Generation Kill
Despite the title of this HBO miniseries which sounds like some cheesy 8th grade band name I would've scribbled on a notebook cover, after watching all seven episodes of Generation Kill in order I have to conclude that it was probably the best thing I've ever seen on television. Better than John Adams. Better than the Sopranos.
The show was simply immaculate. No dramatic ploys, no Barber's Adagio strings (ala Platoon), no tearjerking, no metaphors, no allegories, no gratuitous violence or sex, no "where did it all go wrong?" message, no Clooney, Pitt, Damon, or Affleck, no Tom-Fucking-Hanks. It was simply an unblinking portrayal of a marine combat battalion during the initial invasion of Iraq.
I have never seen anything less touched by the stink of a director's ego or a star's personality. Yet it was anything but dry. This was not "No Country For Old Men." The dialogue was almost entirely supplied by the sarcastic, jaded, and utterly hilarious chatter between the men in the unit as they go about their business. Underneath that the radio communications with all their military jargon and acronyms added a subtle layer of realism. The action sequences were better than any $100 million Michael Bay schlockfest and brought the terror, confusion, and violence of a firefight right into your living room.
If there's any unifying thread throughout the show it's the amount of in-house bullshit these guys have to put up with while trying to kill an enemy and liberate a people who are indistinguishable. The command expends enormous effort chewing these guys out for their "moo-staches" and yet the men have no batteries for their night vision goggles, one meal a day, vague orders, and incompetent officers.
It's as close to the war as you and I are likely to get. Watch it.
The show was simply immaculate. No dramatic ploys, no Barber's Adagio strings (ala Platoon), no tearjerking, no metaphors, no allegories, no gratuitous violence or sex, no "where did it all go wrong?" message, no Clooney, Pitt, Damon, or Affleck, no Tom-Fucking-Hanks. It was simply an unblinking portrayal of a marine combat battalion during the initial invasion of Iraq.
I have never seen anything less touched by the stink of a director's ego or a star's personality. Yet it was anything but dry. This was not "No Country For Old Men." The dialogue was almost entirely supplied by the sarcastic, jaded, and utterly hilarious chatter between the men in the unit as they go about their business. Underneath that the radio communications with all their military jargon and acronyms added a subtle layer of realism. The action sequences were better than any $100 million Michael Bay schlockfest and brought the terror, confusion, and violence of a firefight right into your living room.
If there's any unifying thread throughout the show it's the amount of in-house bullshit these guys have to put up with while trying to kill an enemy and liberate a people who are indistinguishable. The command expends enormous effort chewing these guys out for their "moo-staches" and yet the men have no batteries for their night vision goggles, one meal a day, vague orders, and incompetent officers.
It's as close to the war as you and I are likely to get. Watch it.
posted by El Bozo at 10:23 AM
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