GO!!! pretty much said everything I thought about the movie.
Exaggerations or things that just plain did not happen and you cant pay me enough to beleive it:
1.Anyone on earth, especially a trained infantry soldier, would just stand and feel dirt hit his face for a minute or two, during a barrage of mortar fire and seem rather indifferent about it with a perfectly good trench a foot away. Okay Lance Corporal Superman.
2. Death in training? I dunno how things work in the United States... but I know we arent that much different from each other to the point that someone would be killed in training by live rounds, and the OPI of the range is seemingly not held accountable whatsoever... or at least it seemed that way. The movie carried on as if "oh well, he was dumb and got himself killed. Next scene"
Something many other people dismiss ever could have happened:
1. LCpl Superman holds loaded weapon to another fellow marines head and threatens him with death and goes into a crazy babble of rifle characteristics.
Now, I can see from the pov that "nobody would ever do that to their own, especially in the marines". Thats a nice fairy tale to live in.Unfortunately not everybody is the ideal soldier, and I know if alot of people were living in the middle of the desert all day everyday for a long time, waiting for what could be my impending doom without any information on what lies ahead, coupled with trouble at home and your significant other playing around on you, I would like to think at least some of them are still semi human enough to get very very upset at times.
Ive watched some bad fights erupt on courses in barracks lots of times, under normal but stressfull training circumstances, when being away from home for 3 months... these guys were in the desert, not petersville gagetown, for months and months under much more stressful conditions and with imminent war, and people find it difficult to beleive the odd guy will go a little nuts now and then? Especially after getting screwed on a watch, and being punished in a most disgusting fashion.
I still don't get why some posters/reviewers etc thought that was out in space, but okay.
Overall I thought the movie did an excellent job at portraying the life of an average infantry grunt. They did some hilarious silly things but it wasnt a daily occurance.Im sure the marines didnt act like over bored children having "field fun" every day of the week. It would make for an incredibly boring movie if it covered every single day consecutively.
I guess I mostly enjoyed the movie because the characters were so beleivable, (for the most part) and the daily life and routine was well portrayed.It painted a clear picture that I think only military types , specifically the infantry, can fully relate to and have the greatest impact on.I know that since my time in the army as a grunt, my perception of these types of movies and books etc has changed incredibly, and they feel alot more personal to me, as they should to anyone in this line of work.
Not the greatest movie ever made by any means, but it is an excellent film nontheless. The movie is about the lives of soldiers, and what happens when you send them to war, and take the war away. It does what it sets out to do, and does it well. I would also like to point out that I thought the sound score in this movie was one of the most well done ive witnessed in a long time. Each song and theme conveys the mood intended perfectly.I thought the spirit and tone of the book really shone through too, and to anyone who hasnt read it and enjoyed the movie, I recommend it, it is a good read.
Just don't beleive all the superman stories
