# Training raw recruits scene (Last Samurai, Glory, ???)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/training-raw-recruits-scene-last-samurai-glory/225996>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 25, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/training-raw-recruits-scene-last-samurai-glory/225996 "2004-01-25T14:40:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/training-raw-recruits-scene-last-samurai-glory/225996/1 "2004-01-25T14:40:41Z")

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So we were watching Glory last night, and there’s a scene where one of the new soldiers is a pretty good shot with the new rifle. Col. Shaw (Matthew Broderick) then makes him shoot while providing distractions (yelling, firing a pistol) and the recruit panics and can’t get a shot off. Almost the exact same scene happens in Last Samurai. Are there other examples of this in film? I’m betting that this is common and not just an homage sort of thing, but I can’t bring others to mind.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/training-raw-recruits-scene-last-samurai-glory/225996/2 "2004-01-25T19:54:54Z")

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I’m pretty sure that there’s something similar in _Full Metal Jacket_, but then, the first half of that film is nothing but training raw recruits.

And I’ve never served in the military myself, but it seems reasonable to suppose that that’s something a military trainer might actually do. After all, a soldier is going to have a lot of distractions when it matters.

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**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/training-raw-recruits-scene-last-samurai-glory/225996/3 "2004-01-25T20:03:46Z")

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Yeah, I figure it’s a common theme–is there anything similar in Heartbreak Ridge?–but the similarities in these two scenes had me flashing back and forth rather distractingly.

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**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/training-raw-recruits-scene-last-samurai-glory/225996/4 "2004-01-26T11:39:42Z")

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> [@NoCoolUserName](#):
>
> So we were watching Glory last night, and there’s a scene where one of the new soldiers is a pretty good shot with the new rifle. Col. Shaw (Matthew Broderick) then makes him shoot while providing distractions (yelling, firing a pistol) and the recruit panics and can’t get a shot off. Almost the exact same scene happens in Last Samurai. Are there other examples of this in film? I’m betting that this is common and not just an homage sort of thing, but I can’t bring others to mind.

Should I point out that both those films are directed by Edward Zwick?

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**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/training-raw-recruits-scene-last-samurai-glory/225996/5 "2004-01-27T07:34:48Z")

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Color me with the “big dummy” brush. That’ll teach me to post without lookin’ stuff up first.

Or probably it won’t.