MilitaryToFinance Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 Anybody watching this new series on HBO? It's being referred to as Band of Brothers meets the Iraq war. Not sure it will be as good but I watched the first episode last week. The Sergeant Major reminded me of a lot of the bitching from the Deid thread, yelling at people to tuck in their shirts while turning wrenches on a Humvee in the middle of the desert. Does that mentality really make its way into even the Marine Corp? Anyways, seems like it will be interesting and HBO usually comes up with some pretty good mini-series.
Guest Grey Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 I like it. Next episode is tonight. Anybody read the book?
Varmint Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 I like it. Next episode is tonight. Anybody read the book? The book is awesome. Read it in one night--couldn't put it down.
JarheadBoom Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 Anybody watching this new series on HBO? It's being referred to as Band of Brothers meets the Iraq war. Not sure it will be as good but I watched the first episode last week. The Sergeant Major reminded me of a lot of the bitching from the Deid thread, yelling at people to tuck in their shirts while turning wrenches on a Humvee in the middle of the desert. Does that mentality really make its way into even the Marine Corp? Anyways, seems like it will be interesting and HBO usually comes up with some pretty good mini-series. Yes, that sort of shit does happen in the Marine Corps. Mostly on the ground side - it wasn't quite that bad in the airwing. But the big difference in the Corps is that it's pretty consistent - the leadership isn't bitching at you to tuck your shirt in just because you're in the sandbox, they'll do it at home station and everywhere else, too. Yes, I've read the book repeatedly - GREAT read. I highly recommend One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick, for anyone who liked/likes Generation Kill. Capt. Fick is the Recon platoon commander of the team that Evan Wright rode with during the OIF kickoff. Can't watch, since I don't have HBO.
geoffny25 Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 https://show-links.tv/tv_shows/?watch=11817...p;sid=99941#con it's online at this site, have to wait for the buffer, i think this is part two, there's a link for part one on the bottom. Good show.
Guest Grey Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 Yes, that sort of shit does happen in the Marine Corps. Mostly on the ground side - it wasn't quite that bad in the airwing. But the big difference in the Corps is that it's pretty consistent - the leadership isn't bitching at you to tuck your shirt in just because you're in the sandbox, they'll do it at home station and everywhere else, too. Yes, I've read the book repeatedly - GREAT read. I highly recommend One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick, for anyone who liked/likes Generation Kill. Capt. Fick is the Recon platoon commander of the team that Evan Wright rode with during the OIF kickoff. Can't watch, since I don't have HBO. Yeah, I read One Bullet Away and I didn't notice the first time I watched the first episode. I watched it again today and noticed him in it. I knew someone in the platoon went on to write for Rolling Stone, but I didn't connect the dots.
B*D*A Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 I didn't know what to think when I saw the previews, I was really worried it was going to be another Jarhead, what a piece of shit movie and Marine that guy was. I just finished the first episode and am impressed so far. Good on HBO for telling it like it is without political BS. I really liked how they gave the Rolling Stone guy shit until they found out he also wrote for Penthouse, classic!
JarheadBoom Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 I knew someone in the platoon went on to write for Rolling Stone, but I didn't connect the dots. Not quite... Evan Stone was a Rolling Stone writer when he went to OIF - he's never been in the military. He was one of those "embedded" reporters that DoD decided was a good idea... I didn't know what to think when I saw the previews, I was really worried it was going to be another Jarhead, what a piece of shit movie and Marine that guy was. I read Jarhead long before the movie was made, and there was just no way to salvage it. Swofford was a bag of shit, and so is the book.
MilitaryToFinance Posted July 22, 2008 Author Posted July 22, 2008 I didn't know what to think when I saw the previews, I was really worried it was going to be another Jarhead, what a piece of shit movie and Marine that guy was. I just finished the first episode and am impressed so far. Good on HBO for telling it like it is without political BS. I really liked how they gave the Rolling Stone guy shit until they found out he also wrote for Penthouse, classic! Looking at the website its written by the same guys who did The Wire so no wonder its good. Also explained where the hell I recognized the one main Marine from. He was in season 2 of The Wire.
NHbound Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 (edited) Looking at the website its written by the same guys who did The Wire so no wonder its good. Also explained where the hell I recognized the one main Marine from. He was in season 2 of The Wire. Yeah it took me a while but i finally made the connection... there is also another dude from The Wire. The Major who works under the Godfather was one of the cops on Carver's team in the season where they created Hampsterdam. I thought the first two episodes were pretty awesome. The Sergeant Major is hilarious. *Edited* Apparently the second dude I mentioned who plays the Major is actually a no-sh!t Major in the Marine Reserves as well as an actor. Marine Reserve Maj. Benjamin Busch, an actor in civilian life who plays Detective Anthony Colicchio on the HBO series The Wire, agrees: "We're going to be continually hunted here until we leave." From: https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/20...try-cover_x.htm Edited July 22, 2008 by NHbound
Hacker Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 There have been numerous criticisms of both the book and the series. The main claim is that Evan significantly sensationlized the events, especially the ones he did not witness but wrote as if he did.
JarheadBoom Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 There have been numerous criticisms of both the book and the series. The main claim is that Evan significantly sensationlized the events, especially the ones he did not witness but wrote as if he did. OK... He's not a reporter, he's a writer.... for freakin' ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE! It's not like he's Dan Rather or some other paragon of journalistic virtue and integrity... Don't watch it like a documentary, don't read it like an after-action report. It'll be OK. ******EDIT********* After reading what I wrote up there, it almost sounds like I have a crush on the guy. I don't; I've never knowingly read anything else he's written. Just don't take a quasi-music magazine writer's account of the OIF kickoff as gospel...
Sim Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 Representation of combat sucks; No where near Band of Brothers, But the show is good...
Guest Grey Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 Representation of combat sucks; No where near Band of Brothers, But the show is good... Well, it's not WWII they're trying to portray, so there could be a difference with that. I also think it has to do with the perspective they're trying to show, which is from the Humvee. There isn't a whole lot of room in them and I think that's the choice they made when filming. Who knows... maybe they're just lazy. JarheadBoom, I was under the impression that Fick wrote a few articles for Rolling Stone after he got back (Evan Wright introduced him). I'm probably making that up completely because I couldn't find anything about him doing so.
Sim Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 Well, it's not WWII they're trying to portray, so there could be a difference with that. I also think it has to do with the perspective they're trying to show, which is from the Humvee. There isn't a whole lot of room in them and I think that's the choice they made when filming. Who knows... maybe they're just lazy. I'm talking about display of realism, in which I think Band of Brothers did a magnificent job, and hence I'm comparing it to the newly (or not so newly) raised standard.
JeepGuyC17 Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 Watched the first episode, and it wasn't bad but felt kind of corny. Not the best acting I've seen either. HBO has set the standard pretty high in the past for TV drama, this looks more like something you'd see on one of the networks in terms of production values. Then again, I only saw the first episode, so who knows.
JarheadBoom Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 JarheadBoom, I was under the impression that Fick wrote a few articles for Rolling Stone after he got back (Evan Wright introduced him). I'm probably making that up completely because I couldn't find anything about him doing so. You could be right... but I don't know either.
StoleIt Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 I don't see this series ever measuring up to Band of Brothers. I agree acting isn't anywhere near as good. Guess I'll keep watching and hope it turns around at some point.
john Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 (edited) I don't see this series ever measuring up to Band of Brothers. I agree acting isn't anywhere near as good. Guess I'll keep watching and hope it turns around at some point. well i tend to think this has as much to do with characters/storyline then just how it is produced. the marines from generation kill are so completely different than the soldiers from band of brothers. personally i dont even think you can compare them, its apples and oranges. the fact that theyre called generation kill is not just about them being marines who want to see action. but rather that they are a "disposable generation" who know no one has invested in and that they have been raised on games like grand theft auto. and i especially think it will be harder for the older and more conservative generations to appreciate this as much as band of brothers. so far i have really enjoyed the series and think it definitely has the potential to be as good as b o b. but i will also point out that b o b had a much larger budget thanks to tom hanks. Edited July 24, 2008 by john
Stuck Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 Well, the Battalion commander mentions Boyd in episode two, so maybe this world is finally coming to its senses... Cheers! -Stuck
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