| Tango01 | 26 Jun 2014 9:39 p.m. PST |
"Like the battles they feature, blockbuster military films shock and awe by design. Their purpose is to entertain, not educate, and they've been taking liberties with the truth ever since a tubby 60-something John Wayne charged into battle in The Green Berets. But with the military since 9/11 comprising less than 0.5 percent of Americans, according to Pew Research, fewer people than ever have a personal connection to the armed forces. Add to this Hollywood's enduring efforts to dramatize war—recent standouts include The Hurt Locker, Lone Survivor, and HBO's miniseries Generation Kill—and it becomes easy to see how millions of people could be relying on Hollywood as a primary source of information about military life. Yet even in instances like the examples above, which are drawn from events, to the extent filmmakers try to get the facts right, results have been mixed. The latest filmmakers who might be feeling pressure are those involved with two competing productions (so Hollywood!) about Bowe Bergdahl. After director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal of Hurt Locker fame recently announced a project about the rescued Taliban POW, Fox Searchlight Pictures quickly added that it is also planning a film, based on a 2012 Rolling Stone article about Bergdahl…"
Full article here
link Amicalement
Armand |
| darthfozzywig | 26 Jun 2014 10:42 p.m. PST |
It's easier to list what they get right. Takes far less time. ;) |
| whoa Mohamed | 27 Jun 2014 5:38 a.m. PST |
60 yo and tubby or not the duke is the man ,and I would not want to be on his bad side…The fact remains that John wayne and the actors of his era had a love and respect for us soldiers that was greatly apreciated. where are the Bob Hopes,Martha Ray's and John Waynes of today? |
| Jcfrog | 27 Jun 2014 6:42 a.m. PST |
WW1-2
bad tactics; too many things and people crowded; shooting out of windows with barrels out? too clean.. Horse and musket
not enough smoke. WW1 75 explosions instead of iron balls.
not enough people / mass effects.
way too many melees (esp cavalry!) all; noise and that damn music.. |
| MaahisKuningas90 | 27 Jun 2014 6:55 a.m. PST |
Erm, I thought Generation Kill was quite accurate? |
| David Manley | 27 Jun 2014 8:47 a.m. PST |
I know this is TV, but in the UK Bluestone 42 has got a good rep for (not all that highly) dramatised realism amongst friends who have returned from Afghan |
| IainAF | 27 Jun 2014 9:39 a.m. PST |
I think what is worse is when a film is made about an actual event and it bears no resemblance to what actually happened I feel that it is an insult to the people that were actually there. This is a very personal thing for me; my grandad was among the people whom the book 'Return from the River Kwai' was written about and a completely harrowing, amazing and moving tale of survival was turned into a complete pile of  e. They even invited the survivors and their families to the premier – my dad went and said that there were some very angry people around afterwards. |
| Jcfrog | 27 Jun 2014 10:24 a.m. PST |
I am not sure but even gen kill might have some pb from what I have been told of M4 instead of M16 uniforms sometimes… not sure though. Then one has also to understand the needs for films that have to go first, because of frames etc.the pacing and lack of time. It is fiction, like in books, if it does not pretend otherwise. In the impact on the collective knowledge about military history (even among wargamers!) lies the major pb. |
| Martin Rapier | 27 Jun 2014 11:31 a.m. PST |
My dad said John Boormans "Hope and Glory" was spot on for how he remembered WW2. So perhaps they don't all get it wrong. |
 Bobgnar  | 27 Jun 2014 12:16 p.m. PST |
Well they get it wrong if they treat the deserter and enemy loving Bowe Bergdahl as some kind of hero, and the us president as correct in giving away 5 bloody jihadists in exchange. |
| Sparker | 27 Jun 2014 3:33 p.m. PST |
Well they get it wrong if they treat the deserter and enemy loving Bowe Bergdahl as some kind of hero Just so long as he is found as such by his peers who went through the same thing. I'm certainly not going to label him before they do… And as far as I'm concerned I'd happily give away the entire contents of Gitmo to save any one sorry arsed US, Brit or Aussie soldier… 'No such thing as bad soldiers, only bad officers' |
| jdginaz | 27 Jun 2014 10:06 p.m. PST |
Bergdahl wasn't "rescued" they traded for him. Sparker, it's the guys from his unit that are claiming he's a deserter. |
| Tango01 | 27 Jun 2014 11:11 p.m. PST |
Didn't James Gandolfini visit the US troops in Irak?
I also saw a moving documental with wounded soldiers from him. Amicalement
Armand |
| Dynaman8789 | 28 Jun 2014 4:35 a.m. PST |
Far too early to make a documovie about Bergdahl. Anything shown – positive or negative – will be speculation at best. As for accuracy, I'm a computer programmer and cringe when I see anything computer related in a movie "I know this, this is unix" springs instantly to mind. Getting things "wrong" is just the required shorthand for telling a tale in a visual medium (or any medium for that matter). The good movies manage to tell a greater truth while the bad ones… |
 Legion 4 | 28 Jun 2014 9:14 a.m. PST |
The title of this thread, "What Military Movies Get Wrong ?" … is like the academic joke. Describe the Universe in 25 words or less, be specific … LOL ! Anyway as noted save for a few, most get it very much wrong … But we have to remember, in most cases it is for entertainment value not for accuracy. However sometimes it appears it's getting a little better. Again that being said, most movie goers would not know an MBT from a bulldozers … |
