Generation Kill: A Modern Military Masterpiece
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
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This video contains footage from Generation Kill. All the videos, songs, images, and graphics used in the video belong to their respective owners and I or this channel does not claim any right over them.
Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
#purekino #generationkill #thewire
The author of Generation Kill Evan Wright saw this video and loved it! He sat down with me on my podcast and we discussed his experiences in Iraq as well as the filming of the miniseries. Check it out here: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pure-kino/episodes/Evan-Wright-Generation-Kill-Interview-e2j9oph
The book Generation Kill is a must read, even if you've watched the series. Nathaniel Fick's book One Bullet Away documents a lot of the same events, but from an officer's perspective.
Just watched the series for the first time after hearing about Evan's death. Incredibly good. I served in Kuwait/Iraq for one tour post-surge, and this is the best series for showing "what it was like" -- the incredible monotony, dealing with shit from officers, a sense of "what the fuck are we even doing here?" and the occasional excitement. Thanks for making this review video, it was great. Cheers.
Rip Evan
rip evan
"Everyone grew up on the ideal's of Band of Brother but everyone lived in the world of Generation Kill" quote from a good friend of mine.
your friend sounds fun to talk to
one scene that made me think of the parallels between these shows is the ending sports scene. BoB ended in a baseball game with happy soldiers on their way home. Their lives were defined by the great crusade against evil and they would go on to live quiet fulfilling lives. GK ended in a football game with tired, frustrated, and angry marines ridden with PTSD and barely contained rage. This chapter of their lives was filled with confusion, mistakes, regrets, and frustrations they all had to deal with on their own. it was a nice contrast.
Generation Kill is the anti-Band of Brothers.
@@musicalnotextr no its a modern band of brothers same shit different war
"Ideals are peaceful. History is violent".
That scene where Reporter serpetines down the alley to avoid sniper fire.
"Reporter, what the f**k was that?"
"ALWAYS RUN IN A SERPENTINE FASHION!".
The original clip is on youtube. Movie "The in-laws", 1979.
Peter Falk tells Alan Arkin, "Always run in a serpentine fashion." I was running evasively
Am I the only one who remembers the memes ripping Rickon Stark apart for not zigging in GoT? Lol
One of the best moments in the show. 😂
OHHH SHIT, ITS TOBIAS BEECHER
It's okay if you think Rudy is hot
We all do
I love you Fruity Rudy!
Jesus, you're beautiful.
Personally I think he dresses like a pimp queen
I use Rudy in cod still haha
I'll be damned, Kino can actually talk about something other than Sopranos or Breaking Bad.
His wire discussions are incredible, he’s gotta make money yall eat BB and sopranos discussions up
He’s very allegorical
if he likes sopranos and breaking bad so much, he should check out mr inbetween
He also talks about Better Call Saul and The Many Saints of Newark.
@@9crossmany saints of new ark is utter (SJW bbc banging white wives) garbage
I was in from 2004 to 2010. Generation Kill was EXACTLY like the military I remember. They got everything so completely correct
Thank you for your service man.
it pisses me off when movies and shows have this all knowing HQ or they just talk to the radio and everyone knows who's turn to respond it is
not enough overs, outs, affirmatives and negatives
The Corps?
@balrog262 no, the army.
I tell people who ask what it was like and I just tell them to watch this.
out of 7 episodes they only get in about 3 firefights yet its still one of the most attention holding shows ive ever watched
Lmao... "Hurry up and wait". If you know you know, if you don't you make comments like this. Lol
And all other times they light up civilians, really a true war tv show
@@iljavijathey mostly didn’t light up civilians at all dipshit
lol it’s funny I actually re watched recently and I was surprised about how many times they were actually in combat. I basically remembered them almost never being in combat. Lol
It rides the line of "boring" so goddamn fine that you start to find other types of enjoyment instead of combat and action.
"I've been assured of this" is still a go to saying I use it at work when management promises something.
i use "Any boot fuck marine knows what (insert topic) is"
I use "of this, I have been assured"
Good to know there are other people like us out there 🤙
i love the scene where he says "were going across the bridge at night, I've been assured of this" and then it instantly jump cuts to them pushing over the bridge in broad daylight.
Hah, I do the same
@@Kalashboy420 I'm not even a part of the American military industry, but I still know what the fuck danger close is 😂
Generation Kill embodied a quote I heard somewhere else saying that "War is a few moments of absolute terror, surrounded by hours or days of complete boredom and monotony."
This series came out like a year before I enlisted in the Army. It was and still is fantastic. As different as the branches are, the experiences are virtually identical. Myself being an Army vet and my Brother-in-Law a Marine vet we have the same humor, same experiences and we both miss the same things. One thing we both do NOT miss however, Officers, especially super young idiotic officers. @S1apShoes glad to find you here, keep your channel moving my man
I think it is in generation war
I jokingly describe the series as "a musical about a road trip through the desert."
Arguably the best soundtrack in a miniseries.
how is this a joke, it's the most accurate description of the series
A musical where the instruments consists of verbal insults and gunfire.
@@reynanlamsen2007 No, I was referring to the singing by the Marines.
The hardest hitting bit of Gen Kill is the ending where they just walk out.
The craziest part for me was that they went through all that and are shaken and disturbed and they’re not even a year into the war. Still freaks me out every once and a while
"Well, that was fun. Who are we invading next?"
-CPL Person
It’s such a good ending lol. I cannot express how much I preferred that ending to the wire or the sopranos. When that scene played and the show ended I felt some great level of relief the show didn’t end in some similar way to those two 😂
And the timing of the bible quote is so fucking perfect, it shows trombley, the character used to portray the blood-thirsty likely to commit a warcrime type, as it says “a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was death”, and then finishes with “and hell followed with him” exactly as he picks up his SAW and leaves. Too f*cking perfect🤌
I’m a combat vet who was in the invasion (thunder run) with 3rd ID as a grunt. This show is hands down the most accurate depiction of military combat unit at that time. Ironically later in life I actually became friends (through surfing) with one of the real life guys in that unit (Jason Liley).
Brah
Holy shit unironically thank you for your service the thunder run was wild
You are a Chad sir
Thank you for your service, sir 🫡even if I'm not American and rather Ukrainian
Yo, you know Lilley? Screwby, dog
GK should be shown in all schools, its true raw history.
Yeah, it never got the attention it deserved
And the officers were dealing with using a smaller force instead of a force that traditionally would have been 3 times larger Donald Rumsfeld's idea.
What crack are you smoking where children in school need to see buck ass naked Iraqi actors getting taken prisoner and Ray yells out, “Watch out, that one’s got a horse cock.”
@@jailbreakoverlander "There are known knowns and that there are known unknowns. But there are also unknown unknowns; things we don't know that we don't know.”
@@jailbreakoverlanderthis is weird to me, USA is the strongest military but in reality, they just sent a bunch of grunts and made them fight shooting enemies with rifles so much
RIP Evan Wright, wrote one of the greatest pieces on the GWOT and led to one of the greatest miniseries pieces in HBO. Rest Easy...
Did 10 years in the US Army, did a tour in Afghanistan, and THIS is by far the most realistic military movie or show. The way the dialogue of the entire show and displaying the daily life of being deployed is portrayed, is scary accurate. Easily one of the most underrated shows.
I think this is more well known among veterans than the general public. The fact that is shows the boredom puts a lot of people off. The veteran community seems to get it though, even here in the UK. Those of us that served out there or other places really took the book and the show to heart.
Also the unbearable tension of just being a soldier who has little control over their situation. You're doing a job put in a place that's dangerous that has to follow orders no matter how stupid they may seem, whilst your mind and body are screaming at you to fight or flight. Most military depictions in media are action packed, showing individuals performing stunts and dodging bullets, their individual actions having impact on the battlefield. Reality doesn't give us such agency, everything is fog of war when you're in the thick of it.
He lives on my block
And he drives an Iraq
But she doesn't know who I am
And she doesn't give a damn about me
Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby
Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby
Listen to Iron Maiden, baby, with me, oh
Thank you Ray, THANK YOU Sgt.
"An IROC" not "in Iraq." Just a linguistic coincidence that they sound similar.
I never heard that song until watching GK, then I listened to the actual song and it sucked ass compared to the marines singing it.
@@sleepingbee8997I’ve seen people debate that it may have actually be said as “Iraq” here since well, they are in the Middle East
That's the only way I hear that song afterwards, & the best way...
I like your version better
this show was pretty popular here in Norway. all my freinds used to talk about it alot. i think it is more down to earth and fits the typical Scandinavian taste better than many more typically "amerikan" shows
What’s up with using the k, never understood that.
how’d the movies wind river or hold the dark do there?
@@RomanvonUngernSternbergnrmfvusThe 'C' in America makes a K-sound so that's how we spell it. The movies, never heard of.
Fits some of us Americans better as well.
What's important to note is that the series, like the book by Evan Wright, represents the view and experiences that he himself had as an embedded journalist with the unit. So the creators of the show didn't make up all of the incompetence of the superior officers, it's simply what happened with that particular unit that Evan Wright was embedded in. I highly recommend reading that book, or at least the article series in Rolling Stone that came out first.
that what enlistmen do.. they bitch about their superior. Awesome series IMO
Yes Yes
What you're missing is that Evan Wright was primarily in contact with junior enlisted Recon Marines- they themselves are not privy to the who/why/where of decisions being made and often focus the blame on decisions outside of their control to the ones they perceive as making those decisions- talking shit about Officers is a cultural norm in the military for that reason and often times is just a coping mechanism. Evan Wright may not have been exposed to enough of the broader military culture to pick up on that as he was writing the articles/book- or if he did, it didn't make for compelling journalism to discuss that nuance. That is not to say that this cultural norm isn't without merit, just that poor leadership from Officers can often be exaggerated within units in real time and Evan Wright wouldn't know any better.
@shr00m7 except it is also based on 1 bullet away by lt fisk and has some of the marines who were actually there. Some of the incidents such as the danger close fire mission were investigated and medals revoke. Also the doc was a seal team medic probably there for reporter but has that level if experience
one bullet away was written after (because of) generation kill. @@bobo-cc1xw
Being in the infantry, whenever someones asks me what thats like, I tell them to watch this series. The most realistic depiction of life in the modern infantry by far.
What no one outside the Marine Corps will understand is that you had better not get caught wearing your beanie or gloves during the day. You could die tomorrow, but if you die during the day, you had better not die wearing a beanie. 😂
Jarhead was pretty accurate in the doing nothing and masterbation
I love the scene of iceman running with no shirt in the field at the end. Feels like the mopp gear is a symbols for the shackles of responsibility, duty, and vigilance. It felt like at that moment he was free
This show is absolutely up there with something like The Wire. It's so good.
I heard it said that Band of Brothers is the military you sign up for, and Generation Kill is the military you get, and it's about the most accurate saying I've heard about joining the military.
You should definitely read the book as well as another book from LT Fick's perspective, called "One Bullet Away." His book gives a lot of needed context for things that were happening around the events of Generation Kill.
Yes Yes
Adding to this: the real Nathan Fick reads the book on Audible which is really cool. It really helped me scratch the "Generation Kill" itch I've had for years lol
As a Marine I can say honestly this is the closest I have seen on film as accurate....and the first half of full metal Jacket
I am also a Marine and went to the invasion, and this is the closest to accurate I’ve seen as well.
I was army and while it is not 100% what my experience was like it is still 90% accurate to what the average 11Bravo experienced
This might be because they stayed very true to the book of the embedded writer
@mrsirkosky7618 I wouldn't know. I'm a Marine so I only read coloring books.
@mrsirkosky7618 crayon eaters can't read, reading is airforce shit
Generation Kill was my childhood. I still continue the legacy of the early 2000s slang.
I was actually in the Navy when all this was going on (joined in 2000.) Watching it, everything just feels right. Still my absolute favorite depiction of the military I've ever seen.
What the sh* I see you everywhere
@@gavins9846 *beats up*
Straight up dawg
I listen to the audiobook of Generation Kill a few years ago at work. My job was electrical assembly, and I worked on a decent sized warehouse floor. You could listen to your own music or audio on open speakers only, no in ear devices. Just my luck both my manager and the company owner come to check up on me right as I’m wiring the inside of a 7 foot tall control panel during the part where they are discussing november juliet. They had a sense of humour and understood when I explained but boy was that embarrassing in the moment.
Damn, I imagine that attracts some looks...
I was hoping someone would revisit this. Good timing-it’d never be made today. A foul-mouthed masterpiece!
Horribly underrated
One of our combat instructors brought the DVD boxset for us to watch when I was a young boot in SOI. We all loved it. A few months later, I was in Afghanistan, alongside quite a few of my classmates.
I often rewatch Generation Kill to this day, along with The Pacific and Band of Brothers, and I still consider it to be one the most (if not THE most) accurate cinematic depiction of modern Marine Corps infantry life ever made.
One of the reasons I loved Season 2 of The Wire so much was that I watched it quite soon after Generation Kill. Ziggy was played by James Ransone. I can't get enough of the guy!
GROOOOMING STANDARD!!! POHLEECE THAT MOOOSTASH! YOU'SE ALL BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE ELVISES!
It is easy to miss, but in episode 7 Sixta says if morale gets low, he'll stir them up with the grooming standard. A distraction to help get Marines through combat basically.
@@petrhanak862 That line is crucial, and profound. Instead of spending your mental energy pondering the purpose of why you are there, or what fate may befall you, or simply worrying about whether you'll soon be attacked,... you've now been given something very specific to be pissed off about. Which everyone else is also pissed off about. And it's a positive bonding experience.
Good leadership. It's much better to have your team mildly pissed off, than fearful.
"We don't have batteries for our night vision goggles"
- "That's NOTHING! I got yelled at for not tucking in my shirt!"
@@zalibecquerel3463Agreed.
This show came out while i was in the Marines as a grunt. I couldn't believe how accurate it was. Arrogant, narcissist officers and SNCOs making dumbass decisions, hoping to increase their ribbon stack. Gunny yelling at Marines because of facial hair regulation, or losing a helmet, meanwhile being responsible, himself, for wildly egregious equipment losses.
It shows what immense boredom will lead to, especially while roasting in the desert heat, going weeks without a proper shower (dear god, that smell). The banter between Marines was spot on.
The banter is what keeps me coming back man. any time I start thinking I miss being in the field with the boys I just watch this and it scratches the itch enough to keep me from hitting up a prior service recruiter lol.
The Gunny is 'playing the asshole' so that 'ALL' the men have someone to hate. It is a military trick. That is his role. Hate me, don't hate the officers or each other.
The only thing missing is the one back stabbing blue falcon who makes senior rank
@@mrdynamic8678 oh yea, we had one of those. He sucked up to our Platoon Sgt, and ended up making Sgt in his first 3 years. He got out at 4 years, completely wasting 2 meritorious promotions. He was a Yes man, which is why he made rank; he was a shit Marine and leader.
For anyone wondering, this show is pretty accurate for a lot of Marines who deployed.
Rudy Reyes has said Gunnery Sergeant Griego was one of the worst misrepresentations in the series, he mentioned that perceptions of Evan wright that made it into his book weren't the full story and then the perceptions of his book which became the material of the show further twisted his character into something of a villain that baits the audience to rage against him. He had praise for him saying he handled a shitty, fucked up situation and still got all his marines home alive.
I’ve always loved Gen Kill. It captures how the suck can build fraternity between seemingly anyone, and also shows how quickly it can all go away when the mission is over.
I feel like the portrayal of the officers, particularly Godfather, was quite fair in the sense that it wasn't senseless bashing. Sure he was a bit self-serving in trying to get action for the prestige, but he also understood the climate of the marines wanting to get in the fight and do their jobs where it matters. He could sit on his ass and let the war pass them by no problem, but then he would have other morale issues. Instead, he actively sought good missions for his marines to engage in. Airfield recon was a good one (until it failed). Rescuing a marine in the city was also another good one (until cia spooks hijacked the mission). He was a good moderator between conflicting subordinate officers and held the battalion together. He never took sides and for good reasons.
I tend to think the depiction is also reasonable simply because Evan Wright was embedded with the grunts rather than HQ staff. That perspective is going to filter into his depiction.
The best part is where he stands up to the rebellion, when the guys bring the Iraqi kid to die at the HQ.
He takes time to explain how saving the kid wil likely result in American casualties.
After that he shows his vulnerability by calling arranging a casevac for the kid.
Don't know if it happened like that. But it's good writing.
It shows the duality of man. And gives insight in the dilemmas Godfather is constantly facing.
While may agree on the majority You said, i gotta disagree about not taking sides, had he been a stand up commander he would have reprimanded and remove from duty both Encino man and captain américa, instead he let them wandering around until disaster called and still let them keep their positions(wich caused a couple of marines crippled for life, and another unit totally reported for something they didn't even did, which caused harm to their careers)
Now you mention the kid incident, if it was against protocols and Security, why did he ended assisting the kid, against his own protocol? *Because he could have helped the kid to begin with, he just didn't care about it, that was the main reason.*
@@KellothKlinsmann regarding Encino man and captain America he explains his attitude towards them in the last episode when he sits down with the reporter. I felt same way as you until that scene which gives a different perspective.
This video is pure kino not just because of the review but the fact that this man has the balls not to censor anything
IMO the miniseries was, in one way, actually better than the book: when looking at specific events, you're given the wider who, where, what , and why of whatever mission is before the battalion because Evan Wright was able to interview the officers after the fact and can give their perspective to the reader along with what he saw with his two eyes.
In the miniseries, however, we are only given the perspective of the marines in the field as the events unfolded, and the invasion appears to the viewer just as chaotic as it appeared to the individual grunts of the 1st recon battalion.
GK is the great military road trip miniseries.
Kino talking about my favorite miniseries ever? Good Monday.
One thing this series does perfect is the sense of humor of infantry marines. They are some of the funniest motherfuckers on the planet
I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve watched this mini series, I just watched it again last week and it’s just so grossly underrated. Such a great show
There's a book by Nate Fick that tells the same story from a different perspective, plus some biographical details about LT Fick. It's called "One Bullet Away", damn good book.
I don't know why I had to read enders game but Nates book wasn't required reading for a junior Marine
I can go about 3 or 4 months and I have to rewatch - binge style - cover to cover. Does not get much better than that! ‘Stay frosty Brad’
I agree completely. This show is severely underrated and under appreciated. I happened to come across it about 6 months ago and I fell in love with it. It’s an amazing miniseries all around. I was trying to find anything on TH-cam discussing the series but I found almost nothing. It seems like over time people have simply forgotten about this masterpiece. It’s a shame because this series truly is a raw and realistic look at how this war was played out and the events that occurred daily when in the field. This series should be remastered somehow so it can reach a wider audience and get the appreciation it deserves. Best road-trip miniseries I’ve ever watched!
“Observe everything, admire nothing.”
“Stay frosty gents!”
Not a marine, but army infantry here, and yea, this is the most accurate depiction of modern grunts in Hollywood. Period.
As a veteran, the conversations between everybody are the absolute best depiction of any military related media. And Nate Fick's struggle boils down to him fully understanding that he's the only intelligent officer anywhere near. And you gotta think, the show is from the perspective of as its going on, as opposed to being able to look back on it with more military experience and kinda understanding better what was happening.
I've always said that Generation Kill is our generations Full Metal Jacket. If anyone ever asked what the Marines is like or what it was like during the invasion of Iraq, I tell them to watch Generation Kill.
If Band of Brothers is a 10. Generation Kill is a solid 9.5. Clearly lower budget, but not at all 'low budget'. Modern but at this point, becoming historical documentation.
I like how Evan doesn’t sugarcoat stuff in his writings and actually gained the respect of the recon marines, he’s a modal journalist.
If you get a chance, watch GK with headphones on. The background chatter you can’t really hear without headphones is sometimes funnier than the main dialogue. They talk the same kind of sh!t we did more than 40 years ago when I was in.
100% captures the mood of rolling around in a vic with 4 other dudes who are all just as annoyed, sweaty, and bored as you. I was in after this series takes place, but it didnt change much during that time. Best conversations I've ever had.
Bro, I never realized this series didn't have a sound track. There was a few times in my career where I did something cool and thought (that was just like the movies except no sound track) how poetic. love the vid :)
My civilian friends don't really understand but my military friends be like "let's get drunk and what's GK".
This was one of the influencers that caused me to join. That and 9/11. I was a navy corpsman from 2013-2017 and this serials is very very special to me and the guys I deployed with. It is single-handedly the most accurate military miniseries that will likely ever be made. From the dark, fucked up jokes, to the comment of I’m the military being the gayest, most straight people, to the waiting and the dipshit officers that blindly piggy back off their superiors. When I’m feeling nostalgic I put this on
As somebody who was with rct1 this series was spot on
The greatest GWOT era media ever. Movie or tv show.
I discovered this show from a few others in the S3 section during my deployment to Iraq and was immediately hooked. I've watched the entire series several times since then.
I was in the Marines and I will tell you this show encapsulates the modern USMC perfectly
I've been talking about this show since it was on TV. I have no idea why it does not get the love it deserves.
Well written, awesome characters, doesn't need to blow up the world to get you hooked. Doesn't get the love it deserves, but is a diamond in the rough. I watch at least once a year, never gets boring.
It speaks volumes that a buddy of mine that did a tour in Afghanistan rewatches GK at least yearly because it reminds him of being in. They absolutely nailed the vibe and it's lifted straight from the pages of its source material with very little alteration
Great job, this show does not get talked about enough. And don't forget to "POLICE THAT MOOSTACHE!"
My hazardous waste facility recently went through respirator certification, which means a bunch of big bearded fellows had to shave for the first time in years. I reminded them that the Hitler stache complies with the grooming standard.
This series is so underrated. I’ve watched it twice, it’s so great.
Generation Kill is so good, one of the best, if not the best military series of all time. It NEEDS to be seen by more people. Also it’s funny how the series was made in 2008 yet there hasn’t been a series like it since.
It's unknown and underrated
Never thought I would like a show like this, randomly put it on and was pleasantly surprised, the best show I've seen this year and it's January
Glad you covered this! Great series. Horribly underrated.
Generation Kill was fantastic - one of the forgotten golden age TV shows. Nice to see it get some attention.
This was the most realistic depiction of my Marine corps career. Down to the rumors, lingo, slang, bureaucracy, jokes, life style, the real issues on deployments, and the ups and downs. EVERYTHING. It’s an extremely well done show and hats off to the team that produced it.
I remember being an active duty Marine when this came out. This was on nonstop in the common areas of our facility. Still a good telling of everyday Marine life
Pure kino is doing generation kill? Im gonna have to sit down for this one. Ery scene with person and iceman is absolute gold.
I only saw this series because I randomly tuned in to it as a late night tv show. Must have been around 2011, and I was immediately captivated. I have also served, and the thing they capture so well here is the mundane routine of warfare. It's so much routine and waiting and more routine. The show is fantastic.
TH-cam be reading my Live chats as I suggested this show to someone like 5hours ago and here it was, on my Homepage.
Such a good show! Def needs more views!
Fiiiire upload, can’t wait to watch it later, just needed to say
Watched this mini series previous September of 2023, I can honestly say,
This is the closest thing we have to a more modern Saving Private Ryan.
To any history, military war story buff, this is as good as it gets as far as realistic shit.
I once heard in one of the very few videos you’ll find about this show is
“Pretty much the only people who knew about this show were in the service “
Says it all.
Nice job kino, since 2021 it’s me and you dawg. 💪
Legit watched this for the first time in September 2023 as well! Cheers brother.
I rewatch this series about every 1-2 years. I've watched it at least 5-6 times. I love it. It is so true to military life.
The wire is my favorite show of all time, and the best.
It’s hard for most viewers to appreciate Gen Kill. The show has a level of realism, and lack of drama and suspension of disbelief that usually only veterans can appreciate. Between the humor, monotony, frustrations with CoC, grooming standards, and other everyday bs, it’s definitely something veterans can relate to, but not most civilians.
I really like this series as well
Making sure to add November Juliet was the chef's kiss when talking about the lingo. The little things stand tall!
I've watched this mini series about 10 times. Such a good watch.
i love this show and the atmosphere it builds. its underapprciated
Generation Kill is one of a kind. Generation Kill, Strike Back (Michael and Scott seasons), and The Leftovers are my personal 3 favorite tv shows.
While it may be underrated in the mainstream, every marine I know for the most part loves this show and can quote it like the Bible. It’s the best depiction of marines and the culture in the marine corps out there.
I often wonder how people who were actually there feel about this series.
There are videos where the true life Marines discuss the show. Kino showed a clip
Regardless of branch or honestly even combat deployments or none, for every member of the US military who served at any point in the GWOT, this show really speaks to them.
You don't even need to be in the US Military for this show to resonate with you. I'm in the Hungarian Defence Force and most of the problems they faced in the show are universal to most western militaries such as incompetent leadership, logistical issues, unreliable equipment and so on. The ability of soldiers to make fun of it is present as well and it's one of my favourite aspects of being in the military.
Im not even american or a combat veteran but my country has conscription and i could relate to the humor and general life outside the combat. Actually i watched the series while i was doing my service.
I started watching generation kill and loved the first 2 episodes. Then I mistakenly watched the last one and didn't realise till the end😂. Still was pure kino from what i remember
As someone who served in the military during the war on terror this show captures the culture of the modern military more completely than any other piece of media that currently exists
I’m a veteran. This show is the most accurate depiction of the military I’ve ever seen by far. Everything from the characters and dialogue to the leadership (both good and bad examples). It’s insane how accurate this is.
My brothers a US marine my uncle and cousin are I am Canadian but was gifted a path to transfer if I took it. I did not. But I remember watching this as a 12 year old boy thinking holy shit you can SWEAR IN THE MARINES?
this is the most realistic depiction of life in the military ever made.
Ray is one of the most well written characters in the history of TV show writing. It’s hard to make such a brash and vulgar character so likable and relatable. The fact that Ed Burns fought in Nam and the actors actually went through military training highlights the short comings of modern movies, shows and actors; it’s hard to write compelling characters if you have a lack of life experience.
One of the things I love about the show is how it portrays its characters, and how closely they resemble the real people. There's this one GenKill interview with the real portrayed people and you can very clearly see the similarities in personalities. Great show.
I was a huge fan of The Wire and bought this series on blu ray when it came out, so I'm glad people are discovering and discussing it now. There are so many great moments in this show but there's one that really resonated with me, having lived through the whole war on terror era as a young adult. An American colonel and major stand and watch while US bombs rain down on an area for no other reason than to impress the Iraqis, who look on and cheer. The colonel says to the other: "it's as if there's a plan".
The best thing I heard from a buddy that was deployed was "it's hot, smells like shit all the time, and I have to fight spiders over my boots I'm basically living star ship troopers."
I'm military and this show is the most real depiction of the military out there. I felt like I had met all these Marines (or at least their doppelgangers) when I watched. Glorious show.
I have never seen a more accurate depiction of military officers ever.
It's still the best military depiction I've ever seen
I can't get over how relatable the story is even for people like myself who didn't carry a gun or trained to be some badass specialist. I've met so many people whose MOS/rate wasn't combat related and get the show.
The personalities, the politics, the pissing contests...this show nails it.
TH-cam shorts introduced me to this show! It came out years before I had access to HBO.
Former Marine infantry here. Gen Kill is without a doubt the best piece of media put to screen in terms of its authenticity. The show OOZES how it feels to be in the Marine Corps. The only downside is a lot of it will be lost on those unfamiliar with military lingo. Watch with a vet friend :D