the film did three sequels entailed:
These are direct-to-DVD releases that borrow the title of the original, but in terms of content hardly any points of contact with the film directed by Mendes.
Where else can I watch Jarhead?
If you don’t have time to catch up on the amazing war film before December 15th, you can also stream it from other providers for an additional charge. For example, Jarhead is also available to rent from Amazon, the Sky Store and Magenta TV. Joyn+ even included it in the flat rate.