Jarhead 2: Back to Hell - Blu-ray

Movie: Actually, Sergeant Chris Merrimette (Josh Kelly) wanted to end his deployment in Afghanistan as soon as possible in order to return to his heavily pregnant wife. But when the leader of his supply unit is killed during a mission, Chris gets an offer from his superior (Stephen Lang) to lead his team from now on. The next mission is not long in coming. The unit is to drive trucks with important goods to the supply base in Oulette. The route leads across Taliban-controlled territory. On the dangerous tour, the convoy is joined by Navy Seal Fox (Cole Hauser), who along with his fellow cop are the sole survivors of a special unit tasked with safely escorting an important package through the region. This package is an Afghan resistance fighter who is to be brought to Washington. Now it's up to Chris and his unit to ensure the brave woman's survival. But it's not long before they must also fight for their own lives...

Jarhead 2: Back to Hell is, by title only, a sequel to Sam Mendes' award-winning war drama Jarhead - Welcome to the Dirt. One could even go so far as to call this film the exact opposite of what Mendes was trying to convey with his work. His film showed how grueling war can be even when you're not fighting. He created a sometimes quite biting (anti-)war film that completely dispensed with the usual pathos and didn't exactly come across as uncritical either. That's where the work of Don Michael Paul, the director of films like Half Past Dead with Steven Segal or Sniper: Legacy strikes quite different notes.

Here is staged a war action infused with the usual US patriotism, which is more reminiscent of Lone Survivor with Mark Wahlberg and is more suitable for fans of leaded action cinema, who found Jarhead rather boring. And exactly for this reason, the choice of the title is completely unsuccessful, but here simply false expectations are stoked. Detached from the direct comparison with the Sam Mendes work, the home cinema premiere of Don Michael Paul is in fact completely fine. Admittedly, the actors are all rather pale, the dialogues extremely thin and the dramaturgical structure extremely clichéd. But the battle sequences are grippingly staged, the story told especially in the second half exciting and also the craftsmanship can convince.

As a war film that traces the hard struggle for survival of a small unit, Jarhead 2: Back to Hell is thus a thoroughly successful home theater premiere, which even conveys something like a real message at the end. So my tip: if you like films like Lone Survivor, you should definitely break away from the comparisons the title evokes and see the film for what it is: solid, slightly too pathos-soaked action with a decent arc of suspense. Nothing more, but nothing less either. For this, there is then an absolutely satisfied bottom line: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The technical implementation of the Blu-ray is beyond reproach. The picture is absolutely clean, glitches or smudges of any kind are looked for in vain. The colouring is very atmospheric and the excellent sharpness of the picture allows even smaller details to come into their own very well. The German audio is in a very lively DTS Digital Surround 5.1 mix, which can unfold its full dynamics especially during the numerous fight sequences. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, there are two cut scenes (approx. 1:53 min.) exclusively on the Blu-ray. That's about it, though. Weak!

Conclusion: Jarhead 2: Back to Hell has quite little in common with Sam Mendes' 2005 drama except for the name. Rather, this home movie premiere is the exact opposite of the namesake original, namely combat action infused with typical pathos that is more reminiscent of Lone Survivor than Jarhead. Detached from the direct comparison, the film offers pretty decent entertainment that shines on the Blu-ray in very good picture and sound quality. The less than 2 minute bonus material, on the other hand, is a bad joke. If you're not expecting an intense war drama here, but want to see patriotic action, you'll get your money's worth with Jarhead 2: Back to Hell. And for these viewers there is then also a proper: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp