Generation Kill (HBO series)

[Ponch ®]

Has anyone been watching this mini-series? Probably the best thing on TV right now. Whatever you think of the war, it's fascinating (esp. for those of us who've never been in the military) to watch how the marines interact with each other. Been told by a couple of people with military experience that it's pretty damn realistic.

[Old Moparz]

I saw two episodes so far, but haven't been able to catch up on all of it yet. I thought it was pretty good & will just have to wait for when HBO reruns the season.

[Ponch ®]

I saw two episodes so far, but haven't been able to catch up on all of it yet. I thought it was pretty good & will just have to wait for when HBO reruns the season.

they have them on InDemand (or OnDemand...whatver the fiznuck its called)

[Brock Samson]

i've watched since the git go,.. i read the book two or three years ago now,.. and at first i thought how they gonna strech it out into a series,..
but i get it now, they go into a lot of detail,..
what i liked about it initally (the show) was the numbers of characters they follow at least a dozen, (28) according to wikipedia) and it takes a few episodes till they all get straightened out.
this material is all pulled from Evan Wright's book... only 7 episodes, seems quite realistic, the production values are quite convincing.

I'm also faithfully watching Mad men, Deadwood, The Wire, Dexter and Breaking Bad.

[mikepmcs]

Ponch,
There are some staunch military guys on this site, don't be too surprised if we have nothing to say.

My issue is when they portray the US military in a bad light(and they do it quite often with a ton of innuendos)  I'll use "Jarhead" as an example, ok movie but I had to get a new TV after I saw it the first time(I don't like to see the USMC looking like a bunch of idiots when they are not)  Hollywood does a great job with the ying and the yang, but they yang too much and make us look like freaks, if that makes sense.  I'm going off the deep end here but... don't believe everything you see on the screen.  It's brutal out there and those few minutes when we cut loose or cuss another country or yip yip when we blow someone up...don't put too much feed into that cause if that's the case, I probably just lost 10 people or got ambushed hours before that from the enemy, which CNN will never tell you about.
Ok, I stepped over the line a little but I've been there.  I've never seen the show but I'll bet if you watch it close enough, you'll see the lopsidedness of it that hollywood throws in there.

I'm off my rant.

I'll have to watch this show to see what it is about, but I've pretty much sworn off any of these shows due to the one sidedness.

v/r
Mike

[Brock Samson]

 The TV show seems to recreate the book nearly word for word... perhaps I'll read the book again to compare... 
the reporter may have taken some licence but he was in the lead hummer of the First Recon. Batt. for two mos.. 
  They treated him like crap at first in the book, (that part isn't shown in the tv show) then warmed to him when he proved his courage...
  this show is based on reality. Wrights obsevations of it anyway...
should you care to research it there is plenty of backround info,..  book reviews and reports of the repercussions of Generation Kill's publication are Avail. on the web.

for example:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20906

BTW: the commander of the first Platoon in which wright was embedded, wrote his own book...

One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer
by Nathaniel Fick
Mariner, 372 pp., $14.95 (paper)




                                               

[pettyfan43]

When you consider the values and some comments made by mpost of the hollyweird types, it pretty much leaves me without much of an appetite for watching their view of a war or the people involved. 

They tend not to think with common sense.

[chargerman68]

being involved in the invasion of iraq...my unit NSW were just in front of the battalion in this movie


some is correct and most is not

Being a ground mobility guy   alot of the military action in this movie is way off  but kewl for tv

me and wife watch it the wife hates watching it with me cause im like NO THATS NOT RIGHT OR THAT DIDNT HAPPEN LIKE THAT

but oh well....its good to see a different view of the same events....THERE WAS ALOT OF FUCK UPS FROM HIGHER MINDS THAT COST LIVES,MONEY AND OVERALL MAKING THE GROUND MOBILITY FORCES LOOK VERY VERY STUPID....

I can't go into details or events  but its ok for tv not the real life stuff

[Ponch ®]

....THERE WAS ALOT OF FUCK UPS FROM HIGHER MINDS THAT COST LIVES,MONEY AND OVERALL MAKING THE GROUND MOBILITY FORCES LOOK VERY VERY STUPID....

that's the impression i've been getting from the show - that the higher ups were the ones messing things up and making it even more difficult for the guys in the frontlines. From MY perspective, I think the show portrays the marines more or less in a positive way - they do what they need to do.

[pettyfan43]

You remember the story from "Blackhawk Down"?

I heard an interview with one of the guys who was on that chopper and was one of the technical consultants on the movie. He was also an extra in the scene where the Hummer basically leaves the group in town and several of them have to run out behind it.

They cleaned up a LOT of the stupid things that happened in that situation to keep the sitting administration from that time from looking bad.
The men who died in that were simply sacrificed as a diversion.

It was terrible what happened to those guys and the gauntlet that was run by them just to get out alive was brutal.

[mikepmcs]

I worked with a guy that was there.  He transferred to the Navy from the Marines.  Allen Dickerson(a marine grunt, rescue, sniper, what have you) is his name and he told me all about it one drunk night in Puerto Rico(in tears no less).  I wouldn't have wanted to be in his shoes!!

The world will never know what really went down.  I will say this, he was a messed up individual.

What Pettyfan said was really close to the mark though, and that's all I'll say.


v/r
Mike

[CharlieCharger]

This show is excellent.  Two thumbs up