Inspired by this thread, where I was surprised to find out that Stripes wasn’t the most accurate portrayal of military life… 
So military / ex-military folks, can you name some movies and / or scenes that you find admirably accurate about the military, and explain what about them gives an true-to-life window to what it’s like to serve your country?
The Package is pretty good but there are some soldiers, including a general, with hair falling over their ears. What I liked was Gene Hackman’s portrayal of a senior NCO who knew his troops and took decent care of them as well as his interactions with other soldiers.
Black Hawk Down was pretty good but I’ve only seen it once when it came out, so I’m a little hazy on it.
Jarhead was another one that I was impressed with. I felt for the Marines at the end when after having their target in their sight, they’re told to stand down because someone higher up wanted to see something go boom.
I always thought Full Metal Jacket’s portrayal of Marine Boot Camp was a little over the top, like it was turned up to 11, but I’ve heard people say that’s how it was during that time.
The scene in The Incredibles where Mrs. I’s plane is being attacked by missiles has what I have been told is letter-perfect comm chatter, even using the obscure term “buddy’s flight.”
True Lies.
Not the entire movie. In fact, there was not a single accurate moment in the entire movie, except for one throwaway line, but that one’s a doozy: when Arnie commandeers the Harrier jump jet, the only thing the pilot says before he takes off is something like, “Wait - your have to sign for that!”. That one line is perhaps the most accurate military moment in Hollywood history. As any soldier will tell you, do what you want, take what you want, so long as my name isn’t on paper for it.
Babylon 5 was much like that. As important as the military was to many of the characters and story lines, it seems like there wasn’t a single person on the creative staff who knew anything above playing with plastic toy soldiers. Ranks and services were muddled and confused, things like saluting were almost never done correctly, and terminology was mostly thrown out because it sounded cool.
Only one instance stands out. in a very late episode, Sheridan barks out, “Fire everything. Time on target!” and it’s an exactly correct command, and IIRC the subsequent action follows the order.
Blackhawk Down and Zero Dark Thirty come to mind immediately.
Because ranks, terminology, and saluting rules would never change in 200 years.
Though I do get your point (and if it was inconsistant that is different. )
Actually that is a genarl problem with space miltary. Do you use naval ranks, or air force or make stuff up?
Brian
It wasn’t changed much from the present day, just muddled and inconsistent. There appeared to be two services (blue air force, brown army/marines) but the differences were never made clear and changed around from time to time. There was also nonsensical use of military and tactical terminology that anyone who’d been through basic or boot could have corrected.
It is clear that no one thought much of those details, which is sad given how much careful attention was given to other things.
There’s a scene in Apocalypse now where troops are running to board the helos for a mission and there’s one soldier standing at attention, being berated by a NCO, and the soldier is loudly refusing to board the helo. Oh, and the gunner/crewchief recommending someone sit on their helmet to avoid getting their balls blown off. Those 2 scenes struck me as very accurate.
There’s a scene in the otherwise forgettable “The Sum of All Fears” when the President’s motorcade has been wrecked by a nuclear blast. The U.S. Marines come to get him.
Listening to the commentary, these were actual Marines, and were given little/no direction–other than being told “your Boss is in that car. Get him out.” Even their dialog (something like “Don’t worry, Mr. President, it’s the Marines to take you home”) was ad-libbed.
Anyway, IIRC it’s pointed out on the commentary, but as they load up into their helicopter, there’s a quick shot of everyone sitting down, and in the foreground you see the stock of an M16 or M4, barrel down on the floor. Apparently, this is something they’re trained to do, so that an accidental discharge won’t go up into the engine overhead.
It’s just a little thing, but I thought that whole scene rang true.
I am not going to comment on the other films you cited, and the fact that the sniper in Jarhead did not get to fire the kill shot at the end is the way the things usually happen (I was on a detail where I had to be a target for the snipers, and they spent more time relaying information to higher than actually shooting anyone.) But the rest of the movie, Jarhead, is just legends and lore among former Military members. We have all heard the stories of the fake brandings. Some of us played soccer in MOPP4. No one ever admitted being the subject of the Superbowl sex tape. I think the only thing they missed in the movie was the guy who tried to hang himself with the floor buffer.
As to a realistic movie, a lot of WWII vets stated that the opening scene for Saving Private Ryan is about as accurate as a movie can be.
SFC Schwartz
I have heard that every single thing we see on the screen came from an eyewitness account.
Das Boot is often mentioned, although I’ve heard the original author didn’t like Petersen’s adaptation. Cross of Iron certainly impressed me.
I wouldn’t believe that. The D-Day scene was very good. Probably some of the other “Battle” scenes. The scenes of the guys sitting around talking. Not so much.
Now Band of Brothers is supposed to be very accurate.
The Last Detail got the Zumwalt-era navy right.
I think the claim was specifically for the opening D-Day scene only.
What I came in to say. This movie, one of my all-time favorites, struck me at the time as being right on the money as far as how Navy guys speak and act. The uniforms were right; the insignia was right; the haircuts were right. Nicholson’s character was like every lifer I ever knew. I’ve stood outside, freezing my ass off and drinking cold beer more times than I remember. Plus, you get to see very early footage of both Gilda Radner and Carol Kane in their brief scenes.
I thought she said “buddy spiked”, meaning there were missles on both sides.
An old timer who flew B-17s told me the Gregory Peck film “12 o’ Clock High” portrayed daylight bombing quite faithfully.
Too much blood-red sea water. Also, no one could have been shot as far underwater as those drowning soldiers were given the rounds used. Otherwise, yes. Mythbusters.
Not a military man myself. But a friend of mine who was a Vietnam vet said that Hamburger Hill was the most accurate movie he had seen about that war.