Posted on Oct 13, 2014
What ONE incorrectly depicted thing pisses you off most about military movies?
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My question is really no more complicated than that.
For me, it is the rendering of the salute. Hands down. No second place. This pisses me off to no end!
In my opinion, this is THE most important of all military courtesies, and it should always be given with the most possible precision and exacting attention to detail.
FFS! It is something that is taught to every 'cruit in week 1 of basic training! It is perfected throughout training! In a military movie, this should be the EASIEST thing to get right!
It seems to me, that if an actor or actress can spend weeks or months learning hundreds, if not thousands of lines of dialog for a movie, they can at least spend an afternoon or a day, practicing with the advisor (there is ALWAYS an advisor who is a Vet or SM) on the set until they get it right.
I know there are bigger, or more obvious problems with some military movies. Weapons or uniforms or lingo that is anachronistic to the time period of the battle on screen...but DAMMIT, getting the salute wrong in any time period just frosts my shorts!
Usually, it's a fail with what I call the, "I'm shading my eyes from the sun" salute. Your f'n hand doesn't belong on your forehead like you're trying to watch the right fielder shag the fly ball! It belongs where you were TAUGHT to place it!
I find myself commenting out loud to friends, while watching movies that jack this up...they don't seem to understand why it pisses me off so much.
What does it for you?
For me, it is the rendering of the salute. Hands down. No second place. This pisses me off to no end!
In my opinion, this is THE most important of all military courtesies, and it should always be given with the most possible precision and exacting attention to detail.
FFS! It is something that is taught to every 'cruit in week 1 of basic training! It is perfected throughout training! In a military movie, this should be the EASIEST thing to get right!
It seems to me, that if an actor or actress can spend weeks or months learning hundreds, if not thousands of lines of dialog for a movie, they can at least spend an afternoon or a day, practicing with the advisor (there is ALWAYS an advisor who is a Vet or SM) on the set until they get it right.
I know there are bigger, or more obvious problems with some military movies. Weapons or uniforms or lingo that is anachronistic to the time period of the battle on screen...but DAMMIT, getting the salute wrong in any time period just frosts my shorts!
Usually, it's a fail with what I call the, "I'm shading my eyes from the sun" salute. Your f'n hand doesn't belong on your forehead like you're trying to watch the right fielder shag the fly ball! It belongs where you were TAUGHT to place it!
I find myself commenting out loud to friends, while watching movies that jack this up...they don't seem to understand why it pisses me off so much.
What does it for you?
Saluting
Movies
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 264
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War tends to be very hearing friendly in most movies.
The complete lack of earplugs or any hearing protection.
To mention a few more.
-Immortal stamina and energy.
-Lungs that breath like nothing happened even after climbing a mountain.
-No sweat
-Blast shockwaves make people fly into safety.
-People don't have to drink water.
-In fire fights people only know how to stand or crouch and awesomely jump forward in Max Payne style and land like they just landed on pillows.
-People controll gravity.
-Underground close quarters fire fights don't suck oxygen away.
-No one needs a knee pad.
-People has no metabolism.
-Bullets don't ricochet.
-Gear and ammo has no weight and need no space to carry.
-It's all fun.
-There is a "good" guy.
But my favorite is.
"How about the lining?
-Tactical."
The complete lack of earplugs or any hearing protection.
To mention a few more.
-Immortal stamina and energy.
-Lungs that breath like nothing happened even after climbing a mountain.
-No sweat
-Blast shockwaves make people fly into safety.
-People don't have to drink water.
-In fire fights people only know how to stand or crouch and awesomely jump forward in Max Payne style and land like they just landed on pillows.
-People controll gravity.
-Underground close quarters fire fights don't suck oxygen away.
-No one needs a knee pad.
-People has no metabolism.
-Bullets don't ricochet.
-Gear and ammo has no weight and need no space to carry.
-It's all fun.
-There is a "good" guy.
But my favorite is.
"How about the lining?
-Tactical."
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SGT David Fuzie
And, of course, the “bad guys” always step out from their protective cover to become easy targets!
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Army medic 1971 ,76. Always Special Forces person looks like they've been pumping steroids. Served with quite a few and they were about my size about a hundred 35 pounds. In the movies always portrayed them is pumping iron all day long. Being that size all buffed up try and crawl into a spider hole
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When i see these guys in Rambo get out, head bands, improper haircuts, insignia, nothing Military about them on appearance or demeanor. Salutes that don't even resemble anything We were taught and also in times it would not even be used. Thing that even a person in basic training picked up they didn't. If they are going to depict Military people it would be nice if that's what they looked like but a lot of them don't ! One problem, the public member who have no Military background or even contact with Military people think that's how it is and it isn't !
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Customs and Curtsies - go borrow a book or two about it when you are drafting your stories
Too much on RHIP (rank has its privileges) and not nearly enough on the RHIR, (rank has its responsibilities). While everyone knows of the person that took advantage for themselves, we also know of far more people that took RESPONSIBILITY over Privilege every single day.
Too much on RHIP (rank has its privileges) and not nearly enough on the RHIR, (rank has its responsibilities). While everyone knows of the person that took advantage for themselves, we also know of far more people that took RESPONSIBILITY over Privilege every single day.
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SMSgt Lawrence McCarter
For sure, I see some of those poor excuses for salutes and I cringe every time and it's more often than not I see that within movies .
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Doing no research on military customs is my pet peeve about military movies. I know it's broad, but unless you actually served in the military, don't make a movie about the military. There is no sense in spending millions of dollars making movies based on what you don't know about and haven't done. That is especially true with the military, because that will affect anyone who is trying to join or even considering joining the military because they think it will be like in the movies and it will give the wrong impression to those wannabes when they find out otherwise.
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SP5 Terry Pool
Stirpes especially! I do agree with you PFC Young! but that's where the recruiters should be telling them like it is....I once referred a young gentleman to an Army recruiter, after telling this young gentleman exactly what to expect week by week in infantry basic training and AIT, he went in with the knowledge that the recruiter never told him about, but I did, and he became an honor grad of basic training and has excelled in his military career! The recruiters have asked me if there are any more like him. I just told the recruiter that anybody could be like him if they are told the truth about what to expect!
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There was a time in the late 2000’s when the Air Force did EVERYTHING! Iron Man, Tansformers, etc. Every single special forces unit and operative was an AF unit. I mean, great PR campaign but come on! Sorry chair force, that isn’t where the real action is at.
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Cpl Phil Hsueh
Before that they did Stargate SG-1, where you had 4 man teams being led by full bird Colonels. Not to mention that until near the end of the series, all you would see was Air Force personnel on these teams, like the AF has a lot grunt types in their ranks. Realistically, even if the Air Force got to run the show (meaning the Stargate Program/Stargate Command), their teams would almost certainly have contained at least one Soldier or Marine, if not the the entire team.
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