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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 25, 2010 18:29:53 GMT 12
Did anyone else here watch the first episode of the mini-series 'Generation Kill' on TV1 the other night? Did anyone like it?
I was amazed considering it is allegedly a true story, to the point that two of the real people are actually acting in it, that what a load of toss it was. If the US Marines really are that ignorant and obnoxious and thick, it's no wonder hey have gotten nowhere in winning their current wars. I hope our modern day army is nothing like those dropkicks.
I wonder how the series was received by US audiences.
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Post by Kenny on Jun 25, 2010 19:11:11 GMT 12
Eh.. its the marines.. i dont expect much as per usual. And yes, apparently most of it is true Be carefull though, about some of the stuff being represented in these films. Like the recent movie Hurtlocker, a large number of serving/ex soldiers refused to watch it due to its innacuracies and bad potrayals.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 25, 2010 20:00:24 GMT 12
I just found the attitudes of these Marines quite appaulling and I can understand why the Iraqi people wanted to go to extremes to get such people out of their country. they're a world apart from the Marines of the WWII generation.
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Post by obiwan27 on Jun 25, 2010 20:28:14 GMT 12
Hi Dave, the first episode was pretty uninspiring but is based on the book by Evan Wright called 'Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the new face of American War' published in 2004. I remember reading the book,it is pretty eye opening reading alright. As for accuracy, your guess is as good as mine but the TV series (based on just the single episode) seems to be based on what the book described.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 28, 2010 21:56:00 GMT 12
Tonight's episode was much better than the first one. They are still mostly meathead munters with virtually no likeable personalities among the core characters but I guess it is probably accurate.
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Post by flyjoe180 on Jun 28, 2010 23:34:26 GMT 12
I enjoyed it, the usual American BS that goes with it is quite normal for them.
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Post by mumbles on Jun 29, 2010 9:32:33 GMT 12
Did anyone else here watch the first episode of the mini-series 'Generation Kill' on TV1 the other night? Did anyone like it? I was amazed considering it is allegedly a true story, to the point that two of the real people are actually acting in it, that what a load of toss it was. If the US Marines really are that ignorant and obnoxious and thick, it's no wonder hey have gotten nowhere in winning their current wars. I hope our modern day army is nothing like those dropkicks. I wonder how the series was received by US audiences. I saw half of the first episode and all of last nights, and while I wasn't there, based on what I have read and seen about the wars of our time I didn't see anything wildly outrageous (apart from the CH-46's on opposing courses passing within metres of each other at night). Given that a lot of the grunts generally are very young, aren't that well educated, or travelled, the portrayal of attitudes and demeanour I suspect isn't that far off the truth. I haven't read the source material, but it is worth adding that it was adapted for the screen by David Simon and Ed Burns, the guys that brought us 'The Wire', which is reknowned for its authenticity, lack of BS and general awesomeness (it is generally regarded as an easy contender for best TV series of all time). Burns served as an infantryman in Vietnam, which combined with having seen almost every episode of 'The Wire' gives me a lot of faith in 'Generation Kill' being a reasonably accurate depiction (or as accurate as you are likely to get) and being generally a good watch. 'The Hurt Locker' on the other hand, while doing some things extremely well, is a great big pile of pants in terms of having so many 'yeah right' moments to go with the pretentious 'look at me I'm just like a documentary' camerawork. Problem with 'The Hurt Locker' is the way it was filmed and presented makes people think it is accurate, when it really wildly isn't.
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Post by ErrolC on Jun 29, 2010 10:27:47 GMT 12
Did anyone else here watch the first episode of the mini-series 'Generation Kill' on TV1 the other night? Did anyone like it? I was amazed considering it is allegedly a true story, to the point that two of the real people are actually acting in it, that what a load of toss it was. If the US Marines really are that ignorant and obnoxious and thick, it's no wonder hey have gotten nowhere in winning their current wars. I hope our modern day army is nothing like those dropkicks. I wonder how the series was received by US audiences. I saw half of the first episode and all of last nights, and while I wasn't there, based on what I have read and seen about the wars of our time I didn't see anything wildly outrageous (apart from the CH-46's on opposing courses passing within metres of each other at night). Given that a lot of the grunts generally are very young, aren't that well educated, or travelled, the portrayal of attitudes and demeanour I suspect isn't that far off the truth. ... 'The Hurt Locker' on the other hand, while doing some things extremely well, is a great big pile of pants in terms of having so many 'yeah right' moments to go with the pretentious 'look at me I'm just like a documentary' camerawork. Problem with 'The Hurt Locker' is the way it was filmed and presented makes people think it is accurate, when it really wildly isn't. I watched Generation Kill some time ago (via BitTorrent), and Hurt Locker last month. I agree with mumble's impressions. One nice touch in GK was the radio traffic that played over at least some of the credits - this often related to a point made in the body of the episode.
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Post by timmo on Jul 9, 2010 9:24:20 GMT 12
they're a world apart from the Marines of the WWII generation. ...or perhaps a world away from the portrayal of Marines of the WWII generation due to different film and TV standards? Its probable, due to similarities between modern marines and those of yesteryear (i.e. age, socio economic status, education etc) that the Marines of WWII were just as arrogant, rude and obnoxious as those of today. However, since most people form their opinion of these kind of things from movies and TV, and the control around the production of those things has changed (i.e. differing levels of propaganda via the move from Government created films vs Private), we have a very different view of the same reality? Food for thought. I haven't seen any of Generation Kill yet as, like the Pacific, it falls on a night that I play Volleyball
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 9, 2010 10:28:17 GMT 12
I wasn't actually basing my statement about the WWII Marines on TV dramas, I have a bit more knowledge than that about them.
I have to say that I thought episode three was pretty good. The characters are starting to realise their stupid gung ho attitudes have cosequences, most of them anyway.
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Post by obiwan27 on Jul 9, 2010 20:50:07 GMT 12
Dave, I think you are right about the consequences dawning on the younger soldiers. It also is interesting to compare the relative leadership between the NCOs and their lieutenant compared with their Captain and above. I think in the British Army in the Afghanistan theatre it has been described on as "lions lead by donkeys" in some quarters.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2010 18:47:50 GMT 12
I watched episode one and was enthralled, missed ep2 and almost missed ep3.....the next morning I hit TVNZ OnDemand to catch up. I can't wait for the next.
I missed EVERY episode of The Pacific, so bring on the DVD release.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 11, 2010 11:36:31 GMT 12
The Pacific is released on DVD in November. You missed a great series Zac. I note it has achieved a record number of Emmy nominations, 22 in total.
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Post by turboNZ on Aug 3, 2010 9:53:36 GMT 12
Well I enjoyed that series of "Generation Kill". Pity no military series to take it's place next Monday.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 3, 2010 10:11:35 GMT 12
I have to admit I thought the series got better and better as it went along, and it certainly held no bars in showing the stupidity and mistakes of the US war machine in Iraq. It was a pretty good series all in all and there was some very good acting too. The cahp who played the good sensible platoon commander deserves an award, and the actor who played the doctor was very convincing too. I still wonder how the series was received in the USA when it aired. No doubt it must have caused quite a stir.
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Post by flyjoe180 on Aug 4, 2010 15:11:52 GMT 12
Thoroughly enjoyed the series, so much more than The Pacific. A new war, new issues, an honest look into events.
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Post by phil on Aug 13, 2010 20:11:49 GMT 12
I'm fairly sure it was played in the US a couple of years ago - it's been on the net at least that long.
It sticks quite closely to the Book, so presumably is a reasonable reflection of reality, and as already noted, Rudy Reyes portrays himself, and Eric Kocher is one of the advisers to the series and also has an acting part in it (although not himself).
As for the Hurt Locker... what a load of arse.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 13, 2010 20:20:04 GMT 12
Generation Kill is for sale as a box set in The Warehouse for $34.95 right now.
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Post by 11SQNLDR on Aug 15, 2010 21:01:32 GMT 12
Gen Kill was must see TV for me on a Monday night, thoroughly enjoyable series
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Post by Craig Sargent on Aug 15, 2010 22:21:03 GMT 12
Generation Kill is for sale as a box set in The Warehouse for $34.95 right now. Didn't know that - had been planning to get it. Will have to pay te Warewhare a visit tomorrow and pick it up. I really enjoyed the series and think the portrayal was pretty realistic from the reading I've done around events in the big sandbox.
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