View Full Version : military movie portrayal
Are there any movies (or parts) that come close to what you experienced in the military?
-Jeff L
Griff Murphey
12-22-2010, 04:18
Don't know if this is what you are looking for but I had a kind of flashback to all those "briefing" segments in the Navy movies when we were getting briefed on the Vietnam evacuation in the briefing room on the USS DULUTH LPD-8, April '75. It suddenly gets really real when YOUR name is up on that chalkboard (in my case I was leading a detachment consisting of ten corpsmen and my dental tech) with where you will go and what you will do. Definitely a moment of sphinctation.
Only young Lieutenants think that way? 4th Regiment Commander and future USMC Commandant Col. Al Gray was later briefing us on board USS DURHAM LKA-114 and said we might well sail up the Saigon River to bring the Americans out of Saigon by ship. He said it might very well be be like that movie, THE SAND PEBBLES, and we would be sandbagging the heavy weapons such as 81mm mortars. etc., on deck, to augment the ships' firepower. He said "You'll be changing your dope on 'em and looking for targets as we go..." And me having left my choke-collar dress whites and sword on Okinawa! I was grateful (praise the Lord) this did not come to pass.
Michaelp
12-22-2010, 10:43
No.
They'e only movies.
A significant aspect is you can get up and walk out, if you want and they only last a couple hours.
Only a few random snippets here or there. Oddly, Tom Hanks gave me that feeling in the movie with John candy where they are in the peace corps. When he steps off the plane in Thailand, looks up at the sky and says "My goodness, we must be MILES from the sun!" Hop off a plane in Saudi just one time and you will know the feeling.
Ron James
12-22-2010, 04:38
For peacetime service try Soldier in the Rain, with Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen, I've met both those types a thousand times.
Movies are condensed versions modified for content of whatever subject they deal with. Some are better than others but the only true "realism" is being there.
Some do a better job than others and I do sometimes see a scene or two in movies dealing with things I've done that I look at and say to myself "they did a nice job on that part."
SwampRatt
12-22-2010, 08:22
First half of Full Metal Jacket. Hit my boot camp experience dead on. Helps R. Lee was a jarhead.
There's a scene in "Hamburger Hill" toward the beginning where soldiers are watching arty impact (they're up high looking down at a river- I can't recall if they called for it or if it was from Charles). The look and sound are right and remind me of incoming- but that "feel" isn't there.
Garden Valley
12-23-2010, 12:03
The first time I saw PLATOON (yes, I know all of its shortcomings) and they called for illumination when the NVA were about to attack, there was a screeching sound that I immediately recognized but had forgotten completely since Vietnam. The screeching sound was the illum canister swinging back and forth on the parachute as it floated down. The sound was very common with illum fired by artillery as the canisters were larger and heavier than mortar fired illum. Hearing that sound again brought back a genuine memory, but most of the time military movies never do that for me. Thinking back, it is odd that Oliver Stone would have included such a minute detail in that scene, and yet it is my one enduring memory of that movie.
OK ......, the burning ****ters brought back a real memory, too!
Oh wait, another non military movie that triggered memories. In Pulp fiction when Sam Jackson is screaming at the guy in the apartment and he is screaming "WHAT? WHAT AINT NO COUNTRY I EVER HEARD OF!! SAY WHAT ONE MORE GO$#@%MN TIME!!!!" Was a perfect copy of my TI in basic, SSgt Wandschneider.
Maury Krupp
12-25-2010, 10:27
There are parts of "No Time For Sergeants" that bring back a few blue-suit memories :icon_wink:
Maury
Michaelp
12-26-2010, 06:47
The 1st 3 seconds of the ambush in Forest Gump all but had me under my seat.
That was a real shocker initially.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3661/3350917029_7b5633ec1b_m.jpg
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http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1281/547961702_bac11029fd.jpg
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http://farm1.static.flickr.com/160/348069665_afbc9277ed.jpg
Are there any movies (or parts) that come close to what you experienced in the military?
-Jeff L
Boot camp as I remember it was just like the one in Full Metal Jacket. I laugh at it today but back then I was totally conviced that they could kill me and get away with it
Doug Ford
01-03-2011, 06:14
Like this? I do not know how to remove the sh-- part!
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s165/FLYINGMEDIC/Military****burnerpin.jpg
Doug Ford
01-03-2011, 06:17
Like this? Could not remove the S word on the pin!
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s165/FLYINGMEDIC/Military****burnerpin.jpg
Doug Ford
01-03-2011, 06:19
This bring back memories?
[IMG]http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s165/FLYINGMEDIC
John Sukey
01-05-2011, 09:31
Is it true that you can't be a Marine DI unless you can chew out a recruit for five minutes without repeating yourself?:icon_lol:
Greg Ficklin
01-15-2011, 09:29
"Full Metal Jacket" wasn't a spot on depiction of USMC recruit training, but it did a good job of portraying the atmosphere and unique experience of Paris Island. The barracks were accurate, as was the funny sense of humor DI's have. In movies there is often one DI, but in reality there are three. the SeniorDI, Second "hat", and Third "hat". The Senior DI is the father figure. The Senior DI gains respect and loyalty from positive reinforcement, such has handing out mail, and seeming to be more human by comparison to the other DI's. The Second "hat" is the teacher. His focus is on history, and customs and courtesies of the USMC, and drill. The Third "hat" is the meanie. He gains respect through negative reinforcement, fear , and intimidation. His primary job is drill, and adding stress to your life. While the Second and Senior DI may behave like a 3rd hat at times, the third hat never behaves like the Senior or Second DI. In the movies they are usually all rolled up into one character like Gunny Hartman played by Ermy.
The most glaring and annoying problem with movies or TV that depict military life are uniforms, and personal appearance. One show that went the extra mile to get these right was "JAG", and it's spin off "NCIS".
Garden Valley
01-15-2011, 05:18
Odd you should comment on "the barracks were accurate." I suppose that only proves that barracks wherever are all pretty much the same. FULL METAL JACKET was filmed in England and all the first half of the movie, which contained the boot camp scenes, was filmed at Bassingbourn. Bassingbourn was an RAF base prior to WWII and was turned over to the 91st Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force for use during WWII. In more recent years it was taken over by the British Army and used for recruit training.
JohnMOhio
01-23-2011, 10:19
I would say the movie Gathering of Eagles had some realistic parts to it. If you folks have not seen it, the movie is about a SAC base and the Operational Readiness Inspections that SAC would do. An aircraft would drop in unannounced and declare and ORI. What was done is war time simulation, launching of aircraft and everthing else that can be inspected through out the base down to paperwork. Everything is rated, fail and heads rolled. The year before I arrived at my permanent base and ORI was conductied, the base fail and heads rolled from Base Commander on down. Following two inspections, our base passed with flying colors.
I was stationed at Walker AFB in Roswell New Mexico. Although we were a training base for Radar Navigators and Bombadiers I believe at the time were had the most heavy aircraft of any SAC base. There was forty five B52's and thirty KC 135 Air Refueling Tankers on base. It was an interesting experience to say the least when we went on Alert during the Cuban Crisis. The standby alert aircraft were launched and the rest of the aircraft were then loaded for "bear."
One item in the movie that I did not see on base was a Gung Ho Sgt as protrayed in the movie. Everyone did their job, if not they were mustered out or transferred elsewhere.
Thanks to all here who served.
John
The scene in Platoon when the NVA was sneaking up in the rain and Charlie Sheen was feeling around for the Claymore trigger. Reminds me of Lang Vei. Hey! Viking River Cruises is having a Mekong cruise. Anybody for a rematch?
The 1st 3 seconds of the ambush in Forest Gump all but had me under my seat.
That was a real shocker initially.
I saw that in the theatre and despite not being a Vietnam vet I about got under my chair too. I honestly felt a need to shoot back. I was really impressed with the scene bacause A.)The tracers were all headed right for me, regardless of where they were really going. B.) Because there was no BS about having a bad feeling beforehand, it just came out of nowhere. And, C.) The way it happened while he was talking kind of had you pulled into the scene before the shooting started. I think that's why it seemed so real.
Roadkingtrax
08-22-2011, 07:38
I kicked myself for never seeing that movie in the theaters.
But I did watch Braveheart,...also about the same time.
m1ashooter
08-22-2011, 07:49
Strategic Air Command staring General Stewart, Gathering of Eagles, No Time For Sgts and Sgt Bilko pretty much sums up my USAF experiences.
The only scene in any film that brought back memories of my service was the scene in "The Beast" when they were clearing the misfired round from the main gun, which was over dramatized. The crew unassing the tank in the film was nonsense. As long as the round is in the breech with the breech block locked, should the round "cook off" it will fire normally. In the plot the miss-fired round caused the crew to loose track of the muhjadeen, and one of them was severely injured by the hand grenade the tank crew booby-trapped the round with.
I was the safety officer on a tank range when a crew experienced a misfire. In my experience we had the crew dismount and I went through the misfire procedure with the gunner at his station. After we completed that procedure I dismounted the electrical firing probe, cleaned it, reassembled it and the round was fired normally, however the time spent with parts of me directly in the recoil path of the breech was unpleasant. I was relieved we didn't have to execute the final procedure of ejecting the unfired round and removing it to a safe location and calling for EOD.
On another occasion none of the misfire procedures worked and we did have to eject the round. I only handled it long enough to hand it up to someone outside the turret, but those few seconds that round was out of the breech in my hands are memorable.
I showed a video to my father (USN 1939-1945, 1950-52) of the film The Sand Pebbles" which stirred some memories for him. One scene he commented on was the properly assembled the sea bag-hammock that Steve McQueen was carrying in the early scenes of the film.
My father was on the U.S.S. Chicago when torpedoed at the Battle of Savo Island and later when the ship was sunk by torpedoes at the Battle of Rennel Island. My mother related that they went to a film that showed scenes of torpedoes running towards the hull of a ship that my father reacted to with some anxiety.
Film scenes that had nothing to do with my experiences I have to say that affected me the most was in "Das Boot" viewed in the theater. The scenes in the film when they were being attacked with depth charges had me cringing and wanting to crawl under the seat.
I was also uncomfortable with the sound of small arms bullets snapping by in a few scenes in Saving Private Ryan when heard in the theater.
Comment: for those of you that wait for films to be released on television or DVD you are missing the full effect of films as shown in the theater.
A fellow that I got to know well was a highly decorated medic in Viet Nam. He commented that the scene in “Apocalypse Now†when the female VC threw the hat into the helicopter stirred his memory because he witnessed that exact scenario. He said all he could do was turn away before the explosion and when he opened his eyes there was a hand stuck to the thatched hut in front of him.
No. I just enjoy the entertainment.
I would say the movie Gathering of Eagles had some realistic parts to it.
the maintenance hangars were spot on...
the alert facility was spot on...
the officers quarters were spot on...
the OOM was spot on...
the flight line was spot on...
the Wing COs office was spot on...
the distance to San Francisco was WAY OFF...
how do i know? i was stationed at Beale AFB (Carmody AFB in the movie) for 5 years. i did photography and graphics so i had not quite free reign of the base...
Black Hawk Down: when Grimes is telling Sizemore (not tom sizemore the actor) that during panama and other 'missions' he made coffee and didnt see any combat/action. during the gulf war, i watched Denise Austin doing aerobics and that one oriental chick lifting weights on waikiki, on tv...
DarylBruce
11-13-2011, 06:36
GoldFinger,,,,I was going though Armor school when it was being shot on location. Yep it was 1964.
"Silent Night" had a scene near the end of the movie where the GIs get back to their unit and encounter a total jerk officer who reminded me of a CO I served under.
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. After the assault on the machine gun where "Doc" was killed there was a scene where you heard the MG42(or was it an MG34) "clicking" as it cooled. Sure brought back memories of my early days as a "hog" gunner.
BEAR
Sean P Gilday
11-17-2011, 07:15
"Silent Night" had a scene near the end of the movie where the GIs get back to their unit and encounter a total jerk officer who reminded me of a CO I served under.
"A Midnight Clear"
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWhiteSheppard#p/a/u/0/IqYoHDtXhXg
Thanks for the correction. I only saw that movie once several years ago.
Roadkingtrax
04-05-2012, 11:15
Catch-22,...not the selling off of equipment, but the scene of the commander shouting his praises for the bomber crews...only to end on the middle finger. :)
Griff Murphey
04-07-2012, 03:49
Loved all of those mass flights of grungy looking B-25s. Beautiful!
I was the safety officer on a tank range when a crew experienced a misfire. In my experience we had the crew dismount and I went through the misfire procedure with the gunner at his station. After we completed that procedure I dismounted the electrical firing probe, cleaned it, reassembled it and the round was fired normally, however the time spent with parts of me directly in the recoil path of the breech was unpleasant. I was relieved we didn't have to execute the final procedure of ejecting the unfired round and removing it to a safe location and calling for EOD.
On another occasion none of the misfire procedures worked and we did have to eject the round. I only handled it long enough to hand it up to someone outside the turret, but those few seconds that round was out of the breech in my hands are memorable.
If we had a misfire on the main gun, after waiting the appropriate time, the loader would just drop the breechblock and give the round a 180% turn and then spit onto the primer/electrical contact and close the breechblock in place again. if it didn't fire then, the guner would wait again for a bit and then pull the round out and hand it up to the tank commander, who would climb out and kneel down outside the loaders hatch on top to accept the round base first. the TC would then hand the round to the Platoon leader (me), who would be there to carry it, craddled in his arms, nose down range, across the back of the line of tanks to where a pit had been dug in the ground, where the Platoon Leader would lay it down and then start breathing again. If the platoon leaders tank had the missfire, he'd just carry his own round to the missfire pit.
John Sukey
04-10-2012, 09:53
Speaking of the "Sand Pebbles" years ago, I had my Lewis gun on display at a gun show, and I met a man who was on the gunboat Panay and fired one at the japs who where strafing the boat.;)
Roadkingtrax
04-10-2012, 04:26
The best part of the movie, real flying and no computer graphics ala George Lucas style. :)
Loved all of those mass flights of grungy looking B-25s. Beautiful!
comm pogue
05-15-2012, 05:19
never have seen a Vietnam movie where any of the little people, chewed beetal nut (spelling?) does make for some pretty teeth :icon_scratch: only guys that never took garbage to the dump, complain about burning Sh**ers........Semper Fi
When I was 16, I read Joseph Heller's Catch 22. My father had just finished it (he was a B25 Navigator/Bombardier in a unit stationed in N. Africa and flew a number of missions to Italy. By the time I got to page 5, I had a splitting headache becasue everything was insane. Four or five years later, I started again & made it to page 8. Then, I watched the movie & realized Yosarrian was the only sane person in the movie. My father loved it because he said "it's just like it was".
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