HBO's Generation Kill

Teaser trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS9_wtekt8c

In the first video under Related Videos, there's a news segment which features an interview with Evan Wright about the book. I'm not sure I agree with his supposition that because soldiers listen to gangsta rap, and grew up during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal that they're "pre-jaded," at least moreso than Vietnam era soldiers, who "lost their innocence." The video features Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and a soldier talking about "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor." But the miniseries teaser features a song that sounds like 60s protest rock-and-roll. Ed Burns' influence?

Ziggy!

Beecher!

The extended trailer is great with lots of dialogue that makes me miss The Wire.

I saw a preview of this before Recount.

I didn't know it was from The Wire guys. Now it shot to the top of my Must see list.

The new promos introducing each of the soldiers make me think this is going to be something really special. I never had any interest in seeing any of the Iraq movies in the last few years but I'm really excited for this series. It's made me realize that Simon/Burns could write a show about anything, lawyers, plumbers, politicians, scientists, hair dressers, and somehow they'd find the heart and story hiding in there somewhere. Think about all the different jobs people had on The Wire and how many great and fascinating moments everyone had. You could have Carcetti calling people and trying to get money in one scene and Omar robbing drug dealers in the next and each scene will be equally engaging.

If anyone can come up with a great series about the Iraq war then it's these guys.

Agreed. I'm reeeeaally looking forward to this. You know the writing is gonna be excellent, but I've been especially impressed with the production values on display in the previews. I'm not expecting Black Hawk Down special effects, but I hope they can deliver a decent sense of scale as early looks indicate.

Bump as it is premiering this Sunday.

Review here makes it sound similiar in style and content to the Wire:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,2716952.story

Stoked.

Helluva first episode. Has definitely been bumped up to appointment tv.

I almost always need at least a few episodes to get any sort of proper feel for a series. What was here was good, if a little familiar. I figure a lot also depends on getting a handle on the quality of the characters, which I don't have yet. Looks very promising, though. That last shot was a nice metaphor.

Fucking Brilliant first episode.

FYI: The marine (Rudy) who was talking about moving to San Francisco was played by the actual guy.

I like Godfather the most so far.

Pussy infrastructure... let's hope that makes it into the popular lexicon.

I thought that premiere was fucking outstanding.

I bet the no-dog-shooting policy changes pretty quickly. Anybody see the "U.S. soldier throws puppy off a cliff" mini-controversy? I think it eventually became SOP to shoot dogs.

The soldier bringing up the Geneva convention and his superior telling the reporter to write what he sees made me happy. I'm assuming this is as faithful as Wright, Simon et al intend it to be, and those two comments really happened.

A few clicks on the pro-military side of Jarhead. I couldn't tear my eyes away from it.

I believe the main reason for not shooting the dogs is because its not the best of ideas to open fire on an animal when your trying to corral a bunch of POW Iraqis, which would indeed cause a panic among both the prisoners and the Marines and could lead to unnecessary casualties. This is why the Marines just stare at Captain America when he orders them to fire on the dog.

The dogs are actually the greatest beneficiary's of living in a war zone. Lots of fresh food laying around.

Loved the first episode. Its really faithful to the book, so if your looking for a better handle on the characters check it out.

David Simon loves those train track metaphors.

Ziggy is fucking great

Did I notice that tall cop from The Wire who got shit canned for attacking the civvy in his car?

Heres some cool stuff the Chicago Tribune posted to help people get a grounding on the characters and where they are in Iraq:

Map of First Recon's Movement Episode by Episode

Key to Map (SPOILER WARNING!)

Humvee One Roster

Humvee Two Roster

Humvee Three Roster

Humvee Four Roster

Humvee Five Roster

Chain of Command Chart

Theres also an overview, two Q&A's, and a glossary of terms if you scroll down on the page a little:

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune....er-122-watcher

Yep and yep.

Loved this whole exchange: "Po-lice that moosetache!"

Thought Jon Huertas stood out as well in last night's ep.

I love how in the background of that scene theres a Marine that walks by with a Hitler mustache Sieg Heiling. That got a big laugh from me.

"I'm free balling it all the way to Baghdad."

What a great show last night, I'm so excited for this entire series.

This is really good, and I want more. It's just like Overthere, but without the super-suckage factor and that annoying shitty song.

I want more.....now. I keep trying to figure out what I want to watch and all I can think of is "I want to watch more Generation Kill." Kinda sucks, but then again, its kind of a good thing. This will be getting a lot of playtime from me when it comes out on DVD.

Sunday Night Ratings

Wish more people were watchin'. Guess the trend for Iraq films/TV Series continues.

This will get major play on DVD. I thought it was fantastic. I laughed out loud at the Nazi walk and "pussy infrastructure." Ziggy is much better on this than he was on The Wire. This is the best thing I've seen all summer, including theatrically.

Also here to profess my love. It was great. Ziggy was really the stand out. He's incredible here. The whole pussy speech had me laughing.

I knew this was going to be good, but this has the potential to be another Band of Brothers, if not better.

Ho-hum. Just another excellent episode of television from Simon, Burns and company.

I'm starting to get a better feel for the characters as a menagerie, but there hasn't really been any sort of emotional anchor established. They just feel like a bunch of guys who could be there one minute, gone the next. Though, if that is the dynamic you're going to have, I suppose a combat setting is probably the best place for it. Obviously it's still too early to tell anything, and I don't quite know why I'm even mentioning it without waiting at least a few more episodes.

Anyway, for me the standout has been Son of Stellan.

Yea, except there were how many combat deaths during the invasion? 140? I don't expect a whole lot of American blood to be spilled in this mini-series though perhaps this was an unlucky company.

Oh yea, fantastic show.

True, but there's more to the setting than just the instant death/life is fleeting and held cheaply factor that could support a more kaleidoscopic approach to character. Besides other circumstance (injury, or whatever) there's the potential to play up the anonymous grunt factor; offer a patchwork portrait. I doubt that'll happen, and I'm trying not to make any assumptions. It's a good start, and I'm just offering my initial observations.

This show is turning into the Ziggy show. He gets amazing lines every episode.

I agree on the characters, we are getting a better glimpse at all of them. And it's getting better.
Show is awesome. It will probably be snubbed by the Emmys as usual.

I dunno. THE CORNER cleaned house the year it was eligible.

I loved the subtle touch of him, fast lipped as he his, mouthing even faster after downing Ripped Fuel. The show barely even draws your attention to it, I thought it was a nice touch.

As much as I loved Ziggy's Thai pussy speech and the guy in the passenger seat finally cracking a smile at his rants, I felt the moment was severely undercut when he had another speech moments later that made no sense and went nowhere. Quite likely that was the whole point (to show his deterioration, sleep deprived state of mind), but I felt it kinda killed the progression. I dunno, maybe it's just me.

Still, enjoyed the ep a lot.

Well seeing where they are in the invasion of Iraq, the real life casualties were relatively low at the point. I don't think you can compare the combat of WWII and the Iraq invasion as equals. Also, the mindset of the troops were totally diffrent in each war. The Germans were the devil incarnate and were just as well equipped with weapons and tactics as the Allies and the soldiers knew that going in. During the Iraq invasion, the military treated Iraq as if they brought a knife to a gunfight, so there was not the same sense of fear.

Just wait...theres some tense stuff later in the novel, so I assume it will be in the show as well. While I don't think there were any casualties in the unit...well, I'm not gonna spoil anything.

Most of the Marine's didn't encounter strong resistance or smarter tactics until the second round of fighting in Afghanistan, however.

I'm not sure what kind of sleep deprivation you all are suffering from, but I think that the combat scenes here have been terrific. They aren't the most visceral combat scenes, but again, that's how real combat is. It seemed to me that they were going out of their way to mess with your expectations. There were a couple of shots in the scenes that in most war movies forshadow something (example: a wide angle shot of a man walking towards a car usually signifies that the car will explode all of a sudden) but the moment you are expecting never happens.

Likewise, the pushing through of the second city had me holding my breath hoping the battalion would make it through. Looking back, not a lot was shown (for budget reasons I'm sure), but it did a good job of conveying the confusion and the rush of trying to get through something like that. Simon has ALWAYS been about portraying things the way that they actually happen and I imagine that this is the way he means for it to be.

I actually found the action to be much better than I expected. Especially when they brought down the building with the Mk-19. I was thinking "What are you doing shooting rifles at that, you have an MK-19, bring that fucker down."

Captain America really cracked me up this episode with his stupidity, along with Encino Man. That scene where the Captain unloads his AK into a parked vehicle just because he felt like firing his weapon is so ridiculous it had to have happened (and it did, its in the book).

So, I gotta say my favorite characters from the mini so far are Colbert, Fruity Rudy, Captain America, and Person.

Speaking of Person, anyone else laugh at the Michael Jackson bit? I love it how he's so sleep deprived he drools on himself while he's saying it. Its really the look he has on his face when he says it that gets me.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=R7JZvn3RyU0

Michael Jackson bit at the end of this. Made me laugh too

I am ashamed to admit i don't have a clue how most of the characters are called.

Except the Godfather, of course.

To be honest, I've been watching with subtitles. Makes it easier to know whos-who and also to understand the technical jargon.

Thanks for this. I've only seen the first ep (have the second DVR'd), but I had a hard time following the dialogue with all the jargon and people's names escape me.

Thought the first episode was great, although it seemed a little preachy/lecture-y in parts. Particularly the speech about receiving letters from school kids. Maybe its just that actor, but all of his dialogue sounds forced. I can't imagine a real soldier going on and on like he did. In any case, good start. Can't wait to watch the second ep when I get home.

Take it from someone who lives in the South: there are guys that go on and on and on like that.

Let me restate: He sounded a little too literate to be a soldier. Although, granted that could be my bias that no one with a lick of brains would voluntarily join the Marines.

That would be wrong. People join the Marines for a variety of reasons, and while most of them aren't exactly the smartest people in the world, there are some guys who come from stable backgrounds and have legitimate chances to become successful doing something else (Lt. Fick, the young looking guy who first brings the report to the tent, I believe dropped out of Harvard to join the Marines). They just choose to do what they do, and its not over some patriotic bullshit, its mostly for selfish reasons. It's like a test of endurance for them. Some guys join because they can't deal with all the trappings of modern society (something I can't really blame them for), so they basically say "Fuck It" and decide to become killers.

Recon Marines aren't just any old Marines either. These guys volunteer to become Recon Marines, they don't get assigned to it (Hence, they look down on POGs, as Trombley explains in the second ep) . To be a Recon Marine, you have to go through SERE training, which basically tells you what type of people these are. But they also tend to be independent thinkers, the "Cowboys of the Marine Corp." Their trained to go out in the desert in small teams, gather intelligence, and sneak behind enemy lines. They are trained to make smart decisions without direct orders from higher ups. They aren't trained for driving head first through cities, or dealing with stupid decisions from the command, since when their out in the field they would be free to act on their own. This is why there's so much tension between the grunts and command.

Oh, and no problem for the links Hope it helps!