10 More Insanely Accurate War Movie Details
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Upham having his chin strap down was extra accurate because he served in the 29th. Gen Gerhardt required all troops in his division to wear chinstraps whenever the helmet was worn.
Yep. And the notion that a bullet hitting your helmet could break your neck is wrong. The notion was actually about explosive impacts, especially with the German stick grenades which were more concussive than fragmental. I'd say this notion was just a theory of someone who scared enough people into his superstitions. Ultimately experienced combatants did wear their chin straps in combat, especially in assaults. Likely loosening when defending or not expecting immediate combat. And furthermore, based on my research the chin straps had no statistical impact on surviving blasts. WW2 helmets were not as effective as modern helmets are, but they were still helpful to survive shrapnel. Also look at Korea, Vietnam, and modern times... where chin straps are still used... should say a lot.
@@Andrew_L86 Your information is not accurate, but definitely in the right direction. It wasn't about the hand grenades, it was about artillery strikes. The thought was that with the concussive force from High Explosive artillery rounds, it would blow the helmet off your head, but if you were wearing the chin strap on the intended way, as the force tugged on the helmet, the strap would either cause severe lacerations (tearing off ears, noses, etc) or would cause the head to snap and break the neck. Hand grenades did not provide enough force to do this, and WWII saw a lot of artillery use (not as much as WWI, but still a lot),
There are documented cases of concussions causing broken necks when the chinstrap was fastened on the original m1 helmet, they changed the buckle design towards the end of ww2 to have a breakaway to prevent the issue.
@@Andrew_L86 ive also seen claims that unconscious soldiers would choke to death
@@gijoe508
Notice Real WW2 Combat Vet,
Lee Marvin, DIDN'T Latch His Chinstrap.
Chin straps on helmets we're not removed for fear of getting hit with a bullet but instead for fear that a pressure wave from a nearby blast would catch the helmet and break the neck.
The Cpl Up ham’s chin strap being fastened was because he served in the 29th Division and the General in charge of the Division was a total stickler about the uniform and that included the chin strap always being fastened. Yeah I served in the 29th in the 80ies and we knew this bit of trivia.
29 Let's go!
"Rally 'round the flag boys!" Too bad the 115th no longer exists as an infantry regiment.
A National Guard Division!
I remember watching the Big Red 1 when I was a kid. One bit that sticks in my mind (apart from the ending scene) is where one his soldiers, Smiddy, gets hit by a mine designed to cripple. He even explains to Smiddy he is not going to die, then holds up this red thing in his hands "Ahh, dont worry Smiddy, its just one of your balls, that's why they give ya two!".
Oh my god... I was watching the TV when I was a kid one weekend, and a WW2 movie was playing for the midday film. I had never seen it before, and quickly forgot the name along with pretty much the entire film. However, I vividly remember the scene you described and have for the last 20 years wondered what movie it was from. The Big Red One is going on my list of upcoming watches. Thank you!
I have seen FMJ at least 30 times....never once noticed the rounds in the ejected magazine.
I learned something new today!
I love the attention to detail. Even in 1980, when I was in boot camp, I accidentally left the range with a round in my pocket.
I buried it deep in the ground next time we were in the pit (dirt area for doing exercise).
I had a similar incident to the umbrella trope shown in A Bridge Too Far. I was known to have multiple flashlights with different colored lenses. One evening I was running chow and mail for my platoon on a remote site. The password and radio frequencies had changed, but I thought that I could satisfactorily identify myself without them--but it was dark. One flashlight I attached facing rear so the driver with the truck could see me. I had five small flashlights in my left hand, each with a different colored lens. I wasn't even challenged when I passed the checkpoint but everybody who wasn't on duty met the chow truck and got their mail. As soon as I handed off the truck, I went to relieve the sentry.
"How did you recognize me at a distance?"
"Nobody else in Germany has that many colored lights."
@alexanderkarslake2848 My incident took place during the Eighties. But my service in Berlin resulted in a WW2 occupation medal--WW2 didn't fully end until after the USSR dissolved. There was just a cease fire followed by occupation and a series of treaties.
Isn't the Real World confusing?
The men who recreated the Rangers scaling the cliffs at Pont Du hoc actually included a soldier who had actually made, and survived, that assault! He was a private in 6 June, but 18 years later he was an NCO assigned to an Airborne unit in Germany.
The chin strap legend isn't that a BULLET hit would choke you out, but an explosion would.
Artillery Would Do That.
One of the things I really liked about Enemy At The Gates was all the setpieces that take place in actual famous locations from the battle, like the Department Store and the Chemical Factory
And the fountain!
I got a good friend who was in Mogadishu for that whole mess. He was a ranger right in the middof it all got shot in the leg for it. Anyways i asked him one time on a road trip what was the biggest difference between the movie and real life. After a minute he said the volume of gunfire. In the movie it seemed like a lot of shooting, but according to him the volume of fire was so intense in real life he said it was just noise. Not shooting sounds. Said like a non stop explosion for hours. Some crazy shit.
The descriptions from some people who were on the birds or witnessing Super Six 1 and Mike Durant getting shot down stated that the number of RPGs fired almost made the sky black. A little exaggeration, but they didn't just fire one or two. It was dozens.
@@Unicorn161 It sounded like a one hell of a mess.
Served with a guy who was there and he said the real thing was way worse than the movie. And this was a dude who was NOT prone to exaggeration. One of my favorite NCOs, learned a ton about CQB from him.
@@robertcalvert957 Was he a Ranger by chance? It's hard to imagine what it would he like to have thousands of people shooting thousands of rounds at you for hours on end. Really speaks to just how bad of shots they were. Thank God....
As it is said, soldiers learn to shout and loud, as you have so high noise and volume of everything that you don't hear a thing.
Why hand signals are critical, as that is confirming what someone might hear.
A other thing is that your vision goes so narrow that you don't see the surrounding, it doesn't matter than what you look at. Why you need to have all ordering etc done so that everyone can see commanding officer.
It has been so since the dawn of firearms...
You have everyone firing here and there, yelling etc to get the people understand what is to happen. Why signal flags and horns were critical in those times before.
One thing I would like to point out, Herricks pupils are an incredible point, the pupils done relax until about 1 minute up to 3 minutes after the heart stops, there is that much oxygenated blood left in the brain to continue to send the signals and generally the patient loses consciousness after just 10 to 30 seconds. Basically they made it happen too fast compared to real life. Trust me on this, as a retired paramedic/firefighter of 26 years, I saw my fair share of people die and the pupils were one of the very first things I would check.
I trust in your expertise. But of course you realize that movies have to cut corners. No way could they expect an audience to wait three minutes staring into a corpse’s eyes waiting for them to dilate. Thank you for your public service.
Thank you for a life spent saving lives and serving the public. Very few people have the dedication and humanity for such work, especially nowadays, except for selfless souls like you.
it's just a movie, lighten up/
Fun fact, FMJ was actually filmed at RAF Bassinbourn in England (later ATR Bassinbourn - Army training regiment). I did my British Army training here and the barrack room in the movie was our training wing. You’ll notice as they March around the camp the road markings are all British. The outdoor training in the movie was also the airfoeld where B17’s flew from during WW2.
Actor Richard Todd wore his actual WW2 British airborne beret in The Longest Day.
Fun Fact: James Jones, an actual soldier in the Pacific Theater whose experiences at Guadalcanal formed the basis of his novel The Thin Red Line that Terrence Malick's 1998 cinematic masterpiece was based on, was actually a military advisor on The Longest Day.
Also: Woody Harrelson's character Keck is a a staff sergeant, not a lieutenant (although that's easy to miss!). The lieutenant of his platoon is Jared Leto, I think. Anyway, after Keck is killed, Sergeant Becker takes over the platoon. In the book, he's Sergeant Beck, but I think the movie - which already features characters who look interchangeable in their muddy uniforms and have names like grunts (Witt, Bell, Doll, Dale, Ash) - decided that "Keck" and "Beck" was one step too far.
That movie was endless hell. It just wouldn't stop. It was like The English Patient.
The biggest problem with the inaccuracy of war movies is that the soldiers always have their uniforms clean and freshly ironed. lol
Or they have 40-60 year old actors play 18-30 year olds.
The one detail that We Were Soldiers failed to explicitly acknowledge even in the credits was the heroism of Lt (later Colonel) Cyril Richard "Rick" Rescorla. Col Rescorla's image was captured in one of the most iconic photographs of the war and graced the original cover of the book. After Col Rescorla retired he went to work as head of security at Morgan-Stanley shortly after the first WTC attacked. He was sure that Bin Laden would strike again and prepared for it. On the morning of September 11, 2001 Rescorla led the staff to safety without losing a single person but he did not stop there. He repeatedly went back to rescue other people until the building came down around him. He would leave no man or woman behind. The movie premiered in 2002 and it was a shame that no acknowledgement was given even though he played a major role in the Ia Drang Valley.
Yeah how was he "repeatedly" rescuing people? Hard to do. No one made it down and out hurt so much before the building collapsed, and you could not ascend the stairs easily with people streaming down (we did move for a fireman going up ). I was there you see so I'm talking first hand knowledge. Someone did carry my coworker Doris Torres down from the 78th floor though so yes rescues happened but it would be awfully hard to "keep running back in repeatedly", there wasn't all that much time really and people were flowing out of there. He could not go in the normal routes like the front doors security was guarding them so no one would go in or out on the plaza level. Also Bin Laden was not pinned for the first attack, only 9/11 so how did he "know Bin Laden would attack again"? The culprit in the first attack was the leader of a Brooklyn Mosque. "The staff" numbered like 2700 and 13 DIED. I'm sure you wrote that from memory and he was a great man, and saved tons of people ignoring the "Tower II Tower II remain on your floors...Remain on your floors and await further instruction...the situation is confined to Tower I" canned announcement playing repeatedly. He instead grabbed a bullhorn and ordered everyone out. Also I looked him up on Wikepedia apparently he did run back in and made it to 10, but not his 44th floor. I don;t mean to be a nit picker but accuracy about who what why and when is ultra important to me. It is how I deal with the whole thing.
@@edwardschmitt5710 I was in the Pentagon. I knew Chick Burlingame, the pilot of the plane that hit the building. My friend's son-in-law whose wedding I attended, LCDR David Williams, was killed in the Navy Command Center so do not assume that you are only one here who was directly affected.
We knew Bin Laden was responsible within hours of the attack and we knew he was responsible for the first attack. I am a retired intelligence officer and was back at work in the Pentagon on 9-12.
@@edwardschmitt5710 Yousef's uncle is considered the architect for the 9/11 attacks. Probably got the idea from his nephnew. But 9/11 was not the first run in with Bin Laden. It's been shown the Somalia was partly due to Bin Laden. Not massively so but it did embolden him to continue.
"You left [Somalia] carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead with you," bin Laden taunted in his 1996 fatwa against America.
What bin Laden didn't say in 1996 was that his henchmen had a hand in training and equipping the Somali militiamen who inflicted the worst day of casualties in the history of U.S. Special Operations Forces. Deadly al Qaeda attacks in the Horn of Africa against U.S. targets in 1996, 1998 and 2000 followed, leading up to 9/11.
"It is true that al Qaeda was emboldened by 1993 - it was their first successful attack on us and we were unaware of bin Laden's involvement until later," former Sen. Bob Kerrey, who served on the 9/11 Commission, told ABC News on Thursday.
"They coached the [Somali militia] rocket-propelled grenade guys to aim for the tail rotors of U.S. Black Hawks," Mark Bowden, author of the best-selling book "Black Hawk Down," told ABC News.
Rescorla is an American legend, but he wasn't in Hal Moore's BN; he was a PL in the second BN that the 7th threw into Ia Drang. So it makes sense that the movie wouldn't add the characters of the additional BN into the mix.
@@SpreadEagle6 Did not know that. I thought he was because of the use of his photo on the book.
I was (really) an extra in "We were Soldiers." I am also a US Army Veteran; 307th AHB, 1/123rd Avn Regt, 7th ID (L) Ft. Ord.
When the casting call was put out, I responded and was quizzed on my service. Ended up as a Sergeant/Squad Leader for all the scenes shot at Ft. Hunter-Ligget. The details were phenomenal, weapons and uniforms included. I wore my own issue boots, belt and one set of "rip-stop" greens -- although I had to remove my modern name-tapes. Most of the "quality" (Mel Gibson, et al,) were pretty aloof, but I ended up chatting with Sam Elliot and Greg Kinnear on several occasions. As an extra, I wasn't in many square-in-the-camera shots, but I got to throw in a few touches of my own. (Dragging a wounded buddy, feet-first, head bouncing, away from the napalm and because of my Army aviation experience, standing in the flight line of Huey's to give correct ground signals to the departing UH-1s.
The best fun was as the Sergeant in the jeep in the opening sequence with the French officers. When the Captain is shot, I spun around to assess the wound and then leap out shouting commands in French; (grew up in Canada and was in a Reserve Combat Engineer Sqdn. before enlisting in the US Army.)
It was, I recall, as realistic as being in the Army, but with way better food, (Craft Service) and a lot more fun, playing with all the weapons on screen. Yup, good times, would recommend being an extra if you ever get the chance.
That’s a pretty cool story man! Sounds like a lot of fun!
It really, really was.@@thebackroomstockboy7336
A great movie.
Nobody calls the cast on a film set "quality", they're called "talent"
Oh, WOW. You were on set at Camp Roberts with us while filming? I didn't realize you were eavesdropping my conversations with the person who used the phrase "Quality" and was, in fact, one of the main characters in the movie. He used the term derogatorily when he didn't get a reserved seat at the front table in the mess tent.
So, hey, you know so much about my experiences and the words and phrases used, which actor was it? Y'know, the one who sat directly across the table from me and my squad about three rows down from the "Quality" table?
You know so much, please enlighten the world with the fact you know better than the person having the conversation.
Or, y'know just shut up.
@@TheDogDad
The "psychopathic" Drill Instructor in Full Metal Jacket was played by real life Drill Instructor R. Lee Emery and was almost exactly like the Drill Instructors I had in USMC boot camp at MCRD San Diego in 1974.
He just wanted those boys to survive
Thin Red Line... if you pull the pin on a grenade, it permits the lever to release, as this is in the belt the lever will stay in the belt and the grenade will roll away from the person. It would have dropped to the ground. The leaver coming away from the grenade is what sets it off. They generally have a 4-second delay. So you pull the pin holding the lever to the grenade and when it is thrown the spring on the firing pin flips the lever off, so it can fire the fuse. Then you have 4 (ish) seconds from the time it leaves your hand. Also, a grenade going off in the position shown would have killed instantly. The rest about bending the split pins is accurate.
Grenade lethality in movies depends on if your the good guys or the bad guys. If your the bad guys then a grenade 100m away can kill you, if your a good guy you can have it explode in your hand and not need to file your nails afterwards.
That being said, the grenade should have vaporised his hip and severely wounded his squad. Not a very noble death for a group of protagonists.
@@13g0man Silly me, I forgot the Physics of Movies :-) Also the 300 round magazines on the Good Guys Rifles!! You should never watch a film based on something you know about on any subject.
In this youtube video it said the grenade was at fault ? Is that true I always assumed he made a mistake and grabbed the pin instead of taking the nade of his belt first. Pulling a nade out of your belt pin first is surely a really stupid thing to do ?
@@redscope897 yes it is very stupid. You grab grenade by the body to pull it off the belt or webbing. The with a firm grip of body AND lever you pull the pin. When you throw the grenade the firing mechanism that was held in place by the lever can move and in doing so flips the leaver off. Pulling the pin with the grenade attached to webbing means the lever will stay on the webbing and the grenade will separate and fall. Normally grenades had a 3-4 second fuse.
@@BouncyStickman I wasn't talking about it from having watched videos. I was talking about it from having been in the military and using them.
I've worn the M1 helmet for countless hours and miles. Trust me when I say you can't run with it unstrapped. You can walk and march, but definitely doesn't stay in place very well. 3 pounds of steel bouncing around doesn't sit in one place too long.
even worse, in combat, strapped or not, i know because i did a year in viet nam in the infantry. when crawling around in rice paddies it would fall forward enough to block your vision. when crawling around on hands and knees they will fall off regardless of strap when you look down too much and "jostle" them around. most of us tended to "ditch" our helmets whenever possible and only wore them on combat air assaults. part of the reason that they moved around so much was because they were always wet on the inside which made the leather headstrap slip, slide and stretch. we were always crossing rivers, mucking around in swamps or slogging through wet rice paddies ( i was in 9th id down in the delta, along the mekong river and up against the Cambodian border in wet rice paddies).
Not a good excuse for Pvt. Pile having a live round. I was a Marine, and each round you fire on the range is counted and recorded, plus, you are inspected thoroughly before leaving the range to ensure you don’t have any ammo with you. That being said, Pvt. Pile could have placed a few rounds in his underwear when ammo is issued, saying he didn’t get the right number of rounds. More realistically, and this has happened several times, Pvt. Pile would have shot his DI on the range then shot him self. A better detail is the trophies you see over GySgt. Hartman’s shoulder in one scene that are never mentioned. Those are trophies given to platoons in the training company who score the highest in knowledge, drill and the range. You can see the platoon was actually a very high performing platoon from the number of trophies they have. You wouldn’t know this if you didn’t go to USMC boot camp, and was undoubtedly a detail included by R. Lee Ermey who was also the military advisor for the film.
When I was in the army basic at fort Leonard Wood in the 90s we had a guy get busted for sneaking rounds into his locker. It was towards the end a couple days after range time. They were strict at first but got sloppy towards the end. Police up that brass and ammo.
Were those checks in place during the vietnam era?
Either way it was more Kubrik throwing in the detail to explain the rounds rather than for historical accuracy, so more a failing of this channel to include it in this list I guess
You were a marine?
@@matthewnewberry9843 no army. Met some marines when at Leonard Wood who were chill and offered good advice during basic. Not sure why they were on base but we also had soldiers from other countries at times which at the time I thought was weird, till I got it explained to me. Especially the Russian soldiers we ended up eating with one day (that was after basic during AIT at fort Sam Houston).
@@noneed4me2n7 i ment the guy in the original comment. Once a marine always a marine, unless you did something bad...
“Psychopathic drill instructor Hartman”? No, just someone who knows how important his job is in making sure as many of those boys as possible come home alive.
R. Lee Ermy acknowledged that there were some elements of his performance that were both ideal in a drill instructor. My understanding is that he was playing his role in a Grey area between his true knowledge/experience and what the director and writers wanted
I remember watching a VHS of Full Metal Jacket in NCO school in the late 1980s, with my platoon staff sargent warning us not to stress out future recruits to that point…
Thats just an old beliefe that having a harsh recruit period, makes stronger soldiers. Its not. You are not getting any better by beign yelled at. Look at scandinavia for instance
@@Kentirir When’s the last time Scandinavia fought a war? I’m not sure I’d hold up their training methods as the ideal way to prepare someone for combat.
@@Kentirir What wars has "Scandinavia" won recently?
Drill Sergeant Hartman was not psychopathic, that's exactly how US Marine, and Royal Marine drill sergeants work on their recruits, especially during wartime. R. Lee Ermey, a US Marine Drill Instructor before becoming an actor, had a lot of input into the creation of the character of Sergeant Hartman
I agree that that's how they used to do things back in the 60's but that also doesn't mean that the character wasn't psychopathic; two things can be true at the same time. I've talked to several people that went through basic (Army, Navy & Marines) and while they confirmed that many of the things such as hitting recruits did happen it was actually illegal back then they just didn't do anything about it. The simple fact is when I went to basic in the early 90's it was just as tough & just as demanding but DIs, Drills & CCs (I don't know what the Air Force calls them) didn't need to nor ever have to put their hands on a recruit & I have personally seen one get brought up on a NJP for doing just that so no this isn't how they act anymore, even during wartime.
Also, Ermey even said in an interview once that while what he did in the movie was mostly accurate it was only a small aspect of being a DI that was boiled down to 30 minutes for emphasis.
Semper Fi Ermey 👍
He was actually originally hired as a technical advisor on the film (he still got that credit) until they were holding auditions for the role and BOY did he get that part hands down!!!
@@JeffreyDeCristofaro I am convinced the ghost of the Marine Sergeant he plays in the Frighteners is the same character he plays in Full Metal Jacket.
@@thefurrybastard1964 That was the whole joke.
you missed an important bit of information regarding R Lee Ermey. not only did he serve in the US Marines, but he was also a drill sergeant during the Vietnam war too
Thought he was a Cpl Instructor on Recruit Training Teams as well as serving in Vietnam.
Yeah about the unused rounds on the range with Pyle, that never would have happened. You are given exactly the number of rounds required, even for practice, and any rounds not fired would have been easily noticed. They do very strict checks when leaving the range as well to find any unused rounds. While it is possible to hide them, it is highly unlikely he would have been able to do so without someone noticing.
Actually it could happen and does happen. Its not supposed to and and you could get in trouble for it, but it can and do happen. I would know as I worked with ordonance supply and disposal and as such was one of the persons who received rounds accidentally brought back to barracks by other soldiers.
Basically, you're right that there's always one counting. In my time, however, some have smuggled ammunition out of exercises as a souvenir, so that is definitely possible.
I have more of a problem with Pyle still having his rifle after graduation, since it should have been turned in long ago.
@@matzefly Yeah, I remember very strict round-counting at the range in boot camp, but I went through boot camp in '93, and no doubt a lot about boot camp has changed over the years. But I VERY HIGHLY doubt that weapon wouldn't have been checked in before graduation.
It's weird that people think because round counts happen now, that could have never happened. Did you ever stop and think why they have round counts?
@@matzefly That was more for the drama. Pyle graduating and becoming a success to Hartman was even more important for the story that he was killed by his own creation.
There's only so much realism you can put into a movie. I'm certain R. Lee Ermey would have pointed that out. And Kubrick would have told him, "Sure, but I want him to have his rifle after graduation. So he'll have it."
When we were on the firing range in the Army they told us that if we had any live rounds left over to leave them on the ground in front of the foxhole so if the next guy needed an extra round or two, they would be available. It would have been super easy to end up with a dozen or so extra rounds in your pocket.
The scene from Thin Red Line doesn't make sense because there is nothing keeping the grenade attached to his belt after he pulled the pin and the spoon handle flew off. It should have fallen to his feet. Not sure how that's "insanely accurate".
The only thing that isn't depicted in a live actor playing dead besides the pupil dilation, is in fact Dead Eyes Do Not Lie. I have been there when my own father passed and you can actually see death in the eyes. He passed away from bone cancer in my arms as I held him to comfort his soul! I will never forget the instant life left his body!
As a nurse who has seen thousands of people die, the pupil dilation is true, it is one of the signs we look for.
As an aside, the skin colour you see in movies is almost always wrong. Our skin colour is dependent on blood flow through it, so when that stops, it becomes paler.
I'm sorry for your loss. I'm glad your Dad had you there to comfort him. I'm sure you being there made a difference.
The mention of the Last of the Mohicans is deja vu. I mentioned the siege tactics as being pretty accurate in the American Revolution class I took in college. We were discussing these tactics so I mentioned that the class should watch this movie to see what it looked like
4:05 R. Lee Ermey didn't play a "psychopathic" drill sergeant, he played himself as an actual USMC drill sergeant.
The umbrella thing suddenly made me think of Sean Connery taking out an airplane with an umbrella by using to spook a flock of birds in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.
My dad met and got to know Sean Connery a bit, back in the day on the set of The Untouchables. My dad was a paramedic on the Chicago Fire Department, and after retired he got a job with Chicago’s local Motion Picture Union as a film set emergency medic. Worked on everything filmed in Chicago in the late 80’s and all through the 90’s. While working on The Untouchables, Sean Connery had an exploding fake blood pack blow up right in his face. His whole neck was burned pretty bad. While rendering first aid, seeing how bad it was, my dad said he really needs to be taken to a hospital. The director Brian De Palma wanted to keep shooting and finish the scene, and told my dad to just patch him up and get him back to work. This is Sean Connery they were arguing over, 007, are you kidding me? My dad was like, no, this man needs to go to a hospital, I’m taking him to a hospital. De Palma was pissed. It’s funny because I’ve actually seen interviews with Brian De Palma talking about The Untouchables, and I’ve seen him bring this up and gripe about having to stop production over this multiple times, down playing how serious the situation really was. At the hospital my dad knew people who worked there from his time on the Fire Department, and now here he comes walking in with Sean f--ing Connery. My dad didn’t always get his name in the end credits of movies he worked on, but a lot of people were getting hurt during this one, so he definitely got his name in the end credits of The Untouchables.
I want to add another very realistic portion that I found in the movie Saving Private Ryan. In the later scene we're the Ryan and the squids are preparing for the battle at the town. The machine gunner in the tower is using what's called a headspace and timing gage to conduct headspace and timing checks in the browning 1919 machine gun in the tower. This is a standardized check conducted before firing either the M1919 or the M2 50cal machine guns, that measures the distance between the closed bolt face and chamber/barrel of the machine gun, and determines when the next round is ignited during automatic fire. As a weapons expert, I thought this was an outstanding addition to the film.
It wasn't fear of a bullet hitting a helmet that people were afraid of. It was fear that concussion from a nearby explosion. The idea was that the helmet would be blown off if unsnapped, but it were strapped it would yank on the head. It was even in the beginning of, "The Longest Day."
Wasn't the beginning of the Longest Day, the pursuit and shooting of the resistance courier?
My dad told me they were told not buckle their helmet straps because of explosive concussion. He was in the Army in Europe during WWII. @@japhfo
@@richardbartley5906 As were many others it seems. So the New Weapons Board, Office of the Commanding General looked into it and found the rumour had no physical basis.
1. I beg your pardon, but the tune Piper Bill is playing at the Battle of Pegasus Bridge in the movie is "Black Bear", not Blubonnets.
2. I was in the Corps from 68 to 71. I remember being "counted in" and "counted out" on the rifle range. Each boot was issued a certain amount of carefully counted rounds when he was counted in. After the firing was over he had damned well better hand in the exact number of empty shell casings when he counted out. I have called BS on that particular scene of this movie since the day I first saw it and still do.
Richard Todd also made a series of jokes about the relief column at Pegasus, with himself and his unit as the butt of the joke. These were accurate jokes and comments at the time. One scene Todd the actor is actually talking to Todd the Character (Todd the actor played one of his own junior officers in the film) ..... Also, many of the other actors were, like Todd, actually on the real operation and many wore their own berets and in many cases some of their original uniforms
The young Lieutenant Todd, 7th Parachute Battalion, and the character he later played, Major John Howard, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, were in different regiments. While one was junior to the other, they weren't in the same chain of command. Richard Todd supposedly wore his own red beret (whether it was the 1944 original is another matter) albeit with a different cap badge. Piper Bill Millin played himself. I had not heard that wore his original 1st SSF headgear.
@@japhfo Thanks for that, I was writing from memory. From personal experience, you don't get through that many berets. So if it was his 1944 one or a later one, I doubt anyone knows.
Richard Todd encountered another officer in Normandy and when they exchanged names, Todd said, "My name is Todd, but my friends call me Sweeney." The other bloke said, "That's funny, my name is Sweeney and people call me Todd".
Enemy at the gate: failure to adjust sights. That is irrelevant at that range. You are talking about an adjustment of an inch drop, if that. Normally, rifles are set to 300m for anything between zero and 400 m. Unless going for headshots, the sights putting the bullets a couple of inches up or down make no difference. If you aim at the middle of the target (standard practice), you will inflict an injury. In this scenario, injuries are more useful than kills.
The Mosin Nagant iron sight range is 100 to 2000 meters, 4-6 inches off in this scenario. This results in a significant lack of accuracy at that range. Also, the sights are centered in with the bayonet attached, so this rifle without the bayonet would shoot additionally high because of that, so an inexperienced combatant would fail to take that account. In effect he'd be shooting at the bright blue sky rather than his target.
@@MajorHarper from what I saw, the range was less than 200 yards. As long as he is within 6 inches left to right and a foot up or down it is a hit
I have no idea what the narrator is talking about, at 7:08, you can clear see the adjustment block on the rear sight is all the way back in the closest range setting.
It may looks a little off in the previous shot. Continuity error perhaps, but calling this a 'detail' is simply reaching. But yea, anything for the views I guess
"Battle sight zero" of the 1903 Springfield was 540 yards I believe which gets you a "hit" with a sight picture at the "belt buckle". The battle sight would be difficult for making shots at 200 yards on a enemy with little exposed such as his head. The leaf section of the sight could be employed...and was.
@@artemusp.folgelmeyer4821 Agreed but.... the target in the film at 100 yards was a full view of an adult standing still. The difference in impact point would be an inch or two at most. At 300 yards, you might miss a headshot with the sights set at 540. The trajectory means you can hit a target a long way away or very close, but you will miss things in the mid-ranges.
From what I remember, piles full name was Leonard Lawrence. "Lawrence, what, of Arabia?" Was given the nickname gomer pile by Hartman
The adrenaline dump you are going through in combat when you go to a grenade makes pre-loosening the pins pointless since you could probably pull them off even if they were friggin wrapped around the fuse assembly. We did cover the spoons and ring with tape just to make sure they stay put.
@4:50 Once again stressing why "No brass, no ammo SGT! & flipping your pockets inside out is so important. :) IYKYK
Just a 'quickie' regarding Pvt. Pyle... Pyle's PMI (Primary Marksmanship Instructor) would have accounted for the rounds. That Pyle wouldn't have been able to keep them from being known about -- remember, GySgt. Hartman uncovered his unlocked footlocker AND his 'Jelly Donut', all the way from the Rifle Range Barracks back to his Battalion Barracks -- just a minor point -- NOT! It must also be noted that just prior to graduation (and Pyle's murder suicide was post graduation -- the last night on the island) in leaving Parris Island, the rifles would have been turned into the armory about a week prior (they would have gotten their issues rifles WHILST arriving in Vietnam) so Pyle would NOT -- let me repeat that... WOULD NOT have had access to a weapon with which to kill Hartman and/or himself. A classic case of a VERY major point, being screwed over in order to carry out a plot.
Yeah... That was really the only aspect where Kubrick didn't understand that weapons security and retention are incredibly strict in the military.
I'm sure Ermey might have said that that would not have happened in reality to Kubrick, to which I'm sure Kubrick would've conceded, but the shock value of that whole subplot was what was necessary in his mind's eye. Regardless if it made actual sense to the Military's SOP's and Regulations.
Pyle's death is supposed to be a dream of Pvt. Joker's...at least that is how it went in the book. Kubrick certainly took some liberties with the source materials but argued it made for a better film.
It's totally fine to have it happen for a movie, but I would definitely critique WhatCulture just a little bit for labeling it as an "insanely accurate war movie detail" when it's kind of just a detail, no accuracy, no utter insanity.
@@justinbaker5749 i think the accurate detail mentioned was not about this thing even being possible but that they showed that the mag still had rounds in it.
@@raikbarczynski6582 Yeah I could see that. I was looking at this through the lens of it being realistic for military depictions/details, not so much details that happen to be in war films.
Nice video. I have watched many of these films, but the next time I watch them, I'll watch for these details. Also, many of the comments below by bets and movie people are really interesting.
Great list!
Kubrick was so detailed that when he ran the B52 interior past SAG, they said, "Uh, no, you need to change this, this and so on" because it was too close to the actual thing.
Except Pyle didn’t have clips for his M14. They use magazines.
zzz
I think I'm the last Liberal Democrat that knows this. My party can be IDIOTS when it comes to gun-laws aimed at (see what I did there?) curtailing violent crime. Problem is, if somebody is so far-gone that they're predisposed to breaking the laws against m/rd/r (damned algorithm) and/or arm/d r/bb/ry, what tinker's damn do they care if their mag-capacity is illegal or they're not supposed to posses a bump-stock?
They are but simple anglos who are too disconnected with the concept of handling a firearm to actually retain the difference.
@@Sickmonkey3 more leftist americans make this mistake then any anglo ever could in 10 years. they don't talk about guns because they're too busy getting stabbed by pakistanis
LOL It's 2023. I think it's fair to say that "clip" is a slang term for "magazine" nowadays.
There is one big problem with that grenade pin pull scene, if that grenade is attached to his belt by spoon, now pulling pin will release spoon and thus grenade would actually fall from his belt and not like in scene where it stays on belt and then explodes....
The Big Red 1 was the first WW2 movie I saw as a child, and parts of it still stick with with today vividly.
Especially Sarge's nonchalance to one of the greenhorns getting inadvertently castrated by a tripwire mine.
I had never seen a realistic war movie, but the Australians produced a true story war move called, "Danger Close" I served in Vietnam 2/502 Infantry, 101st Airborne... there were so many mistakes in "Hamburger Hill" movie, though the battle happened in real life and yes they actually walk off the very hill they took so many casualties winning that battle.
1. Big Red One. Insanely accurate detail undermind slightly by a front line sergeant three times the age of the rest of his squad
2. Thin Red Line. Grenade accident. Forget the logic of the pin-lever-fuse, etc. As is made repeatedly clear, Woody Harrelson's character is a not a Lieutenant but a Sergeant.
3. Saving Private Ryan. Upham's helmet
"Report of the New Weapons Board, Office of the Commanding General. April 1944
99. Fastener, Strap, Quick release.
It was apparent that the rumour of broken necks resulting from blast under helmets which were securely fastened had gained some footing in both theaters. The Board reported that this rumour had no foundation and the proof test at Aberdeen proving Ground did not uphold it." [Quick release fasteners introduced nonetheless]
Carry on.
There is another one that could have been on this list. Jacobs ladder, the original one, if you watch the opening ambush, youre led to believe it was a vietcong ambush. You find out later that it was in fact done by the US government/by their own marines. You can figure it out if you know your guns when, for just a few frames, you can see that the bayonet is from an M16, not an AK, thus giving away the entire plot from the beginning. Would be a good vietnam entry.
Love movie details! Thanka for this🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤
You’ve missed the most incredibly accurate detail in any war film I’ve seen. It’s in ‘The English Patient’ which has some very accurate bomb disposal sequences.
The most incredible of all (in the sense of why did they go to all that trouble?) was when the character played by Kevin Whately is dealing with a German aircraft bomb. He’s frozen the fuse using liquid oxygen (a technique known as ‘Method D’) which was used to counter a particular type of German bomb fuse (the ‘Y’ fuse). As a result he’s really cold. Also, as he’s extracting the fuse it comes apart in his hand - which is another phenomenon encountered with late war German fuses as they has replaced aluminium fuse bodies with more fragile Bakelite due to material shortages.
Both these details were essentially at best incremental to the plot and I doubt that there is more than a few hundred people in the world who would have been able to spot them. All the more credit for taking the trouble to get it right!
Now, the Hurt Locker on the other hand…grrrrrr
GIs heard that strapping their chins to their manganese-steel M1 helmet would make their head pop back and their neck snap amid artillery bursts or close, upward explosions. They thought the force combined with the weight of the helmet was enough to pop them right off. And NOW you know...
Straps: explosions not bullets. The M1 helmet wasn't bullet proof.
The last one "pupils fixed and dilated." One sign paramedics use to confirm that a patient has died.
Pulling pins are not easy and rather uncomfortable on your finger
I saw a guy try to pull out the pin of his M67 and watched his front teeth come out askew, not fall off, but it was pretty effed up!
It’s easier if you use your middle finger instead of your index finger
They make them difficult on purpose. You need to be intentionally pulling the pin. Idk about you but I don't want the shotput of death going live on accident. 3-5secs my ass lowest bidder makes them and pretty sure one of the ones I threw in basic only took like 2 secs, I barely hit the ground in the pit before it went off.
The Seven Year’s War is known in America as “The French and Indian War”.
Is that because it’s another war where the Americans weren’t in it at the start? :)
I trust you've seen "Hell In The Pacific" (1968) with Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune.
As always, thank you all, so very much for the videos.
(If you haven't I recommend it.)
My dad liked that one. As for me, Lee Marvin was always just playing Lee Marvin and because of his features, you can’t ignore him
"Insanely Accurate"?
Maybe it was accurate the they stood upright in trenches, but I was too distracted by the Sherman tanks said to be Panzers.
They did change the insignia on them to a German one, I'll give them that.
The "psychopathic" drill sargeant played by R. Lee Ermey? Please...
Missed out Hamburger Hill should have been given a mention if not in the top 5 slot. another i think should have featured in the list, Blackhawk down. Both covered factual events
The childbirth scene in a Sherman tank in The Big Red One was the most authentic part as the Sherman was designed for just such a situation
As flawed as Braveheart is, there’s one great blink and you’ll miss line, when the future Edward II mentions the English are bringing up welsh archers. Just prior to Englands attempts to conquer Scotland, England worked hard at conquering Wales, only to hampered by Wales excellent archers. These were the longbow men, and England quickly adopted them into there army.
My uncle was involved in the reconstruction of the British Fort William Henry (and again after fire damage). He and sons had a log-structure-building business. I think he was the foreman on the reconstruction. He was French Canadian lol.
I got slated on Facebook when a clip about the Grenade pin was met with criticism. Loads of people said things like 'I served and this wouldn't have happened' or 'No soldier would do that'. Turns out, I was right. they DID do it!!
Just watched the thin red line, was wondering why woody harrelson was modifying his grenade with a knife
Hartman was in no way a psycho. He was doing his job. He was killed before he could really lean into the 'loving father' role that the best drill instructors will adopt when the recruits have proven themselves capable of dealing with extreme treatment.
Quite odd that Pyle would have kept ammo anyway....before troops leave the range they go through what's called a "brass & ammo shakedown" in which the gun is inspected for empty chamber, magazines checked as completely spent (and turned in back to the armorer), and all pockets emptied to ensure nobody has ammo stowed away.
sure, he might have hid some inside his pants cuff, his boots or even his "prison wallet", but that would have required more involvement than "oh let me just slide this almost empty mag in my pocket" and would have attracted the attention not only of Gunny but also of all the other Range Safety Officers
That first one is weird. It's so wild that someone else played him in a movie he also acted as someone else in.
Similar thing in the series Generation Kill, two of the real soldiers from the mission are in it, one of them plays himself. the other one plays someone else
I was under the impression that U.S. soldiers did not "do up" the chin strap on their helmets was not due to the fear of a bullet strike "breaking their necks" as stated in the video, but more likely because of the real fear of a close up explosion. The force of a ground burst detonation would be amplified by the helmet and contained by the strap if it was done up, so the helmets were worn loose in order to prevent broken necks.
I cannot verify if either of these theories were true...a comment from someone who has practical experience or spoke with someone from that era would be appreciated.
With all that Lee Marvin accomplished in his life he chose to be immortalised as a United States Marine!
Ia Drang, not La Drang (11:40)
Wahlberg was trained by a Marine sniper (I believe) for his role in Shooter, the 2007 film. Wahlberg is a left-handed shooter, but all sniper rifles are for righties, so he had to learn how to shoot right handed for all his sniper scenes. His head-bob in Lone Survivor was probably a by-product of his earlier training. I'm saying that was likely a Wahlberg movement, not a scripted one.
At the ranges depicted in the movie, parallax would have made little difference.
Holy shit the Full Metal Jacket one blew my mind.
Bill Millin was referred to by Germans on D-Day as 'The Mad Piper'. He asked some Germans captured that day, why they hadn't shot him. They told him that it was because they thought he was insane, and it would have been unfair to shoot a madman.
Interestingly, there is a colour version of 'The Longest Day'. I have no idea if it's official, or not, but I have a copy on DVD.
I also think they were always more carried away with the other brits who actually had rifles lol.
@@_fiend Possibly, but he was such an easy target, which is why he had to find out. I always thought he was a cool guy. I have made a couple of D-Day dioramas in 1/76 scale, and one had a piper that I painted to resemble Bill Millin.
As an aside, another bagpipe player was 'Mad Jack Churchill', who also liked to go into action carrying a longbow and arrows, and a Scottish broadsword. Yes, really. 🤔🤔🤔
The germans refered to the Scottish as devils in skirts. The story goes that they came out of the mist in one action, playing the bagpipes on full charge. The sound of the pipes and the effect of the mist to the Germans felt like hell its self was coming to get them.
@@redscope897 "Ladies from Hell" is the legend. However there is no record of Germans referring to Highlanders as such. It seems to have been invented by the British press. I think the German soldier was made of sterner stuff.
Apparently, Piper Bill attracted the attention of many German soldiers. They all thought "That guy's _already_ crazy -- I'm not gonna shoot *him!* "
The thin red line grenade part isnt really that accurate besides grenades using pins , in real life if he pulled the pin the lever would pop off and the grenade would fall at his feet essentially killing them all , but instead the grenade is stuck to his belt and went off anyway literally wouldnt happen
Psychopathic sergeant? He was doing his job and obviously thought he was helping Pyle. This is clearly demonstrated in the scene where he and Joker help Pyle complete the run as Hartman carries Pyle’s rifle.
the name is spelled PYle, not PIle
Whilst not a movie- the background basic training the cast went through in Band of Brothers lead to a top tier depiction of Easy Company and the 101st.
In Saving Private Ryan, you’ll notice that their sniper, Private Jackson, has a prominent bruise on his right thumb for the whole movie. This is called “Garand Thumb,” and is caused by loading an M1 Garand incorrectly. It’s something Jackson could have easily done before the events of the movie, given the fact that he’s used to using the bolt-action ‘03 Springfield.
What i did notice when he was in the steeple was he fired 8 rounds without reloading from a 5 round clip.
Hartman wasn't a psychpath. He was a man who had 10 weeks to mold a bunch of draftees being sent to a war they didn't want to fight into highly motivated marines who would not panic and do their job. Because if he didn't, those men would get themselves or somebody else killed. Fastest way to do that is to break those men down and rebuild them.
In the face of that, the feelings of one recruit is immaterial to the survival of everyone in that unit.
Military life is very detail oriented. You have to get the details right or you'll mess up those details under fire and then somebody dies. And ffs, if you can't even get which shoulder to put your rifle on do you think you'll manage to reload and charge it quickly enough when repelling an assault? How about properly throwing a hand grenade? Reading a map correctly?
Or the proper storage and accounting of rifle ammunition.
distract slightly ? Like waving a 10 pound ham might slightly distract your dog.
Contrary to popular belief pulling a pin on a grenade does start some sort of countdown. Only after the spade is released does the countdown begin. We also do not hold the grenade and count before throwing it. A grenade typically has a 3 second delay, but I can choose how to fuse the grenade (shorter delays on rifle fired grenades).
They missed adding to “A Bridge Too Far” a potential comical situation. After the Polish paratroopers landed at Driel they were bereft of any transport . To get around the the defensive positions the Polish commander (General Sosabowski) and his executive officer confiscated two women’s bicycles to move around quicker.
Sosabowski didn’t deserve being called the scapegoat for the failure when Monty’s suicidal plan was at fault. Without the Arnhem bridge it was a salient to no where.
Another detail I find amazing about Market Garden, was that strong elements of the 9th SS panzer division were refitting only a short distance away from the objective. But Monty and the planners actually KNEW, days ahead of time, that the panzers were there...but ordered it to go ahead anyway.
@@robertmaybeth3434 A study after the war suggested that the plan that the Polish commander to relieve Arnhem would have worked. The plan used and the alternative one by the British charged straight into the German positions. The Polish plan was a little further away but had a safer staging area for the relief forces instead of immediately going into battle.
Not buckling the straps on US steel pot helmets wasn’t just a WWII thing. I think it lasted the entire time the M1 helmet was in use. When I was in the US Army in the early ‘80s the only time I ever fastened the chinstrap under my chin was during training. The rest of the time it was just tucked into the camo band.
We were told in Marine Corp boot camp that this isn't Hollywood-put your goddamned chin straps on. He was right-it's quite difficult to keep it on if you're doing anything but sitting or walking without looking down. Even looking down made it fall off at your feet. And if you have to hold it on while you're running you only have one hand to fight with.
@whatculture psychopathic drill instructor? That's just USMC boot camp
There isn't anything psychopathic about a drill sergeant. A drill sergeants job is to find the psychopaths
In Saving Private Ryan, during the late scene of the squad applying sticky bombs to the tank one of the bombs goes off early, with the resulting effect of a close-range explosion almost evaporating a human being one of the most accurate depictions ever created. The only criticism detracting from reality is that rib cartilage has a tendency to stick together in that situation.
On another note for a bit of quirky trivia, during the beach landing at the start of the movie, the entrenched German machine guns used was nicknamed by the British forces "Spandau" (for all German machine guns based on where some were produced, not just the MG 42), and the resulting cavorting/thrashing involuntary dance-like movement of someone being shot by them as well as the mad movements made to avoid their fire was called Spandau Ballet - and the source of the name for the iconic 80's band!
I believe you are wrong about the name "Spandau ballet". The phrase comes from the prison (Spandau Prison, Berlin) where Nazi war criminals were kept during the period of the Nuremburg trials and when handed a death sentence were hung. The ballet part was the involuntary thrashing of the legs of the excuted prisoner once the rope dropped in their last moments.
@@dr_dr so you're saying the band members themselves are wrong too? they've publicly admitted where the name came from
@@GregArnott oddly, I recall the band saying exactly what I said.
@@dr_drthere were only a few prisoners kept at Spandau and most of them had either 10 or 20 year life sentences. Only one - Rudolf Hess - had a life sentence. I don’t believe any prisoners were taken from Nuremberg to Berlin just to be hung.
Although lord Lovat was not the first to arrive at Pegasus bridge, nor were his commandos the force that relieved the airborne.
Baddle?
Pretty sure you mean BATTLE 😂😂
As well as bullet strikes, the concussive blast from an explosion could cause a helmet to catch the force like a parachute and pull the head back.
Hartman of Full Metal Jacket was no psychopath.
Good thing the 9th US Armored Division patch was featured in "The Bridge at Remagen" from 1969.
I noticed the iris retracting when i was a kid and finally someone else saw it too
When lone survivor's Marcus Luttrell was actually found he had 11 full magazines
"Psychopathic drill instructor" that's what they were when I went through
The saving private Ryan thing, no soldier ever thought a bullet striking a helmet would break their neck. That's ridiculous. They're made of this, sheet steel, and a basically plastic like liner. Bullets pass right through those things, no problem. It could never break ur neck. No veteran could make that mistake. The impression people were under was, that if an explosion went off near by, while ur strap was on, the pressure from boast could get caught up under the helmet, and either break the neck, or actually rip the head off.
Yes helmets were there mostly for falling debris. Like a mini umbrella for your dome.
That response had nothing to do with what I said.
The issue was, you said soldiers thought a bullet hitting a helmet would break a neck. That's not true. I explained myself. So the response, "yes, helmets were there mostly for debris", makes no sense. Based on the information I provided, it's pretty simple to deduce that I'm aware of that part. Ur new to history, huh?
@samuelmcclellan8625 lol. What? How is me saying yes you're right something for you to say has nothing to do with what you said? So the second part of what you said had nothing to do with the movie so you're not good at history. I was supporting your original statement. Then I said what helmets were really there for. Why not ask before you insult people sir. How does it have nothing to do with what you said? Was stating some fact about helmets ok for you to do, but not me? It's a comment section and I didn't care to use grammar. Yes, There should have been a comma and also you need to relax and not be so self absorbed. Troll
What I meant was.. they didn't even need to wear the chin straps because the helmet would stay on in most cases and the soldiers helmets were not meant to protect bullets or shrapnel, but to shield against debris and to have a fear of getting your head ripped off from an explosive was probably not as much of a concern. They probably didn't want to use them since it wasn't necessary and the helmet wasnt going to be protecting them from bullets anyways. I feel like the other thing is that you weren't there. A fear that your head will come off from a shockwave may have been true for some, but you don't know, even if you were there. I bet some soldiers even nixed the strap because they wanted to be like the others. Who knows. It's like saying the reason for the strap is to hold the helmet on their head, but if it stays on without the strap, why buckle the strap. How is pointing out the main functionality of their helmets too off topic for you?
Anyone know what trick the director may have used to force pupils to dialate for that last shot? Seems hard to do on a bright film set where bright lights are part of production.
i call b/s on bullets from firing line as you get a tray of 10 and all the brass holes must be turned in before you get up with the string of fire ..
Too used to seeing woody Harrelson playing of Woody the barman in cheers to take seriously in a war movie