Author Topic: If you haven'yt seen "We were Soldiers" (Read 1057 times)

funkedup · « **Reply #30 on:** August 25, 2002, 08:59:41 PM »

Ammo, glad you are getting the book. Beware - if you thought the film was moving, the book is even more so.

fdiron · « **Reply #31 on:** August 25, 2002, 09:04:30 PM »

Get real Daff. Can you name one white right-wing republican who is married to a black woman? He doesn't even have to be in office, or ever held an office.

Daff · « **Reply #32 on:** August 25, 2002, 09:09:46 PM »

I can barely name any republican politicians and are even less familiar with their wifes...but despite being considered by most here as a pinko-leftist-treehugging-terrorist-loving-freedom-hating-pc-communist (Did I leave anything out, Cabby?), I don't fully buy the right = racist connection. Far right yes, 'standard right', no.

Daff

10Bears · « **Reply #33 on:** August 25, 2002, 09:12:09 PM »

Quote

And just what does that have to do with anything?

Daff

Oh nothing Daff, I could care less, just saying many actors have very different lives when not playing a character er.. working..

Would Max Cady, Robert DeNero’s character in Cape Fear have an interracial marriage?

Thrawn · « **Reply #34 on:** August 25, 2002, 09:22:07 PM »

Bobby Mugabe?

SC-Sp00k · « **Reply #35 on:** August 25, 2002, 09:27:42 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Daff
"His wife is black. "

And just what does that have to do with anything?

Daff

Well, If he is white and she is black and they have 62 kids.

We have ourselves a game of Checkers

Hangtime · « **Reply #36 on:** August 25, 2002, 09:54:14 PM »

screw all you armchair warriors. easy to sit back and sling toejam when you didn't have to do the job.

every vet from that miserable war had to face his own demons.. both there, and here afterwards. Training, discipline, determination, patriotism and devotion to the guys around you didn't have any more to do with who came home and who didn't than simple luck.

it sucked. it will always suck, and i'm glad it's over, no matter how it ended. same goes for every movie i ever saw on the subject. frankly, i'd rather be entertained at the movies, and vietnam movies are just not entertaining..

this one made my, 'no thanks, i'll pass' list.

but, thats just me; i guess.

10Bears · « **Reply #37 on:** August 25, 2002, 09:57:30 PM »

Oh just wanted to quickly add something, if you didn’t know about DeNero’s wife, it’s because he works very hard to keep his private life private. He has a very large conservative fan base and wants to keep it that way.

Charlton Heston, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Swarsnagger are all very conservative doesn’t stop me from enjoying their movies

easymo · « **Reply #38 on:** August 25, 2002, 10:37:43 PM »

10bears. First of all. You have to admit, using this particular pretty boy, Hollywood, meat puppet, to play Vietnam vets, has some irony.

As far as making a movie. I wouldn't even try. As I have stated in the past. War is an experience. Like any human experience, if it is unique, you are not going to get it on film. If a guy has never eaten a banana. You can show him a thousand movies of people eating bananas, and he still wont know what one taste like.

If I were forced to make one. It would be very boring to people use to Hollywood drama queens. Basically, it would just show solider earning their pay. There would be no background music. Real life dosent have mood music. When someone got hurt, there would be screaming. There is something very disturbing about a grown man screaming. Also it would not be shut off, so as not to get on the audiences nerves. It would go on, and on, and on. Like real life.

I would include one standard, war movie, screen. When Officers, and senior NCOs stand around talking business, while bullets are flying by. I have seen them do this, and it really, was amazing.

There wouldn't be acts of great courage every two minutes. Exceptional acts of courage are as rare as acts of cowardice. Most guys just go along with the program. For most of us the things that we did that took guts. Had little to do with us personally. If you find yourself in a world of total chaos, and you have no idea of whats going on. (fear of the unknown can be a terrible thing). What you will do. Is what you are trained/conditioned to do. Its all you have. Its all you know. How do you show that on film?

Treatment of the enemy, in movies, always makes me scratch my head. Hollywood goes with the hero hating the bad guys for some reason; usually some trumped up revenge issue. Or they are the noble foe well met. Both are BS. To us they were just gooks. Killing them was not personal. It was just the business we where in.

Anyway, film is a lousy medium, for trying to understand this stuff. Books give you a much better way to look inside a guys head. That is where wars are really fought. I recommend Red Badge of Courage. It is an old book, but the guy got it mostly, right.

fdiron · « **Reply #39 on:** August 26, 2002, 12:57:44 AM »

I thought "Red Badge of Courage" was written by a girl?

10Bears · « **Reply #40 on:** August 26, 2002, 03:12:32 AM »

EasyMo the producers would freak out on your script. No theme music?.. No 60s style tunes to capture the era?.. Not even in the opening scenes in Saigon or Cam Ran Bay with the little motor bikes everywhere the those three wheeled taxi things?.. How bout a little Smoky Robinson or the Temptations at least. This is to bring the viewer into a world of complete chaos. Even the safe areas are teaming with danger or the unknown.

Your right about the taste of a banana but it would be the same as describing grasshoppers dipped in molasses. They say it tastes sweet and crunchy. Using that description from a trusted source you might want to try it.

The Hollywood drama queens really turned me off to Black hawk down. Except they lacked the drama.. When one got shot I didn’t really have a chance to know him. It was lack of drama that hurt that film. Remember these are mostly working men’s sons and it being a war movie the audience doesn’t mind if the characters have an odd shaped face or big nose. Do you remember Kip from Bill Willman’s Battleground?.. the one with the GI issue false teeth? He didn’t do a lot of drama or get too emotional but those chattering teeth made his character memorial. You remembered him and would feel bad if he got shot.

You scene where the kid gets shot and doesn’t stop screaming. The scene needs to stop at some point the dust off medivac finally arrives or something. Your producer is going to think your writing an anti war film. The audience can only take that for maybe four minutes or so then the scene needs to fade out with maybe an echo.

If you find yourself in a world of total chaos, and you have no idea of whats going on. (fear of the unknown can be a terrible thing). What you will do. Is what you are trained/conditioned to do. Its all you have. Its all you know. How do you show that on film?

I’d say SPR does a good job with this. There’s a lot of stuff they do with cameras now days to show complete insanity. The green tracers appear to come straight toward you the viewer. A camera mounted on a helmet looks at an explosion to the right then looks at another to the left.. The cameraman doesn’t know where the charges have been planted so when they go off it’s as much a surprise to him. There’s all kinds of ways to create stark fear.

For a war film to make money there needs to be an anchor if not a love interest some sort of reminder of home. In SPR the love interest was Mrs Ryan. Yeah that’s right. Her collapsing on the porch of the Ryan home pulled the emotional heart strings enough for the wives to go to the movie.. Without the wives going to watch the film, that means you can’t go. Another emotional heart string was Capt. Miller going off from his men to do a little release. He keep looking around to make sure his men didn’t see him. He tried hard NOT to cry.. The harder he tried the more powerful the scene became.

Sigh---

Yes your right Red Badge of Courage is an excellent book I would like to read the book the film Gettysburg is based.

Animal · « **Reply #41 on:** August 26, 2002, 08:12:27 AM »

Quote

Another emotional heart string was Capt. Miller going off from his men to do a little release. He keep looking around to make sure his men didn’t see him. He tried hard NOT to cry.. The harder he tried the more powerful the scene became.

Probably one of the most powerful scenes in any war movie, or any movie at all. At least for me.

lazs2 · « **Reply #42 on:** August 26, 2002, 08:47:08 AM »

I found all the brits in blackhawk down pretending to have southern accents was pretty lame but the movie was great... It was Riddley Scot after all. (yes I know he's a brit)
lazs

sling322 · « **Reply #43 on:** August 26, 2002, 09:20:10 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Hangtime
sling toejam

What the hell did I do?!?

Creamo · « **Reply #44 on:** August 26, 2002, 09:39:14 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by 10Bears
I would like to read the book the film Gettysburg is based. [/B]

Killer Angels

The best novel i ever read. Riveting. Huge, but you'll pour through it.

Then when you see Gettysburg, you'll just dig all 4 hours.

Buy it, i ain't toejamtin.

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Hi Fatty you studmuffin, FSU sucks Yak balls