How do military movies compare to the actual training, missions, life, ect?

Question

I know hollywood trys to make it's bottom line but do any movies do the real thing justice.

Serious answers please

Answer 1

Yes! Three movies that I can recall did an excellent job of portraying real life, combat situations are: "The boys from Company C"., " Full Metal Jacket"., and, "Saving Private Ryan". Full Metal Jacket not only did a credible job of portraying wartime situations, it did an excellent job with the Marine Corps boot camp portion of the movie. I mean, that was real boot camp, and that was a real DI portraying the part of the DI. R. Lee Ermy, the actor who played the part of Gunny Harmon, is himself a former S/Sgt in the Marine Corps and also a former DI. He played the part as a true DI. This is how they talk, this is how they intimidate, this is how they train their people.

Private Ryan did an excellent job of showing the whirlwind of activity that can happen in combat, it tried to re-create the noise that GI's hear constantly during combat. The ear splitting sounds that GI's must endure!

The one thing that cinema cannot re-create is the smells. The un-godly smells of fires burning, ordinance discharging, GI's without showers, or worst of all, the smell of death.

Answer 2

As others have said "Full Metal Jacket" is probably the most authentic. Still I don't think Hollywood gets it quite right. Marine Corps drill instructors bark and growl. After bootcamp things change....at least when I was in. The discipline is still there but the communication changes. I recall one scene where I believe a Marine Colonel? was questioning a Marine and he acted like he was immitating a drill instructor with a bit of over acting on the gung ho part. I never heard field grade offers talk this way. They were usually calm and self confident and didn't treat marines like recruits. Neither do NCO's. I noticed this same over acting in some parts of "Jarhead". Like I said though, maybe things changed. "Hamburger Hill" had fairly authentic combat scenes also. One of the most realistic I've seen is kind of an obscure hard to find movie called "84 Charlie Mopic". Although it was about an army unit and I didn't care for the characters (undisciplined dope smokers) it is so real you'd swear it was a live documentary with real characters rather than a movie. It very acurately depicts vietnam combat. Since I wasn't there I can't say for sure but "Blackhawk Down" had a very real feel for me. The battle scene during the amphibious landing in "Saving Private Ryan" is also extremely authentic. Beyond those forget it. For the most part the rest are just overdramatized flash and bang...though some like "We Were Soldiers" tell a pretty good story. Rambo type movies are so unauthentic they are almost laughable. "Apocalypse Now" and "the Deer Hunter" though maybe good drama are more like somebodies bad dream. Finally, though at the time of it's release "Platoon" was supposed to be the most realistic ever produced, I hated that movie. It so mischaracterized what troops serving in nam were about that it could have been a communist propaganda film. Never forget Hollywood makes money on drama first...facts never have been a big factor in movies. Remember also that there are people with agendas making movies, so when in doubt ask someone who was there.

Answer 3

It's a little bit of both. "Full Metal Jacket" and "We Were Soldiers" was very realistic. "A Few Good Men" was very Hollywood with glimpses at military life. The hard core Colonel was very true in many aspects. I have found out that there are certain things pertaining to the military that can't be exacted in movies. If you're in the military, you can point out certain things that are wrong with a uniform or post or so on.

So, my answer is that they're both. There's some realistic, but some very Hollywood.

Answer 4

My husband is an army officer who has seen his share of real battle, and he LOVES to watch movies and shows that have anything to do with the military. He particularly enjoys the mini-series BAND OF BROTHERS and feels it depicts the real thing quite well. One of the things that military movies tend to leave out is all the paper work that is the only constant in the lives of those in the armed forces. I know that paper work is common in all professions, but in the military they can hardly go to the bathroom without the right paperwork. It's definitely not as glamourous as what we often see in the movies.

Answer 5

I know that Movie Studios hire consultants who are either former military or in the military themselves to make a movie as accurate as possible. But the special effects that you see are rigged up by special effects artists. I was in the military myself, and time spend on US soil was usually routine and ho-hum, and consisted of doing duty, maitnence and training. Overseas is another story, I have never been overseas

Answer 6

Most movies and TV shows do a poor job of it.
The series Band of Brothers does a very good job of it. Black Hawk Down was also quite good. Full Metal Jacket did a good job with the old Marine Corp.

Answer 7

I have never served in the Military but I had a brief conversation with an Army Seargent once and he said that Hollywood doesn't depict boot camp right.He said it's nothing like that.

Answer 8

NOT EVEN CLOSE! Training is more tedious and you still have to put up with political BS like making sure you don't offend people. And training is much harder than it looks on TV. Of course then deployments suck too. But hey its got to be done and we all volunteered. Every body has some complaint about there job. But over all military life is not to bad.

Answer 9

Movies should never be depicted as real life...as an actor and a veteran, I have never witnessed any movie that is a perfect interpretation of how people are in real life...even though they sort of aim towards it.

Answer 10

Full Metal Jacket