6 Film Box Set: Black Hawk Down/ Born On The 4Th Of July/ Casualties Of War/ Gardens Of Stone/ Jarhead/ Kingdom DVD – Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner

A collection of war films. ‘Black Hawk Down’ (2001) is based on the US military blunders which took place in Somalia in 1993. Following a series of attacks by warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid on a Red Cross distribution centre, a group of US Rangers are sent on a mission to capture two of Aidid’s close associates in the capital city Mogadishu. However, after successfully apprehending their targets, the Americans come under heavy attack from the residents of the city. In the ensuing chaos, a US Black Hawk helicopter is shot down, and the surviving crew find themselves trapped in a confused and relentless shooting battle with the enemy. In ‘Born On the Fourth of July’ (1989) Tom Cruise plays Ron Kovic, a man brought up in the God-fearing All-American tradition, the 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 paralysed from chest down. Embittered, Kovic goes into a self-destructive downward spiral, until he finds new direction by joining the anti-war movement. Vietnam drama ‘Casualties of War’ (1989), which is based on a real incident, tells the story of one soldier’s quest for truth and justice amidst the violence and moral incertitude of war. On patrol with the hard-nosed Sergeant Meserve (Sean Penn), US infantryman Private Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) refuses to join in when Meserve and the other soldiers kidnap, rape and murder a Vietnamese girl (Thuy Thu Le). Eriksson’s stance then puts him in a dangerous position when the patrol returns to base, as the other soldiers get increasingly worried that he might report them. Francis Ford Coppola directs ‘Gardens of Stone’ (1987), a drama about soldiers stationed at home during the Vietnam war. Sgt. Hazard (James Caan) is frustrated by his role in a ‘toy soldier’ regiment whose orders are to guard the Arlington National Cemetery. However, his outlook changes when he begins a love affair with an anti-war journalist (Anjelica Huston). In ‘Jarhead’ (1989) 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 sees them required to do very little in the way of fighting. Finally, in ‘The Kingdom’ (2007), a terrorist bomb detonates inside a Western housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, triggering an international incident. While diplomats slowly debate equations of territorialism, FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) quickly assembles an elite team and negotiates a secret five-day trip into Saudi Arabia to locate the madman behind the bombing. Upon landing in the desert kingdom, however, Fleury and his team discover Saudi authorities suspicious and unwelcoming of American interlopers into what they consider a local matter.

Titles Comprise:Black Hawk Down: Ridley Scott directs this fast moving action adventure about the disastrous mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993 where nearly 100 U.S. Army Rangers, commanded by Capt. Mike Steele, were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord which leads to a large and chaotic firefight between the Rangers and hundreds of Somali gunmen which destroys two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters in Mogadishu.Born On The 4th Of July: Tom Cruise delivers a riveting and unforgettable portrayal of Vietnam veteran, Ron Kovic, in Oliver Stone’s Academy Award winning masterpiece.Based on a true story, the acclaimed film follows the young Kovic from a zealous teen who eagerly volunteers for the Vietnam War, to an embittered veteran paralysed from the mid-chest down.Deeply in love with his country, Kovic returned to an environment vastly different from the one he left, and struggled before emerging as a brave new voice for the disenchanted.Casualties Of War: Hailed by critics as a masterpiece, Casualties of War is based on the true story of a squad of soldiers caught in the moral quagmire of wartime Vietnam.Witness to a vile crime, Private Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) is forced to stand alone against his fellow soldiers and commanding officer Sergeant Meserve (Sean Penn). A powerful and charismatic man pushed over the edge of barbarism by the terror and brutality of combat. With sweeping scope, action and raw power, master filmmaker Brian De Palma creates a devastating and unforgettable tale of one man’s quest for sanity and justice amidst the chaos of war.Gardens Of Stone: It was a dangerous time to be young. An impossible time to be a hero…A poignant look at stateside military life during the Vietnam War, featuring outstanding performances by James Caan, James Earl Jones and Anjelica Huston and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.Jarhead: Every man fights his own war.Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx and Jake Gyllenhaal star in this critically acclaimed, brilliantly unconventional war story from Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes.Jarhead (the self-imposed moniker of the Marines) follows Swoff (Gyllenhaal) from a sobering stint in boot camp to active duty, where he sports a sniper rifle through Middle East deserts that provide no cover from the heat or Iraqi soldiers. Swoff and his fellow Marines sustain themselves with sardonic humanity and wicked comedy on blazing desert fields in a country they don’t understand against an enemy they can’t see for a cause they don’t fully grasp.Kingdom: After a deadly terrorist attack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, takes the lives of many innocent American civilians, the FBI decides to take action by sending a team to capture those responsible. Hot shot Special Agent Ronald Fluery (Jamie Foxx) gets the task of a lifetime when he is picked to lead the elite group into conflict.