Favorite Military Film

[chrisf]

Here's an odd question... it's been rolling around in my brain for a couple of years...

What's the deal with the recruits calling the sergeant "sir" in Full Metal jacket? Was this a error in research, or is this an American thing?

 

[mattoigta]

I‘m pretty sure they call him ‘Sir‘ because of his appointment.

 

[Lawrence]

To the best of my knowledge the Marine call thier DI‘s Sir. While the Army calls them Drill Sergeant. Any Amercians want to correct me on that?

 

[spacelord]

R Lee Ermey, the actor who played Gunney Sergeant Hartman was a marine DI before he was an actor, so I doubt it was a research error.

but as for mistakes, did anyone notice that when the recruits are going across the monkey bars, Hartman shouts "10 ****ing seconds, it should take you no less than 10 seconds to negotiate this obstacle". He should have said "no MORE than 10 seconds"

 

[Korus]

Heh, don‘t get spacelord started on Full Metal Jacket.. I‘ve seen what can happen..

 

[Smoothbore]

What are your favorite military-related movies?

My all-time favorite is Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket - probably the best one-liners in the history of cinema by Gunnery Sargeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermy).

 

[Rigginrat]

My favorite, probably because I can quote pretty much all of it is Platoon.....  Although Private Pile (full metal jacket) has a place close to my heart.

 

[Smoothbore]

Has anyone seen Mel Gibson's We Were Soldiers. I found it to be a great Vietnam film with emphasis on one particular battle between an Airborne Cavalry Regiment and North Vietnamese regulars. It came out 2 months after Blackhawk Down and was overshadowed by the latter. Great film though.

 

[winchable]

Full Metal Jacket is a cornerstone of course, not only because of it's depiction of training and the like but showed what war can do to a person mentally as well as physically.

My favourite, though I can't remember the precise title is "The Boys from Company C" something along those lines.

 

[D-n-A]

The boys from company C is an alright movie. The only good thing about it was that it had Ermey in it. It didn't seem very realistic in some parts, and it had historical errors. When they were riding in that convoy for their first mission in Vietnam, about 90% of them had 30 round magazines, not common, especially in 1968 when the movie takes place. Later in the war 30 round mags came out(not a whole lot), but the only soldiers who got them mainly were Rangers, Special Forces, etc. The standard/most common magazine for the M16A1 rifle during the war was the 20 round magazine.

Anyways, I don't have one movie as my favorite.

My fav military movies are.
Full Metal Jacket
Platoon
Hamburger Hill
Tigerland
Gardens of Stone
Casualties of War
We Were Soldiers
Black Hawk Down

 

[winchable]

Oh I never thought it was very accurate, just entertaining.

Das Boot
Mister Roberts (Actually I retract my original favorite, Mister Roberts is definetly the one)

 

[Infanteer]

Band of Brothers.  Quite amazing that they made such an excellent movie out of such a crappy book, usually its the opposite.

 

[D-n-A]

Yea, Band of Brothers was really good.

 

[Smoothbore]

Band Of Brothers was very accurate, Carentan was my personal favorite, as well as Spears chasing a Tiger in Belgium.

 

[ark]

Apocalypse now
A bridge too far
Dr. Strangelove or:How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Band of Brothers
Battle of Britain
Rambo (as a kid )
FMJ
BHD
SPR
Hunt for Red October
Crimson Tide
Top Gun, Iron Eagle (I know cheesy )



and probably a couple more....

 

[Slim]

There are some real good ones out there

-Black Hawk Down
-The Final Option
-Das Boot
-Tears of the Sun (Cheesy but I like it)
-The Devil's Brigade
-Odd Angry Shot (One for you Wes!)
-Peacekeepers (Another cheesy but good patriotic favourite)
-U571
-PT109
-The Cruel Sea
-Zulu Dawn
-The Blue Max

That's all I can think of right now.

Slim

 

[rcr]

The Thin Red Line
Apocolypse Now Redux
Where Eagles Dare
The Great Esacpe
Black Hawk Down
Patton
Battle of the Bulge
Ike: Countdown to D-day
(I'm not too pleased with more of the modern ones.)

As for Tv series..
Band of Brothers
Sharpe
Horatio Hornblower

 

[bossi]

It's nigh on impossible to pick just one ... but I'll nominate "Tunes of Glory" as a sentimental favourite.

Others are:
We Were Soldiers
Zulu, Breaker Mourant ("Rule 303!"), Gallipoli, The Wind and The Lion, Beau Geste, and all the Sharpe's Rifles mini-movies
A Bridge Too Far, The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, The Devils Brigade, The Dam Busters, Das Boot (in German!)
Band of Brothers (saw that in Kabul, including the night our camp was rocketed)
Go Tell The Spartans, Hamburger Hill, The Boys in Company C (saw that when I was in Charlie Coy!)
The Green Berets (hey - ya gotta love The Duke!)
Flight of The Intruder (and that other one with Danny Glover where Gene Hackman gets shot down), Top Gun, STRIPES!!!
The Fighting Seabees (ditto on The Duke!)
The Great Escape (recently read the motorcycle ride was entirely at Steve McQueen's behest)
Mr. Roberts (another sentimental favourite, but already "taken")
Tora Tora Tora (still say it's better than  the more recent "Pearl Harbour")
The Bridges of Toko Ri
and unfortunately I can't remember the name of this obscure one, but it was set in the Korean War - the historian ends up in charge of a position - they get overrun, and ... his knowledge of history saves the day (!)

 

[Spr.Earl]

One I always remebemer is the "Cockle Shell Heroes".
Heres the Royal Marine Roll Of Honour:


Marine James Conway
Marine Robert Ewart
Corporal A.F.Laver
Marine W. H. Mills
Lieutenant J.W. Mackinnon
Marine David Moffatt
Corporal C. G. Sheard
Sergeant Samuel Wallace

Monsieur Lucien Gody
Monsieur Maurice Rousseau
Monsieur René Rousseau (16 ans)

 

[Lexi]

Band of Brothers is my favourite.
My dad showed it to me, and when I watched the episodes I couldn't get out from my seat.
It was scary, but exciting at the same time. It amazed me how realistic it was...