What Actor/Actress do you feel has given the best performance as a Service Member or Veteran? We've all seen movies referencing military service and veterans so who is your favorite and why?

What Actor/Actress do you feel has given the best performance as a Service Member or Veteran?

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SSG Robert Burns

Posted >1 y ago

Daymon Wayans - MAJ Payne
Oscar worthy....I cried.

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MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca

>1 y

It did come close on some levels, but, No.

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SPC Ryan Caskey

>1 y

Mathew Broderick in Glory. Mel Gibson in Patriot.

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SSG Maurice P.

11 y

Mel Gibson (we were soldiers)(brave heart)

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MSgt John Grollimund

>1 y

Mel Gibson, We Were Soldiers

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SFC Stephen Carden

Posted >1 y ago

There have been so many.... I think the character that I remember most as feeling very authentic was Damien Lewis as MAJ Dick Winters in "Band of Brothers". I also thought Sam Elliott (one of my favorites) was awesome as CSM Basil Plumley in "We Were Soldiers".

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CPT (Join to see)

>1 y

Two amazing choices!

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PO1 (Join to see)

>1 y

They could make a movie where Sam Elliot talks about taking a deuce and I would watch. That man is awesome.

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SSG Maurice P.

11 y

what about charles whitmore (1958 battle front)

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13

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SFC (Join to see)

Posted >1 y ago

R. Lee Ermey - Siege of Firebase Gloria (FMJ is a no brainer)
Daman Wayans - MAJ Payne (Killin is my biddness...and BIDdness is goood!)
Audie Murphy - To Hell and Back (I mean c'mon, can you not like this?)
Clint Eastwood - Hearbreak Ridge
James Caan - Gardens of Stone

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Sgt David G Duchesneau

>1 y

Got to like them both! Great movies!

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SGT Michael DeLaGarza

>1 y

Do not forget Brad Pitt in Inglorious Bast....ds

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CPL Rob N.

>1 y

Just to name a few...

John Wayne and all of his war movies.... Sands of Iowa Jima, Flying Leathernecks, The Green Berets, etc.

Sean Connery in The Hunt For Red October.

Denzel Washington with Crimson Tide, Glory, A Soldier's Story.

And can't forget Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan.

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CPT (Join to see)

>1 y

SFC (Join to see) & @ CPL Rob N. I endorse your selection 100% fabulous depictions and most entertaining movies.Thanks for "picking my brain" LOL.

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12

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MSG Wade Huffman

Edited >1 y ago

Posted >1 y ago

I'll start this one off with an under appreciated and nearly forgotten movie that I have always thought hit home hard. My pick is James Earl Jones as CSM "Goody" Nelson in 'Gardens of Stone'. He portrays the role perfectly.
Of course some of my bias towards this film may be due to having been in The Old Guard.

In a near tie would be R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket. No additional justification needed!

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LTC Paul Labrador

>1 y

MSG Huffman, I would say those two you mentioned had a leg up in portraying service members as both were prior service (Jones was an officer in the Army Reserves and Ermey obviously was a Marine).

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MSG Wade Huffman

>1 y

LTC Labrador, very true! I'm sure they both relied on their own personal experiences, especially Ermy given that a large part of his opening scene was unscripted.

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MSG(P) Michael Warrick

>1 y

John Wayne in green beret

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SSG Dennis O'Connor

>1 y

James Caan also did an admirable performance as SFC Hazzard in Gardens of Stone

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CMSgt James Nolan

Edited >1 y ago

Posted >1 y ago

Robert Duvall in The Great Santini
Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men
Clint Eastwood in Heartbreak Ridge (corny but great)
Whoever played the SgtMaj in Generation Kill (Police those Mooostaches)
Sam Elliot in We Were Soldiers
Cuba Gooding in Men of Honor
Kevin Bacon in Taking Chance
Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now
Ed Harris in Enemy at the Gates and The Rock

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Capt Mark Strobl

>1 y

Taking Chance - Great Flick (but, I a little biased on that one)

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9

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SFC (Join to see)

Posted >1 y ago

One of my favorite performances would have to have been Sam Elliot as CSM Plumley in 'We Were Soldiers...' I would also say R. Lee Ermey in 'Full Metal Jacket' but the fact that he 'acted' in a role he played in real life almost disqualifies him from the discussion.

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LTC Paul Labrador

Posted >1 y ago

Actors who've ddi well:

Denzel Washington - Courage Under Fire/ Crimson Tide
Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump/ Saving Private Ryan
Gary Sinise - Forrest Gump
The whole cast of Band of Brothers
Sam Elliot - We Were Soldiers
Mel Gibson - We Were Soldiers

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PO3 Joseph Wieck

>1 y

Being a submariner, Crimson Tide does not get a vote for me. I was serving when it came out and we hated it. So much inaccuracy that it just ruined it for us.

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SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S.

Posted >1 y ago

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Sam Elliot - as Basil L. Plumley
Rent the movie for the "why"

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CWO3 (Join to see)

Posted 11 y ago

The entire cast of Band of Brothers.

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MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca

11 y

Yes, best ensemble cast since "A Bridge Too Far"

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SSG Maurice P.

11 y

how about the cast to (pacific)

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SPC James Lewis

>1 y

You can't single out one member of that cast,they all did a outstanding job.

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LCpl Steve Wininger

Edited >1 y ago

Posted >1 y ago

We Were Soldiers...Mel Gibson

I think it portrays the full spectrum of what war is like for us, the enemy, and the families at home. I think the movie was true to form in many respects.

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Cpl Brett Wagner

>1 y

R. Lee Ermy - because he wasn't acting he was just being Lee.

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What Actor/Actress do you feel has given the best performance as a Service Member or Veteran?

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