Generation Kill

[kcdusk]

I've just seen episode 3 and 4.

Any comments?

[TiggerCCW UK]

I've only seen the first episode, but the book is amazing. Check out 'One Bullet Away', another great book written by Nate Fick from Generation Kill.

[Fusilier]

Actually I just finished watching 1-6 over the last three nights. Tomorrow I'll finish off the series. I love it and only wish it it was longer.

[Ramjam]

I managed to get it downloaded from the States earlier this and watched it all in one sitting.

I was really impressed. A very gritty and imho a pretty good in-sight into modern combat and the lifes that our soldiers have to live.

[headquarters]

Actually I just finished watching 1-6 over the last three nights. Tomorrow I'll finish off the series. I love it and only wish it it was longer.
I second that - all in all I found it believable,sad ,filled with suspense and very entertaining.

See it .

[Raellus]

What a coincidence. I finished the series a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed it too. If you haven't seen it OR read the book yet, read the book first.

I was surprised by the relative paucity of combat in the miniseries. It's not like they skipped battles mentioned in the book, but the scenes of combat in the book seemed longer (in a good way). This doesn't detract from the overall product but I expected more of an emphasis on the firefights.

Also, I found the miniseries emphasized the incompetence of some of the units officers almost to the point of parody. Captain America, especially, came across even worse than he did in the book.

But, overall, I enjoyed it. Iceman's driver, especially, was hilarious. Watching it kind of made me want to play in or run a T2K campaign where there was a little more of a military command structure.

[Marc]

Great series!

A reference to an old thread: http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=131&highlight=generation+kill

[Caradhras]

Seen 1-3 up to now and really enjoyed em - some of their idle chit-chat is great. I especially liked the driver's theory on causes of war :)

[Targan]

I had a look at the thread map because I know we've talked about Generation Kill before but I couldn't find which thread the discusion was in. Kato, if you know where it was please move this post to the right thread, if it isn't too much trouble. (edit kato : done :))

I have obtained the first four episodes of Generation Kill and I'm currently up to half way through episiode 3. I'm loving the series, seems quite realistic. I have a couple of questions for those of you in the know.

Firstly, how accurate are the events portrayed in the series? Its based on a book of the same name by Nate Fick, right? The reason I ask is that the decisions and behaviour of some of the officers in the USMC unit depicted in the series just blows my mind. Captain America roaming around with a looted AK, collecting souvenirs off of dead Iraqis and occasionally cutting loose with said looted AK? Captain Hitman appearing to be borderline incompetant, seeming not to know what "danger close" means and even getting the grid reference wrong when calling in a fire mision, and also failing in his land navigation despite having been told the correct route to take by Lt Fick? Occasional artillery strikes and shoot ups against what appeared to be civilian targets (and in one case in episode 3 what seemed to me on the face of it to be a war crime)?

I have heaps of respect for the USMC, I've always thought of them as aggressive but disciplined, and highly effective considering how poorly resourced they are compared to the US Army. But Generation Kill seems to suggest that the chain of command is so rigid that captains can act like complete tools and no one below them in rank can call them out on it. If an Lt tried to let someone higher up the chain of command know that things were being done in ways which were plainly not right (or perhaps even criminal) would that be the end of that LT's career?

Final question. Which one is Law in the series? :cool:

Edit: I realise now that the book wasn't written by Nate Fick, but he wrote his own book about the same subject matter didn't he? I think I want to read them both. Looks like I need to take a better look around on the net for titles and where I can buy them.

[sglancy12]

I really enjoyed "Generation Kill." If you watch the commentaries by the actual Marines on the disk extras, all the guys who were still in the service say that the series went out of its way to make the officers look like shit. Not everyone looked that bad. The platoon's Lt. (Fick) comes off as a guy I'd want to serve under... as does Captain Patterson, the one guy who calls bullshit on bullshit orders that are against operational doctrine... like clearing a minefield at night.

My favorite bit comes from Iceman's Driver: Josh Ray Person, a font of jarhead wisdom. He claims that the reason Marines can't get any logistical support or supplies is because the brass wants to keep them angry and pissed off. Happy Marines don't kick the living shit out of the enemy with the same exuberance as angry Marines.

A. Scott Glancy, President TCCorp, dba Pagan Publishing

[Targan]

My favorite bit comes from Iceman's Driver: Josh Ray Person, a font of jarhead wisdom. He claims that the reason Marines can't get any logistical support or supplies is because the brass wants to keep them angry and pissed off. Happy Marines don't kick the living shit out of the enemy with the same exuberance as angry Marines.

I enjoyed that soliloquy too. I believe he referred to the USMC as being "America's little pit bull".