Jarhead (2005)

“Jarhead” (2005) is a war drama film directed by Sam Mendes, based on the memoir of the same name by Anthony Swofford. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Swofford, with supporting performances by Jamie Foxx, Peter Sarsgaard, and Chris Cooper.

The film is set during the Gulf War in 1991 and follows Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal), a Marine sniper who is deployed to Saudi Arabia. The story chronicles his experiences and those of his fellow Marines as they navigate the harsh realities of military life, the emotional strain of war, and the surreal aspects of the conflict.

“Jarhead” focuses on the experiences of Swofford and his unit during the lead-up to and execution of Operation Desert Storm. The film captures the monotony of military life in the desert, the psychological effects of being in a combat zone, and the often anticlimactic nature of modern warfare. It delves into themes of camaraderie, disillusionment, and the search for meaning amidst the chaos of war.

The Osiris Child (2016)

“The Osiris Child” is a 2016 Australian science fiction film directed by Shane Abbess. The movie is set in a future where interstellar colonization has led to the terraforming of distant planets. The story follows Lt. Kane Sommerville (played by Daniel MacPherson), a convicted ex-soldier who is granted a temporary release from prison to help rescue his young daughter, Indi (played by Teagan Croft), after a catastrophic event on a remote mining colony.

As Kane races against time to find Indi, he teams up with a fellow convict, Sy Lombrok (played by Kellan Lutz), who has his own reasons for escaping confinement. Together, they navigate through a dangerous and lawless world filled with desperate survivors, lethal creatures, and the looming threat of impending destruction.

JOHN CARTER 2 (2024)

With Taylor Kitsch & Lynn Collins

John Carter is a 2012 American science fiction action-adventure film directed by Andrew Stanton, written by Stanton, Mark Andrews, and Michael Chabon, and based on A Princess of Mars, the first book in the Barsoom series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Produced by Jim Morris, Colin Wilson and Lindsey Collins, it stars Taylor Kitsch in the title role, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy and Willem Dafoe. It chronicles the first interplanetary adventure of John Carter and his attempts to mediate civil unrest amongst the warring kingdoms of Barsoom.

Several attempts to adapt the Barsoom series had been made since the 1930s by various major studios and producers. Most of these efforts ultimately stalled in development hell. In the late-2000s, Walt Disney Pictures began a concerted effort to adapt Burroughs’ works to film, after an abandoned venture in the 1980s. The project was driven by Stanton, who had pressed Disney to renew the screen rights from the Burroughs estate. Stanton became the new film’s director in 2009. It was his live-action debut, after his directorial work for Disney on the Pixar animated films Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Filming began in November 2009, with principal photography underway in January 2010, wrapping seven months later in July. Michael Giacchino, who scored many Pixar films, composed the music. Like Pixar’s Brave that same year, the film is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs.