U.s Military Movies Or Tv Shows

Which military movie shows most realistic combat or Battle?

I watched Saving Private Ryan for the first time in a theater in '99, had heard a lot about the opening scene. Mind you those were the days, when you had no You Tube or Torrents, and Internet was still in it's infancy in India. Sitting in the dark hall, the opening 15 minutes just blew me off. I am a huge fan of WWII movies, and had seen a good number of them earlier. But nothing, I repeat nothing, could prepare me for what I saw in the opening scene of this movie. I had seen war movies, but this was something different, realistic, gut wrenching and bloody close to reality. Guts falling out of a soldier's stomach, legs getting blown off, blood spilling, soldiers crying, this was war at it's rawest- brutal, ugly and repulsive. In a way Spielberg set the trend for other war movies to follow, suddenly battle scenes were more gritty, more realistic, more grubby.I watched this opening scene again and again on You Tube. And everytime I see it, I just can't help being blown away by Spielberg's shot taking and composition. The detailing is brilliant,right from a soldier throwing up on the vessel to the dark gloomy atmosphere to the chaos on the beaches of Omaha. More than anything else, loved that silence, when one of the soldiers is hit by the explosion close to him. For a moment, you just hear that buzzing sound, the dazed look on the character's face, the shaky camera movement. And the ironic touches, a soldier removes his helmet to check if it is fine, after being struck by a bullet, and the next moment, a bullet hits him in the forehead. The opening scene showed war for what it is, utter chaos, people lying alone screaming in agony, blood and guts spilled everywhere, each one to himself trying to survive in the madness. There is no heroism here, no glamorization, it is just a group of soldiers, fighting to survive in the madness, and finishing their job.There have been many great WWII movies after Saving Private Ryan, and even before it. But when it came to shooting realistic battle scenes, this movie was the benchmark. War scenes were never the same after Saving Private Ryan, they began to get more gritty, more realistic, more violent. And that is the genius of Steven Spielberg.

Why are US military uniforms depicted in movies and TV shows often not correct with respect to the applicable military regulations? Is there a policy or rule or law that prevents accurate depictions?

18 U.S. Code § 702 - Uniform of armed forces and Public Health ServiceWhoever, in any place within the jurisdiction of the United States or in the Canal Zone, without authority, wears the uniform or a distinctive part thereof or anything similar to a distinctive part of the uniform of any of the armed forces of the United States, Public Health Service or any auxiliary of such, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.While this does not explicitly restricts performers such as actors in film from wearing a uniform as such performance is covered by free speech, it is often common practice of film companies to give anything that is even remotely illegal a very wide berth.As such, they often times will get things intentionally wrong as so they can say it is not the same. The only times they get it right is when the film leans more towards realistic depiction… such as Saving pvt. Ryan or Band of Brothers.

What movie is the most realistic portrayal of the military?

I did not serve in combat, but I have talked to many combat veterans. The consensus view was that a film that accurately portrayed life in the military would be very boring.There is a very old joke that the best description of military life is, “Hurry up and wait.” Military life has , in wartime, has been described as 99% boredom and 1% sheer terror.When “Saving Private Ryan” was released in the UK there were special showings for D-Day veterans. Many of the veterans could not sit through the scenes of combat on the beaches because of the memories it evoked. They emphasised, however, that the landings represented a tiny part of their war-time careers, many months had been spent training and practising prior to D-Day.Cinema concentrates on the moments of drama, because this makes for an exciting film. I unreservedly recommend the film “Dunkirk” which I felt has done the best job yet of making the viewer feel immersed in the events being portrayed.

In some military movies and TV shows, they always reference Zulu time. What is it, and why is it different than normal time?

I suppose it is not any special time but just using of Phonetic alphabet. Zulu there is the word for letter Z.

What does watching war movies feel like for (ex) military members?

I was a member of the 236th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) in Da Nang, South Viet-Nam, from 10 July 1969-10 July 1970I experience a range of emotions watching war movies.  I get angry when a movie's obviously not a faithful depiction of what really happened, when 'hollywoodesque' moments are added to increase ticket sales. I feel rage   when a film is exploiting war stories for money, especially when the producers aren't vets.  However, a war movie can also be cathartic when a it's really well done, and I end up being grateful that the story is being told.