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mav100000's Replies
If anything, a New Years movie. I don't think Christmas is actually mentioned, other than that scene with them wearing the hats that someone else already mentioned here.
Actually I did not, but could have guessed it. Makes sense, after all, especially to have a lot of Mexican cowboys in that area of the country. But note that this was not my point. My point was that there was no racial tension in a movie with a black gunfighter in the old west. Not that I condone it in any way, but still, to have no mention of it just doesn't really make sense. There's gotta be one racist in the old west, even on the side of the villains in the film. Yet no one says a word or thinks it strange. I still enjoy the film and love Denzel, as always, but it just doesn't work to have everyone accept him without question or any prejudice in the late 1800s America!
In my opinion, both are movies with a war as a backdrop, but they aren't really about the soldiers. TRL is a movie about existentialism, but not really at all about soldiers. Yes, it was supposed to be about the mind and how combat affects the mind, but it really doesn't put the soldiers through much of anything to justify that. Apoc is similar but is closer to a war film. Really, though, both are stories that take place in a war zone, but they really don't reflect what war is like for the soldiers in any realistic way (except for the air assault in Apoc).
It is like saying MASH (movie, not tv show) is a football movie. Yes, a serious amount of time is dedicated to a football game in the film, but it is not a sports movie.
Note, just my opinions.
It is a bit ridiculous, but do remember that ridiculous things like this have happened in war, and have been documented. I watched the Netflix docu-series about the MOH recently and two people (at least) had stands like this. One guy defended a street for like two days, killing unknown numbers, with a scoped rifle and a BAR (I believe). He fought of many waves of attacks, including by mounted infantry (vehicles). Another guy, during Korea, held a full line overnight, running between 5 positions on a hillside. This stuff could happen, though I agree to make up a story like this does feel a bit ridiculous.
Ok, I'll bite:
BHD (rated highests because it does a great job depicting the battle and combat without these interludes for philosophical discussion, which wouldn't happen during a battle! - intense throughout!)
SPR (only lower for some of the melodrama between battles, but battles themselves are probably the best ever made)
Platoon (great depiction of the war despite some issues with the infighting drama, but I would put this higher if I felt I could!)
Hamburger Hill (personal love for it, so possibly rated too high by me, but I don't care!)
We Were Soldiers (great battle scenes, but I enjoy the films above more)
FMJ
Hurt Locker (ranked here only because of inaccuracies throughout - great film which was tense as hell!)
Apoc Now (also not really a war film at all, but a good, albeit slow, movie)
Casualties of War (not a bad film, just my personal least favorite of the rest as I own all of the ones above)
Thin Red Line (not a war film and I must say I found it to be quite boring and tedious, but that's just my opinion)
Cheers mate!
Not a veteran, but I hear that Saving Private Ryan's combat scenes, Black Hawk Down's, and Generation Kill's overall feel are the closest to realistic. This from two vets, one of whom served in Gothic Serpent (BHD) as a Ranger with the 75th. He was actually cast in the film and said it did a decent job overall of getting their story out there, but didn't even come close to accurately depicting the amount of incoming fire they received throughout!
I would guess helo, not plothole! Chopper or possibly some controlled entry, possibly by boat.
This plot line actually really bugs me. First off, I agree with the OP that I can't tell if this is treatable or not (especially considering his sister had died from cancer, I believe), but the real reason this bothers me is that the show feels like it bit off way more than it could chew too early. Make this part of the show down the road, but not on day one when you are still trying to get established!
I'll say that I am happy about her leaving, but I wasn't always a hater. It was when she tried to adopt that kid that she became more and more annoying. Towards the end I could barely stand her (it was the writing, not the actress) because she just stomped around doing whatever she wanted without taking her husband into account. And that's how she was written out of the show too! I'm glad she is gone, but for me it was the writing, not the actress. I wish they had made some other choices with her character!
Someone kill the queen!
I think, from a technical standpoint, Top Gun is MUCH better! This movie is shit by comparison. By soundtrack, both are great! From story, however, I love Iron Eagle! Now yes, I saw it for the first time somewhere in the mid-to-later 90s when I was still in later grade school and found it to be totally fun, so there is a total nostalgia factor for me here. However, the story, while total bullshit, is more fun and the lack of the shoehorned love story helps the film in my opinion!
Top Gun is likely the much better movie, but I actually enjoy the story in Iron Eagle more!
I would easily say Platoon. I like FMJ, for sure, but Platoon is much more realistic overall, and done by a team of vets to boot. Think about this - remove R. Lee Ermy from FMJ and would you like the film nearly as much? Whereas Platoon did a great job of showing the war while still having some plot involved. Again, I like both, but I thought Platoon was possibly the best Vietnam film made.
I saw this the first time in my dorm room freshman year of college with my roommate (still a close friend of mine to this day) and a guy we knew at the time. The guy brought the film over and we watched it late one night when I believe the other guy needed to stay over. While I enjoyed it, I didn't quite get it the first time. But, if I remember correctly, my roommate and I talked about it enough (and I may have seen it again before I bought it but can't remember) that I eventually picked it up. Started to really love it, and when I found a Criterion Collection version, bought that as well. Now, in addition to that, I pieced the soundtrack together, full thing, in order minus three songs that actually play twice each and I had to pick which spot I wanted them), and have it on my IPod!
I believe that the answer is partially. The battle at the end did happen, but is not portrayed correctly. I believe most of the Russian soldiers survived despite holding off a much larger force. I also believe they never lost contact with their support and I'm guessing air support had a role to play.
I'm pretty damn sure that's exactly what happened. The doctor helped out, but it is not shown to save the twist (which was ill-advised, for sure) for the end.
I gotta say I actually sorta bought Denzel in Magnificent Seven, but that may be simply because I'm a Denzel fan. I didn't like that there was no mention by anyone that he was black though. Not that I condone racism (I don't), but as a former history major, I would expect it if you want your world to be believable, especially in a historic-fiction way. Never saw the Dark Tower after I heard it sucked (but have read the series through twice) and part of that was the racial change. Roland Deschain was set up as white, with other characters specifically being black, and their interactions were sometimes shaped by racial tension. It was purposeful. While those characters were not in the movie, changing Deschain, a descendant of that universe's king arthur, to a black man just doesn't work with all of the character provided by King.
Why is changing the race of a character to suit liberal Hollywood not yet considered racist?
Turns out he wasn't in tonight, and we don't much talk about his past, but the reason for his positive attitude is that he believes very strongly in talking it out. He worked for SOCOM Cares (I think that was the name) which is a non-profit that helps vets with PTSD, and one of the things they are into is vets telling their stories as part of their healing. He believes in it and I think that is partially how he is able to cope.
Agreed. He was a Ranger. He is interviewed in the book, was a minor character in the movie (at least compared to others who had more screen time), and has done local interviews / talks about it. Cool guy! I've known him for probably over 4 years (and most likely seeing him in an hour for class), and other than his high-and-tight haircut, you wouldn't guess that he is a retired Ranger! Always jovial and smiling!
Cool info man! I know one of the Rangers who served there, and while I won't name him now, he is one of the nicest guys you could meet... until you set him off into "go" mode (we train martial arts together)! Also, he told me once that, while he thought the movie was pretty good and was very glad that it brought awareness to their story, he said that they didn't come close to accurately depicting the amount of incoming fire the Americans experienced!
Both are fun. I really like Kung Fury, in particular, and I hear they are making a full length feature film at some point!