Any thoughts on the HBO miniseries Generation Kill? I thought it was incredible. It did a better job creating characters that I loved or hated more than almost any other movie/show that I’ve seen. Sergeant Brad Colbert, player by Alexander Skarsgard, was terrific. Corporal Josh Ray Person, played by James Ransone of “The Wire” fame, was hillarious. I absolutely hated Encino Man and Captain America.
My assumption is that it is a very accurate portrayal of certain segments of the millitary. It shows a lot of what makes the millitary great and a lot about what makes it terrible.
It is terrible the spots we put our kids into. It is difficult for them to return normal. You can keep the death and destruction away from the American people but the soldiers see the horror every day. It eats away at them and I feel sad for them.
I watched about the first three episodes and lost interest. Asde from the relentless racism, sexism and homophobia (which, while realistic, is not entertaining), I basically just found it boring. The characters were indistinguishable, the storylines were incoherent, every episode was the same and I just wasn’t drawn in. I gave it a chance but it just wasn’t holding my interest and I realized I pretty much hated all the characters and wanted them to get KIA so I stopped watching. It was making me hate the troops…
I loved this show and I have been really disappointed that there didn’t seem to be much enthusiasm here on SDMB for it.
Brad and Ray’s interactions were some of the best in the series. On the finale when Ray explained his more subdued behavior of late as “Out of rip fuel” I laughed my arse off. That was one of many examples of a joke being carried through many episodes which I also enjoyed.
I DVR’d all the episodes so I’m going to sit down and watch them all again.
I thought it was brilliantly done, the performances were excellent, it looked realistic, it was funny and scary and thought-provoking. The producers made all the right choices.
I’d like to see some follow-up, interviews with the real guys, hell, the actors too – what did they have to go through to prepare, etc. There’s stuff at HBO’s website but I want more. Maybe it’ll be on the DVD.
Godfather explained his quandary nicely. He can’t watch his officers every second. If he listens to complaints about Captain America, then he has to deal with complaints about the competent officers too. But damn, you’d think someone like Captain America would have been weeded out in basic.
It was probably after the first three episodes that started showing some of the redeeming qualities of many of the characters. Also, I would say the racism, sexism, and homophobia died down after the first couple of episodes. I think it was most prevalent in the first episode.
In addition, there was a great exchange of dialogue/insight into the Marines that were portrayed later in the series that dealt with what an outsider would perceive as the horrible racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.
I thought it was absolutely brilliant and was saddened to see it end. I shall really miss those characters, in the short space of 7 weeks they already felt like old friends. Excellent acting from all concerned, and the scripting was superb.
I now want to go back and watch it all over again.
I thought it was very well done and well acted. It was pretty true to the book yet it dramatized the events perfectly.
Alexander Skarsgard was awesome. After watching this miniseries, I think Marvel Films should consider him to play Captain America in their upcoming film. He may be one guy who could pull it off.
Ray was by far my favorite character. It makes me question Vinyl Turnip’s humanity that he didn’t like that character. The way he would play the dumb hick routine as a way to keep his buddies from getting completely depressed was great, only to have him lose it to his own depression at the end.
I really loved the show. It was fabulous. The characterizations were great, and the overall storyline was well worth watching. Seeing how the characters interacted was brought into focus with the watching of the video at the very end.
The way he would play the dumb hick routine as a way to keep his buddies from getting completely depressed was great, only to have him lose it to his own depression at the end.