Short storyline
Anthony "Swoff" Swofford, a Camus-reading kid from Sacramento, enlists in the Marines in the late 1980s. He malingers during boot camp, but makes it through as a sniper, paired with the usually-reliable Troy. The Gulf War breaks out, and his unit goes to Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield. After 175 days of boredom, adrenaline, heat, worry about his girl-fiend finding someone else, losing it and nearly killing a mate, demotion, latrine cleaning, faulty gas masks, and desert football, Desert Storm begins. In less than five days, it's over, but not before Swoff sees burned bodies, flaming oil derricks, an oil-drenched horse, and maybe a chance at killing. Where does all the testosterone go?
More info:
Runtime: 125 min
Release Date: 4 November 2005 (USA)
Country: Germany, USA
Box office: Budget: $70,000,000 (estimated). Opening Weekend: $27,726,210 (USA) (6 November 2005) (2411 Screens). Gross: $62,647,540 (USA) (15 January 2006)
Soundtrack: Fight the Power