Generation Kill - Who watches it?

[MsTryska]

I didn't think I would like it, but I actually really really dig it.

I like the dialogue and i think it's fairly even-handed too.

[MsTryska]

1. *bump* maybe someone in the evening crew? nt

nt

[BrklynLiberal]

2. My son has been watching it and he says it is pretty good.

I tend to avoid any programs about war...Even the history channel's shows about WWI and WWII

[MsTryska]

5. yeah i thought it woul be boring - most war shows are...

this one is brutal in parts - but you wind up understanding jsut how fucked up this entire war is, from the way it's run right on up to the reason we're there. At the same time tho - you get the sense these guys are struggling with the stuff they have to dealw ith and just trying to get thru it. it's really pretty interesting.

[Nickster]

3. I liked it alot. The dialogue is right on too, very authentic.

[MsTryska]

6. i know!

i felt like i was hanging out at LeJeune with my ex's squad. They had me rolling in parts.

[Nickster]

8. I had to translate a lot of it for my wife. LoL

[MsTryska]

25. I can imagine...

i needed my ex to translate for me at first. Actually i picked up his lingo as he went thru bootcamp. he essentially taught me all the stuff he learned, so that he could remember it.

[Starry Messenger]

4. We liked it at our house.

I was hoping it would go a little longer. I like the actor who plays Ray. He had a super annoying character on the Wire so I was glad to see him on this outing. He had all the best lines.

I had a really hard time keeping up with all the characters ranks and stuff. I will probably watch it again in repeats.

MPK

[MsTryska]

7. Was Ray the Whiskey Tango driver?

I liked Iceman and the hilarious LT with the funky accent. what was that accent supposed to be anyway? I think it's a patented DI accent.

[Starry Messenger]

10. Yes, that was Ray.

I liked his rants. I don't think I can post any though without getting your thread locked. All the ones on youtube are really the ripe ones!
Which one is LT?

MPK

[MsTryska]

12. Deepthroat's second in command

with the drill instructor accent and was inordinately concerned with facial hair. i don't know why i said LT - he was actually a sargeant major.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0428925/

[Starry Messenger]

16. Oh yeah!

He was great. I see from his imdb he's been specializing in "Law enforcement guy" roles. He must have had fun with his new role. There was a line from him in the last episode where it seemed he knew that his nagging served to fill a need but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet.

MPK

[MsTryska]

18. exactly...

the one about maintaining normality or something right?

[Starry Messenger]

19. Yes, that's the one.

It gave an amazing insight into his character.

MPK

[MsTryska]

26. very true...

on the one hand you think he's a beauracrat, but really he's jsut trying to hold it together.

[Nickster]

35. It made me laugh the first time I saw the Sgt Major character, because he was EXACTLY like any Sgt

Major I've ever come across. I mean EXACTLY, the accent,everything....

[MsTryska]

38. Where the hell is that accent from?

Like i said i think they learn it in DI school.

[DS1]

41. They really lay it on thick down in Parris Island

I think it's part of the disorientation, there were times I'd be standing there and thinking "What the fuck is this guy saying".

At one point we were told to grab our ink sticks moonbeams daggone gofasters

I got ink sticks (pens) go fasters (sneakers) moonbeams (flashlights) but got stuck at daggone. Figures.

[MsTryska]

44. well then you got the important bits

and that's what matters.

[Nickster]

42. I could be wrong, but I always thought it was a mix of Texas and DI.

[MsTryska]

45. Yeah it is vaguely texas...

but now. i guess that's where the DI comes in.

you know what they say about texas, tho...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

30. James Ransone needs to be Hollywood's next great thing.

Between Generation Kill and The Wire, the guy is just loaded with talent. Ziggy Sobatka on The Wire was truly a screwed up character, but Ransone played him so well--the scene where he shoots up the Greeks' men in the store and then just walks out to his car was arguably one of the most intense scenes in that series.

[knowbody0]

9. i loved it

watched it with my buddy back from iraq and he gave it props. it gave me a better perspective from the troops. cannon fodder for the big boys with the expensive air toys. sending them out at night because the flash from the enemy attacks was easier to track. sending the kids anywhere in those humvees, so vulnerable.

i recommend it to any and all. the dialog was excellent. i was glued.

[MsTryska]

13. exactly....

a comedy of errors which would be funny if it wasn't for all the human capital lost.

a regular charlie foxtrot.

[bamacrat]

11. I watched them all, I liked it, the verbage was neat.

Caught myself about to say "Oscar Mike" the other day. Thought there would have been more action but it was pretty even as far as a bias goes. Showed the fuck ups of the military strategy, showed what really happened.

[MsTryska]

14. yeah...

"you need to unfuck yourself" has become part of my lingo again.

as has "watch your 6"

[Starry Messenger]

17. These guys are hard to avoid quoting at work.

I teach...biting my tongue. A. Lot.

MPK

[MsTryska]

27. yeah me too.

and well i can't really introduce oscar mike into any of my conversations.

[bamacrat]

37. The only down side is I know a Recon Marine, and I would feel like a douche using it infront of him.

Hes a total dick so I may anyway. Told me countless stories of awful shit they did over there, also a funny story of them crapping on a prostitute in Thailand.

[MsTryska]

39. yeah i have no worries on that front...

My ex is a marine and I saw him thru his first hitch. i believe i might be official USMC property. The funny thing is now Marines naturally gravitate to me. i must have GI stamped on my forehead or something.

[Mojambo]

15. I have the episodes downloaded, but haven't started watching yet. n/t

[ellisonz]

21. How can you download them?

I still need to see the last one.

[Starry Messenger]

22. Isohunt

Not that I'd advocate illegally downloading or anything. Just sayin.

MPK

[Mojambo]

24. Bit Torrent.

http://thesprawl.se/frontpage.php

or Search at www.btjunkie.com

[ellisonz]

20. I thought it was very well done.

I still haven't seen the last one.

[MsTryska]

28. me either it's on my DVR

so that i can savor it when i have a moment to relax.

[cwydro]

23. I plan to watch it.

Just haven't gotten around to it.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

29. It was just so real.

I was amazed at how "natural" it felt as opposed to other movie and television depictions of war. The dialogue was very realistic and not hammed up. When you were in battle scenes, you actually felt the claustrophia of it all. When you were in the troop's downtime, you could feel that underlying combination of boredom and dread.

If you were looking for an obvious agenda, there wasn't much. It wasn't "rah-rah, war is great!" but it wasn't necessarily a blanket condemnation either. However, there was one part as the troops approached Baghdad and they were told to take off their chemical warfare gear. The reporter, Evan Wright, notes that this means there were no WMD and there was no reason for the war. I think that said enough about the underlying reasons (or lack thereof) for the war without going too overboard.

Some of the Marines came off looking like true a-holes, incompentent or both. Others were quite sympathetic. Still others you initially hated but grew fond of--like Cpl. Ray Person, the driver of one of the humvees. He was portrayed by a relatively unknown actor, James Ransome, who if he doesn't become the next great actor my faith in Hollywood will be shaken. Between his work on Generation Kill and The Wire, Ransome is an incredible talent.

[MsTryska]

40. The other scene that got me

was when they did that night mission across the bridge and were ambushed and the next morning they found that dead student and checked his passport - and it dawned on them that we had created exactly what we didn't want to create.

[Starry Messenger]

47. I agree.

His comic timing is awesome. I liked the interplay between him and Colbert. Skarsgard was a surprise. The last thing I saw him in was Zoolander and only discovered that on imdb while watching GK.

I haven't read the book yet but I just read the Rolling Stone article online yesterday. I think the tv series definitely captured the spirit of the writing.

I want to read this book and Lt. Fick's book.

MPK

[loveable liberal]

31. episode 7 was a dud...

the rest was great.

[DS1]

32. It was the end of the book

and they left a lot out. The end of the war was a dud, too.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

33. Yeah, the thing is....

...the reporter left Iraq. The Marines didn't. And the situation only got worse from that point on.

[DS1]

34. 1st Recon was back home about 2 weeks after him

Colbert was sent to the British Royal Marines for cross-training as part of a swap system the elite forces do.

Doc was sent off to train for a mission he wasn't allowed to disclose.

Person went back to Missouri and got a job at a 24 hour fitness place

Reyes got out and opened a martial arts dojo in San Fran

Trombley stayed in and got his full Recon status (he'd never gone through the extra training)

Captain America ended up doing some kind of Poguey thing, can't recall

Fick left to double major in law and something else at an Ivy League school. Was invited to watch the 2004 Inaugural, and was asked to leave after seeing Bush roll by with the windows up and calling him a giant pussy, in front of all the other dignitaries.

Kocher went back and got his right arm all fucked up in an RPG attack



that's all I can remember off the top of my head

[Tommy_Carcetti]

36. Lt. Fick sounds awesome.

Came off ballsy in the series and apparently in real life, too.

[Nickster]

43. Woah...there was a book? I soooo didn't know that. I'm off to Amazon.......

[Tommy_Carcetti]

46. I've been reading it at B&N lately.

Yes, I know, I treat my bookstores like libraries. Bad me.

The series is very loyal to the book.

[MsTryska]

48. there's a book??

now that i'm going to nighshift - i'm totally going to read it.