MovieChat Forums > The Godfather (1972) Discussion > What do you think this is the Army, whe...

What do you think this is the Army, where you shoot'em a mile away?

posted 4 years ago by Martoto (5036)
21 replies | jump to latest

I love how Michael barely reacts to this line from Sonny. And how ignorant it shows his brother to be.

I wonder if Coppola had his druthers when making this movie he might have included a flashback to Michael's service with the Marines at Guadalcanal and Peleliu. The fighting Michael experienced there was some of the worst in the entire war. It was just about everything BUT shooting the enemy from a mile away. It was up close and personal. Often hand to hand. Way, way worse than just about any of the mob hits that are depicted in these movies.

The irony is that much of the combat Michael saw was pretty much the way Sonny described it. With the enemy's brains splattered all over his dungarees.

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[–] kwestmo (4385) 3 years ago

I never thought about this before, but you are correct about Sonny's ignorance and what Michael experienced.

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[–] jekporkins (1972) 3 years ago

I love this part - it shows Sonny is a reactionary, naive hothead while Michael is cold and calculating. Sonny isn't taking him seriously and runs the business with his emotions while Michael is as serious and scheming as his father. Just a great juxtaposition between brothers.

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[–] degray9 (1126) 3 years ago

The only time there would have been hand to hand combat for him would be at the Battle of Guadalcanal, but even that was no guarantee, especially if he was in the rear. The majority of US army and marines in the Pacific never even saw a Japanese soldier.

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[–] Martoto (5036) 3 years ago

The majority of soldiers and marine in any theater of the war never saw an enemy soldier.

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[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 3 years ago

I haven’t done my research on WWII but in Nam from what I understand the biggest challenge the soldiers faced was boredom. They would go months without seeing a single enemy combatant but would have a couple of moments of shear terror

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[–] Aylmer (441) a month ago

I saw somewhere that something like 80% of American combat casualties in WW2 were from indirect weapons, like artillery and mortars. Only something like 10% of deaths were from actually getting shot by an enemy you actually see. I would bet that in more modern wars like Ukraine that the number is even lower.

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[–] AnthonySocksss (490) a month ago

Actual warfare is not like the movies, something like 85% of US infantry never even discharged their weapon in combat in that war. The most Michael may have done was fire his rifle at some vague shapes on a hill somewhere, without ever knowing if he even hit something.

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[–] DancingintheDark (1614) a month ago

In the novel Michael was awarded a battle field commission for his bravery as well as a silver star and navy cross.
These types of accolades are NOT awarded to soldiers who have never fired their weapon and if they did, were firing at vague shapes on a hill somewhere.

Read up on what the silver star and navy cross signify.

The only reason something like this was included in the novel was to express to the reader that the Michael who returned from war was not only a changed man and accustomed to violence but someone who had been to hell and back.

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[–] AnthonySocksss (490) a month ago

We’re not talking about the novel, we’re talking about the movie. Michael in the movie was an injured war hero, he could’ve been injured for any number of reasons that don’t involve him killing someone

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[–] DancingintheDark (1614) a month ago

It’s the same as in the film, with the film emphasizing Michael as a decorated war veteran who was awarded a navy cross (made crystal clear during the court scene). Why do you think he volunteers to brutally murder two men, because he sprained his ankle doing military PT, no, he came back from war a hard as nails mother fucker who was accustomed to violence and it’s heavily implied. There’s no need to read between the lines on this.
And you don’t become a war hero injuring yourself outside of combat.

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[–] AnthonySocksss (490) a month ago

You don’t need to have discharged your weapon to earn the Navy Cross or even have killed someone up close. For all you know, Michael could’ve been awarded it for pulling a guy out of a minefield or rescuing sailors from a boat. Seems they award anybody and everybody this medal so it’s really not that special in regards to specifically having to be what you are alluding to as a “cold blooded killer.” There is no context on how he got the medal so your point is moot.

Michael may have been exposed to combat and death, but that doesn’t mean he’d killed anyone face to face before. So Sonny was right.

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[–] Martoto (5036) a month ago

You're saying that the Marines didn't experience hand to hand fighting with the Japanese in the pacific?

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[–] AnthonySocksss (490) a month ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

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[–] Martoto (5036) a month ago

How are you so confident about what Michael did or didn't experience on Guadalcanal?

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[–] AnthonySocksss (490) a month ago

Are you talking to yourself?

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[–] Martoto (5036) a month ago

Took you two days to come up with a way to avoid answering the question.

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[–] AnthonySocksss (490) a month ago

How are you so confident that Michael was in Guadalcanal?

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[–] Martoto (5036) a month ago

The USMC division the book implies he was in. He enlisted the day after Pearl Harbor and would have been 1st Div.

If he wasn't in Guadalcanal, then he was in Okinawa.

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[–] AnthonySocksss (490) a month ago

Which still mostly involved shooting from a distance, like Sonny said. In fact, Michael was likely firing over the enemy’s heads.

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[–] Martoto (5036) a month ago

Yeah they give battlefield commissions and navy crosses to people for shooting over the heads of the enemy.

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[–] AnthonySocksss (490) a month ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

I suggest you stop getting your historical info from Rambo movies

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