Publisher's Synopsis
A double bill of memoir-based war films. 'Jarhead' is an adaptation of former Marine Anthony Swofford's Gulf War memoir. Young recruit Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) joins up with the US Marines (nicknamed 'Jarheads' because of their distinctive haircuts) on the eve of the 1990 Gulf War. After a brutal spell in boot camp, during which Swofford and his fellow recruits are systematically geared up for the conflict, the Marines are dispatched to the deserts of the Persian Gulf to take part in a war that saw them required to do very little in the way of fighting. Bored and frustrated in the middle of nowhere, the young soldiers resort to a macabre sense of humour as they wait for the war to happen to them. Whilst in 'Born on the Fourth of July' Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) is brought up in the God-fearing All-American tradition, and as such is perfect material to fight for the US cause in Vietnam. However, nothing could prepare the young Marine for the horrors of the frontline and he returns home wounded, paralyzed from chest down. Embittered, Kovic goes into a self-destructive downward spiral, until he finds new direction by joining the anti-war movement. Based on true events, as chronicled in Kovic's book.
