Jarhead (Blu-ray)

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Video:

The Blu-ray release is essentially identical to the HD-DVD release, but I noticed a stronger contrast on the oil fires in the film and felt the color reproduction was brighter and better saturated than what was on the HD-DVD title. The film is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen. "Jarhead" takes the same stylistic approach as films like "The Kingdom" and "Black Hawk Down" showcases a good looking picture, but suffers from the high-contrasted look that is becoming typical for war movies. Through most of the film, the colors are slightly washed out and dull. A few scenes stand out, such as the Christmas Party and a scene with blazing oil fires in the background. There isn´t much color in a typical Marine Corps outfit, so the stylized choice made by Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins fits the military hues and tedious period detailed in the film. Black levels are fine, as are shadow detail. The film is very clean and features absolutely no defects.

Sound:

"Jarhead" is given a fresh new DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio soundtrack that sounds a smidgeon louder, but essentially identical to the previous HD-DVD release. "Jarhead" is not an explosive, combat heavy film like "Black Hawk Down" and does not contain many sequences that will leave you ducking for cover or avoiding explosions. Aside from four moments in the film, there is very little need for more than the front channel in most of this film. Dialogue is well rendered and quite intelligible. The soundtrack is done nicely and shows good separation between its five channels. The subwoofer is utilized nicely when it is necessary. The musical numbers are rendered nicely and "Don´t Worry, Be Happy" sounds quite good. Again, "Jarhead" is not a high-energy soundtrack and is nothing like "Apocalypse Now," "Saving Private Ryan" or countless others. The film does not focus on the combat aspect and doesn´t require a heavy soundtrack.

Extras:

I´ll start out immediately with the bad news on "Jarhead" on Blu-ray. The HD-DVD release of "Jarhead" is a far superior release when it comes to bonus features. That disc contained nearly all of the material from the two disc collector´s edition release of the DVD. There were deleted scenes, three very lengthy documentaries and other brief items pertaining to the film and the experiences it details. There were video diaries and I found it quite disappointing that "Jarhead" on Blu-ray lacks the wealth of bonus materials that were included on both DVD and HD-DVD. I´m assuming this was a budgetary decision to squeeze the film onto a single BD-25 platter. Disappointing!

The only two bonus features to make their way to the Blu-ray release are two audio commentaries. The first feature commentary with director Sam Mendes. The second feature commentary with screenwriter William Brayles Jr. & Author Anthony Swafford is the money track. The first commentary track is a decent enough of a listen, but hearing the two Marines from different eras discuss the differences in the film as opposed to Swofford´s book and their own recollections of their wartime experiences makes for a very interesting two hour commentary. I recall this second commentary track as being one of my favorites up until the time I had reviewed this title on HD-DVD and I still feel it is one of the best commentary tracks I have heard in a long while.

Closing:

I was looking forward to retiring my HD-DVD copy of "Jarhead" with the Blu-ray release, but I was mortified to discover that most of the supplements were pruned from this release. This was another disappointing example of Universal seemingly taking the cheap path of re-releasing their films onto Blu-ray after very nice HD-DVD releases. Are they expecting a spiffier version of "Jarhead" with some future double-dipping, or has the ´next gen´ format proved lesser than previous releases of the film? I find it inexcusable that a film with the nice set of bonus features that "Jarhead" contained is a hollow shell of a previous release and am not pleased with the treatment this film received.

I served in the U.S. Army Infantry during the time of the first Gulf War. I never laid foot in the sandbox, but I trained for the war. This training and the effects of it are wonderfully done by Sam Mendes in "Jarhead." The film forgoes the usual war movie formula of lots of gunfire, blood and guts and takes a look at the emotional side of preparing for war. Mendes never served in the military and he had very little knowledge of the film. Still, he nailed it. He could have included one or two gas chamber shots for humor value, but I never said the film was perfect. It is just very good.

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