Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) stars in the meditative military drama Jarhead (2005), which is based on a Gulf War memoir written by Anthony Swofford. The movie was directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition), and other actors in the cast include Peter Sarsgaard, Lucas Black, Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper.

Following in the footsteps of his father and his uncle, Tony "Swoff" Swofford (Gyllenhaal) enlists in the Marines.


After boot camp, Swoff receives advanced training at Camp Pendleton. When Iraqi troops invade Kuwait in 1990, Swoff's unit is sent to Saudi Arabia, where for months he endures boredom and yet more training. In 1991 he finally goes into combat in Kuwait, but as things turn out, he never really gets to use the military skills he has developed against hostile enemy soldiers. But during the course of his Marine Corps service, Swoff has a series of unusual experiences that lead him to increased self-knowledge.

Jarhead is available in three DVD editions: two are single-disc, while the third is a two-disc set.

Both single-disc editions contain two feature-length audio commentaries, one by director Sam Mendes, the other by screenwriter William Broyles, Jr. (Apollo 13, Cast Away) and memoirist Anthony Swofford. Also, there are three bonus materials: 11 deleted scenes with run time of about 19 minutes, four of Swoff's fantasy sequences with run time of around six minutes, and extended versions of the news interview scenes with run time totaling nearly 17 minutes.

All three of these bonus materials come with optional commentary by director Sam Mendes and film editor Walter Murch.

In addition to the two single-disc editions, there's a two-disc Collector's Edition. Disc One of the Collector's Edition is identical to the widescreen single-disc edition, while Disc Two contains three bonus material with a total running time of over an hour and a half. These bonus materials include the 31-minute "Jarhead Diaries," behind-the-scenes footage shot by a producer, a cameraman and some of the actors; the 31-minute "Background," a behind-the-scenes documentary about using ex-Marines in making the movie as extras and advisers; and the 36-minute "Semper Fi: Life After the Corps," a documentary in which former Marines talk about the challenges they faced in returning to civilian life.

Below I've listed the details for all three DVD editions of Jarhead.

DVD Details:

Release Date: March 7, 2006

Single-Disc Editions

Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) or Full Frame (1.33:1)
Color
Feature Film Run Time: 2 Hours 3 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R for Pervasive Language, Some Violent Images and Strong Sexual Content
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Spanish Subtitles
French Subtitles
Audio Commentary by Director
Audio Commentary by Screenwriter and Memoirist
Swoff's Fantasies (4 sequences totaling 6 min.)
News Interviews in Full (17 min.)
Deleted Scenes (11 scenes totaling 19 min.)

Two-Disc Collector's Edition

Disc One:

Same as Widescreen Single-Disc Edition

Disc Two:

Jarhead Diaries (31 min.)
Background (31 min.)
Semper Fi: Life After the Corps (36 min.)