Generation Kill, upcoming mini series

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Think this could be interresting for ArmA and military based shooter fans:

http://www.hbo.com/generationkill/

Schedule:

http://www.hbo.com/apps....on+kill

Sorry if this has been posted before.

One thing I noticed. In the gear page, the M4 is shown as being capable of 30/40 and 90 round magazines. Maybe 40 is a taped 20, but 90?

[BLSmith2112 0]

I just got rid of HBO, for their repetitive movie showings etc... Just subscribed to Blockbuster Online/Netflix for the same price and got my movies the second they were released instead of two years later only to have it repeated 100x.

I want to see this show too

[Sdstorage 0]

I found the book to be a very compelling and humanized look at these Marines' life in the initial phase of the Iraq conflict.  This show has the same creator as the Wire, which although I haven't seen it, is supposed to be some top-notch TV.

I am definitely gonna check this out tomorrow night.

[Placebo 29]

The Wire is one of the finest drama series in recent times.

[hoot 0]

I found the book to be a very compelling and humanized look at these Marines' life in the initial phase of the Iraq conflict.  This show has the same creator as the Wire, which although I haven't seen it, is supposed to be some top-notch TV.

I am definitely gonna check this out tomorrow night.

I've read the book (imported), and must say, during the first chapters it seems like an ad brochure for the US marine corps, full of cool sayings and all the stuff you expect from a so called embedded reporter and his objectivity.

However, later it turns into something M.A.S.H-like. Not that original and grotesque, though. They begin to criticize superiors in public, they start to think for all the live they take (the dead baby girl from the backseat of the van they were shooting at, the one with the cut skullcap, for example is an event some do suffer from). Anyhow, they keep their sarcastic behaviour until the end of the book. But that on the other hand is nothing more than self protection, for not getting mad. I began to love the book for its writing and the curve it takes and now it got the third spot in my bookshelf right after Richard Hooker's M.A.S.H and Bowden's Black Hawk Down.

Sometimes one need to convince himself whether or not a book about war is nonsense.

The series got some good critics here in Germany in Der Spiegel, and Der Spiegel as well says, the show is something for all those who loved watching Hawkeye, Houlihan, Burns and Co from the 4077th - better than Over There and Jarhead (as a flick). Apart from that, Wright's book was slammed and bashed for being written by an embedded reporter. This fact was enough to say, embedded reporters do write per se pro american. But Wright does not imho, he let the readers decide.

Quote[/b] ]"All religious stuff aside," Colbert cuts in. "The fact is people who can't kill will be subject to those who can."

Despite their moral qualms - or lack thereof - about killing, most Marines unabashedly love the action. "You really can't top it," Redman says. "Combat is the supreme adrenaline rush. Yout take rounds. Shoot back, shit starts blowing up. It's sensory overload. It's the one thing that's not overrated in the military."

"The fucked thing," Doc Bryan say, "is the men we've been fighting probably came here for the same reasones we did, to test themselves, to feel what war is like. In my view it doesn't matter if you oppose or support war. The machine goes on."

[Gollum1 0]

Most of the dialogue among the enlisted was really braindead and irritating (plus points for realism).

I think the pilot episode was good compared to other American military drama TV/media. It isn't really anything groundbreaking and has the usual clichés, but it's competently made and I liked the realistic details, like asking about wearing beanie caps in briefings, people lending each other Leatherman tools, visiting the AAFES PX etc. They seem to have paid attention to realism concerning language and gear, at least. I will watch the whole series. I haven't read the original work.

[0311 0]

I thought the website was interesting, ... up until I saw the video.

The dialogue seemed too .. fake. They seemed too happy. Not angry and exhausted like most Marines in combat. Most Marines don't talk that much anyways.

Another thing I noticed in the video is that they were mostly in vehicles. In my unit squads always move out on foot.

I really don't think they're gonna do this right. Unfortunately most people are completely misinformed about the Marines, and this would only exacerbate that.

I really hope they do it right, but I'm not optimistic.

[jerryhopper 286]

Well, i think its worth to watch.

So far i have seen all eps, and i actually start to like it after ep3.

its a good timewaster

[dmitri 0]

The Wire is one of the finest drama series in recent times.

That it is, I was saddened to see The Wire come to an end.

[POPKA 0]

I watched the first three episodes and I have to say I really enjoyed it, I can't vouch for realism though I can say its much better than the short lived series "over there" by comparison.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Does anyone know anything about my original comment about the 90 round magazine for the M4?

Anyhow, I've seen episodes one through five (1-4 three times!! ), and I'm amazed about the attention to details and strive to make it look and sound authentic, instead of i.e. replacing "military talk" (lots of abrevations using phonetic alphabet) with something ordinary people just might understand.

My guess is that all the "comments" made may come from different situations that were not included in the series (or book?). I can understand the screenwriters desire to have some "talking" going on even if it's not all that realistic.

The only thing that annoys me a litte bit is how the commanders are (once again ) made look incompetent. I think it would have been better to have perfectly capable commanders all over, that occasionally makes a bad blunder, instead of having one where even the acting tells it before they start messing things up. But that's just me.

The commanding issue also had some really nice touches as well though, i.e. when the viewer is led to hate the guy who denies CAS Evac for the camel boy, but later there comes a few very good explanations of why this was done.

The series also explaines in fairly good details parts that are quite misunderstood in the ArmA community (online players typically). Such as the importance of teamplay, scans, and overwatch. How not every single player carries an M136 (so far only saw it brought out once in the show). How communications work and "proper" (end titles rule - nice comms going on here) phrasing; within team, other teams, and command. How night vision goggles aren't as "perfect" as they are in ArmA. I think I want a mod to bring the old ones back now, despite looking a lot worse. Guess I just want them to have less of an advantage than the noisefree uber-NVGs we have now. People complain about washouts in bright light and mod them to not have HDR effects. Sure you have a gain control, but as they show, low batteries may limit the effect, and even if turned way down will not prevent washouts.

Character profiling/development and depth is really well played out. Usually in a show such as this you are given the "big plan" at the beginning for the viewer to create a sence of "progress" for himself. But not here (at least I didn't get it). Plans seem to come a bit more ad hoc and slowly reveals themselves by new warning orders and leader meetings.

So far, I'll rate it 9.8/10 mostly for authenticity. I have no clue whatsoever about the real military (I conscribed (?) as combat engineer (mines and explosives), but that's it), other than from I've learned in movies. I have however, been reading a lot of field manuals over at www.globalsecurity.org since the dawn of ArmA.

[MehMan 0]

The Arma NVG is over reacting to light sources far too much, I doubt a fire 600m away will completely disable your NVGs. Also, it has been said that the first ArmA NVGs looked like first generation NVGs and comparison pics were brought up, etc etc. It's fine as it is right now.

[POPKA 0]

Episode 5 is the best yet in my opinion, really good episode

[Strucknine 0]

This sounds really good, but I will probably wait for the eventual DVD set to watch it all together. Did that with Band of Brothers and enjoyed it more.

The Wire... one show I really want to start watching from the beginning. I hear it is a "spiritual successor" to Homicide: Life on the Streets, which is one of my favorite shows ever.

[The_Captain 0]

I was surprised when I finally got around to watching the first episode, because I didn't realize I had already read the book in 2004 and enjoyed it. (The title of the show was so generic and I figured it must have been more of a documentary).

It was quite nice to see the book brought to life, with all the colorful characters. Not too many books actually are done justice when brought to TV or film.

[canis lupus 20]

I love this show its like a modern band of brothers plus I got the idea for an addon ofcourse...

[Sdstorage 0]

I thought it started kinda slow, but the last episode, Burning Dog, was excellent.

Too bad it's all over in just 2 more.

[Lepardi 0]

Great series.

Anyone noticed the bird sounds taken straight from OFP, in the beginning of the 5th episode?

[Call911-AGE- 0]

Well I've seen all episodes here in US an well it's no "Band of Brothers" by no means. But is a war flick an I don't pass on any. Just my 2 cents.

[Hitman 10]

Great series.

Anyone noticed the bird sounds taken straight from OFP, in the beginning of the 5th episode?

Haha I noticed that aswell. Great stuff.

Is it really over in just two more episodes?

[POPKA 0]

Great series.

Anyone noticed the bird sounds taken straight from OFP, in the beginning of the 5th episode?

Haha I noticed that aswell. Great stuff.

Is it really over in just two more episodes?

gah that sucks, atleast the episodes are quite lengthy so your getting a good amount of content with each one.

[mr burns 131]

If nothing else helps hook yourself u0p on "the wire" .. pretty good tip from placebo, i like the series alot although im effin hate all those CSI-whatever franchise´

Teaches you some serious cussin too

[MGJoe 0]

No else than me who noticed that Jonah Lotan (was David Armstrong's voice in OFP) acted as the medic guy "Timothy Brian" in this mini-series? I thought it gave a little nice OFP atmosphere to the series when Armstrongs voice was around :P Yes, I probably have messed around with OFP too much when recognizing stuff like this. Just checking if anyone else is suffering from the same mental illness :) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0521416/

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Yeah I picked him immediately. That voice is just too distinctive.