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What We Saw in War Machine

daftandbarmy

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Best. Movie. (about a subject like this in a long time IMHO)

What We Saw in War Machine

The new Netflix movie War Machine is either terrible or terrific, depending on how you look at it. For Americans who know little about the war in Afghanistan and want to learn more, this is a terrible place to start. It is a ruthless satire of events during a particularly contentious segment of the nation’s longest war, and those who are unfamiliar with that period could far too easily mistake caricature for accuracy. But for those who know enough to tell the difference, the film is at different points funny, poignant, overblown — and gut-wrenchingly accurate when depicting the futility of war.
The movie is a fictionalized account of the war in Afghanistan featuring Brad Pitt as Gen. Glen McMahon, nicknamed “the Glenimal” — a thinly disguised version of Gen. Stanley McChrystal. McChrystal assumed command of the war in June 2009, and was fired one year later after Rolling Stone published an unflattering account of his inner circle and their blatant disrespect for civilian leaders in the White House. The picture is loosely based on that article and the subsequent book by the same author.

War Machine will both intrigue and outrage military audiences, especially those who have served in the Afghan Hindu Kush. Some viewers — including your authors — personally know some of the key characters from real life, making the movie even more interesting to watch. (And one of us served as the senior U.S. commander there, though several years before McChrystal).  Reviews of the film have been generally (though not uniformly) positive, because it paints a striking picture of the inherent dilemmas and ironies of waging our modern wars. Here’s our take.


https://warontherocks.com/2017/06/what-we-saw-in-war-machine/


 
daftandbarmy said:
Best. Movie. (about a subject like this in a long time IMHO)

Agreed.  I don't know if it's just me, but there were parts that made me think of Office Space.
 
Dimsum said:
Agreed.  I don't know if it's just me, but there were parts that made me think of Office Space.

Office Space meets COE = the New (ab)normal :)
 
9 Domestic had it running when I got home one night...and it sucked me in - I even had a good laugh at times.  I'm not much of a Brad Pitt fan, but I thought he did a good job actually - he does "stick up the arse" very well.

PS - don't try running like he did - it's very difficult  ;D

MM
 
I really enjoyed it.

I received a few chuckles for saying this while talking about the movie at work, but I couldn't help it. The dialogue explaining insurgency/counter insurgency not too far from the beginning was excellent! It was probably one of the clearest, yet simplistic explanations I've ever heard on the topic.
 
I remember seeing him do a visit with his entourage to my FOB shortly after he arrived in country.  Lots of pins and needles with the head honcho types over it.
 
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