Jarhead

Saw the movie last night. It was so-so! Who was the guy in the coffin at the end?


That was cold what the one dude's wife did to him with the "Deer Hunter" movie! Damn, that was cold!

[Skybird]

Read the book. As a movie that turned a book into a film, the movie was very lame and simply bad, imo. the book is not high literature, verbally, and very adult language, but this brutal "honesty" tells you more about the man and the situaton he was in than the movie does. The book really hit me, and touched me nevertheless. The movie is very much toned down, compared to the book.

the book is recommended. But I wouldn't give it to my kid - as long as he/she does not plan to become a soldier him/herself. The language is, as I said, very rude.

[Ducimus]

From what i remember of the movie, i think its a story alot of vet's have, or at least one similar. As for the wife /video thing. Its an old urban legend, but i think it did acutally happen. Military's a small world, and rumors get around fairly quickly. Something like that would become legendary accross branch's. Wife's/spouses leaving, cheating, divorcing, etc are NOT uncommon. I know guys who served one year oversea's to come to a divoce and custody battle. I, myself, came back from overseas only to see a woman i was deeply in love with at the time, marry another man. It hurt's like hell, but you suck it down and move on.

[blue3golf]

One of the worst movies ever made in my opinion. I almost mistook it for a marine recruiting video.

[kiwi_2005]

Have not yet seen it, cause i was told theirs no fighting in it, its just a story about them at bootcamp or whatever.

"Black Hawke Down" is still the best movie today

[Yahoshua]

Saw the movie long time ago, it wasn't good at all. Buddies tell me that Basic was worse than what they show, but it was close enough for the moments that were bearable.

And the guy in the coffin was the man who was found to have a felony conviction (the main characters' spotter in the sniper team).

[JSLTIGER]

I didn't think it was particularly great either...there were a few good quips in there though...

Drill Instructor: What the ******* are you even doing here?
Anthony Swofford: Sir, I got lost on the way to college, sir!

[Yahoshua]

I remember that one.....I also remember a few good quips I picked up from my buddies but it's best I not post them here.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by blue3golf

One of the worst movies ever made in my opinion. I almost mistook it for a marine recruiting video.

I think alot of newer movies are like that now.Not that jarhead is anything new, but I swear ive noticed an increase in "patrotic" offerings from the entertainment industry.


And i dont remember much of the jokes, etc, the main character played, but i do recall some parts of that movie being a bit of a stretch.

[August]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

I think alot of newer movies are like that now.Not that jarhead is anything new, but I swear ive noticed an increase in "patrotic" offerings from the entertainment industry.


And i dont remember much of the jokes, etc, the main character played, but i do recall some parts of that movie being a bit of a stretch.

There's nothing patriotic about that movie in my opinion.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

I think alot of newer movies are like that now.Not that jarhead is anything new, but I swear ive noticed an increase in "patrotic" offerings from the entertainment industry.


And i dont remember much of the jokes, etc, the main character played, but i do recall some parts of that movie being a bit of a stretch.

The movie -patriotic...?

Again, guys, read the book. It is autobiographic, tragic and a cry from one desperate man's soul. (I've red the book before seing the movie later on) The tragic lies in that he made the wrong decision to join the marines, learning to kill as a sniper - and then witnessing that technology already has outclassed him, leaving him not firing a single shot in war, but leaving it to the fighter-bombers, that do all the business in advance. the tragic lies in that he finds himself being in despair for not killing men - can't get more perverse. The despair lies in the hollowness and emptiness of men's soul being trapped in an isolated drilled-to-kill society that more and more separates them from usual oridnary life, their families, love, women, and general sense of living, which is one reason for the dominance of sexual-related thought and rude language. The rude language of the book (and it is extremely rude, really) is expression of the helplessness and despair of a relatively simple mind that never had learned to express the sh!t he experienced (even when not lying in atrench and shooting) in more educated poetry.

Neither the film nor the book are meant to entertain, or to be patriotic, and do not follow the massive output of exciting, motivating, theatralic war movies of Hollywood. I found Blackhawk to be an extremely bad and propagandistic movie and the worst Ridley Scott did beside GI Jane. So much pathos, so much theatralism, only leaving solid craftmansship in filmmaking to be praised about that movie - which despite the grim story tends to produce fascination for the military action. Usually I am a great fan of Scott, but this one was - bah....

Spielberg'S Band of brothers was more honest in that regard. He too directed the fighting scenes in a most realistic manner, but there was no exaggerated pathos, no hooray-patriotism and america-hero-syndrom (like in Private Ryan) - just a group of ordinary men trying to survive the mess they found themselves in, and doing it with some grace. and this modesty made it so believable, and closer to life. I was positively surprised by the series. It was about a group of usual people - not about shining knights of light and order. really liked it, and was able to feel myself into them.

[HunterICX]

the movie has some funny jokes like with the gasmask ''Join the Darkside Luke''

but there was no reall action in it! that was so lame, its a bad copy of Full Metal Jacket. because of the Drill camp ---> Battlefront , only Full metal jacket had more action in it .

[SkvyWvr]

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

Have not yet seen it, cause i was told theirs no fighting in it, its just a story about them at bootcamp or whatever.

"Black Hawke Down" is still the best movie today

Nope, "We were Soliders" is.

[kiwi_2005]

Originally Posted by SkvyWvr

Nope, "We were Soliders" is.

yep good movie. Also "Enemy at the Gates" about a russian and german sniper slugging it out. I just watched an oldie the other day but a good one - Full Metal Jacket.

Like I said, I found the movie to be so-so. I see it the way Skybird does. The point of the movie was the complete opposite of patriotic just about. Sure it was and is patriotic to join your nations most elite branch and serve, but when that "elite" branch becomes obsolete the "eliteness" of it all seems to be nothing more than a faded memory of the fathers who served before in real combat action.

It appeared the point of the movie was to show that the Marines are no longer the first ones in, last ones out like they used to be in previous wars. The training they go through is still hardcore Marine Corps training, but in the end, all that training becomes useless. The Marine Corps training is all about killing and not being afraid to kill. When a Marine is put into a field of battle but does not get to kill anything, he feels worthless. Instead, a Marine has to watch fighter pilots and bombers get all the kills and credit. Some of these pilots are women and I'm sure that adds to the worthless feeling a male Marine would have if he wasn't ever able to get a kill.

I remember posting in a forum on here before about the "worthlessness" of the Marine Corps. This movie showed off exactly what I meant. The movie was based on a book written by a former Gulf war Marine who never got to see combat even when he was in the front lines. This obviously angered him just in the same manner that Lt. Dan from the Forrest Gump movie was angry with Gump for saving him from his "destiny" to die just like his father had and his father before him and his father before him etc.

The same holds true for today's Marine Corps. True, there has been some fighting and combat seen by Marines in this new attack on Iraq. Still though, there hasn't been that much fighting seen by the Marines over there. Most of it has been done by the Airforce, Navy, and Army.

So my point is this. Why don't we abolish the Marine Corps and start training Army Infantrymen with Marine Corps tatics? Isn't the point of the Army infantryman suppose to be about killing as well? I can't even recall a war in where the US Army did not see as much combat action as the Marine Corps. Look at the both Gulf wars and you will see more Army action than Marine action. Look at Vietnam, look at the Korean war, look at WWII and WWI or even back to the founding of the US. The US Army has and always will see more combat and get more enemy kills than the Marines each and every single time. This might be because the Army is a larger branch, but even then, that brings me back to my point about the "usefulness" of the US Marine Corps.

I'm not including Grenada (wasn't a war) since the Marines were the only ones sent even though that turned out to be a complete flop for the US Marines.

Bottom Line....


Marine Corps = Waste of taxpayer dollars.