I really enjoyed the Hurt Locker, but I've learned to seperate real life military training from the movies a long time ago. Things that drive me absolutely bonkers and I see it in every movie.
1) No intervals - The soldiers move in one big clump, half the time I'm mimicing throwing a hand grenade because I could get a medal of honour against these guys by killing enmass. Worst offenders - The hurt locker, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, StarShip Troopers.
2) No oversight, or the old "coverme argument" - They all ardently watch as their comrade goes clomping across a road or field or stream. They're just focused on the guy, there's no supporting arcs of fire, there's no flanking patrols, there's no supported platoons, its one guy running across the field. Worst offenders Full Metal Jacket.
3) People splitting off and going on their own - Drives me crazy, the guy just takes off into the jungle to run down a fleeing enemy while the rest of his platoon wait for him while worriedly smoking cigarettes. Really bad offender - Platoon
4) no fields of fire - Everyone stares straight ahead instead of setting up fields of fire.
5) Noise dicipline - Hey did you know that whispers are louder then talking quietly? Neither do they in the movies
6) Lack of shrapnel - When things explode they fire off whirling killing chunks of red hot metal. With the exception of a few movies they always show the brave hero standing there or walking towards his troops as explosive rounds go off 5 feet away from them, or a grenade explodes 10 feet away. If you toss a grenade in the middle of McMahon stadium the shrapnel will probably hit the players benches. It also pisses me off that they always show artillary hitting the ground. For the most part you used variable fused airbursts to kill infantry.
7) Cammo'd and hiding in the open - They always have them standing in the open yaking away then they're all shocked when buddy buys it and he was only 5 days from going home. I have to honestly say that I never once stood out in the open when I was in the military . . . tree's ditches and walls were my friend. Oh and commo doesn't make you invisible in downtown Baghdad.
8) Hyper accurate napalm strikes or bombing strikes. I mean these pilots must have all gone to red flag. Forrest Gump drove me crazy when he was missed by 6 inches by a napalm cannister.
9) The big one for me, the radio use - It always drives me nuts when some guys on the radio and he uses the word repeat - "Its say again" "Repeat" means send another arty or bomb strike at the same location as last time.
10) The hero charge - Discussed below, where they see an objective and they go bounding across the opening to take it. The radio is the most powerful weapon in your arsenal, and pilots and artymen just love to blow stuff up.
There are about a thousand more, but these ones drive me crazy on an epic scale.
Quote:
Originally Posted by worth
- Every time the EOD team leaves the compound it is with 1 humvee, 4 guys total driving through Baghdad all by themselves
- They clear and control entire intersections with 3 people
- They stand up on brick walls to get better views
- They clear an entire warehouse with 1 person so he can get to the roof for a better vantage point
- 3 team members clear a multi level building by themselves
- 3 team members split up down 3 alleys, 1 person per alley
- Contractor gets shot and killed in sniper position, EOD member takes up same sniper position to fire back
- The main character sneaks off the base by himself and gets back in later that night
- I won't mention how they actually diffuse bombs and all that stuff because I have no experience with that, but i'm guessing it's not very accurate based on the actions of the team in the rest of the film.
- Actually just thinking about it a bit, SSGT James basically endangers his whole team throughout the entire movie, making every bad decision he can. I suppose that's sort of the point of the film... "War is a drug" and he was looking for the rush, but there is no way that happens in a cohesive unit. Especially in a live war zone.
That's what comes to mind off the top of my head. I can see why a civilian with no prior military experience or knowledge would like this movie. It is tense and fun. If you don't know any better, it's probably a good movie, But for anyone who has served, or anyone who knows a little bit about military history and tactics, or knows a little bit about modern warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq, this film will seem completely ridiculous. It's not a documentary, and I suppose you're supposed to disconnect yourself from reality, but I can't help but think while watching a movie like this that basically all of the things that happened in the movie would not have happened in real life. The only thing consistent with the actual war is that the film is based in Iraq. |