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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As for uniform discrepancies. I heard in conversation once that Hollywood is not allowed to completely replicate actual current uniform. So the jacked up ribbons and insignia may be by design.
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Cpl Phil Hsueh
That whole impersonating the military is illegal and thus getting the uniform intentionally wrong is just a myth. There is nothing saying that you can't accurately portray a military uniform on TV, movies, or the stage, it's even legal for you to dress up in a completely accurate uniform for Halloween if you want. I don't have a link myself but up above there's at least 2 posts that have links debunking this myth.
I think that this myth, and the related one about impersonating a police officer all stems from a misinterpretation of the word impersonate. It doesn't simply mean dressing up, it's more like dressing up and going around trying to pass yourself off as a cop or member of the military when you're not.
I think that this myth, and the related one about impersonating a police officer all stems from a misinterpretation of the word impersonate. It doesn't simply mean dressing up, it's more like dressing up and going around trying to pass yourself off as a cop or member of the military when you're not.
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John, I have to disagree with your pet peeve - or at least question it.
How many folks that are IN the service - with MULTIPLE ENLISTMENTS - do you see that can't/don't/won't salute properly? Now THAT'S a pet peeve!
For movies, I have to say that I'm torn between hair and ribbons/medals.
How many folks that are IN the service - with MULTIPLE ENLISTMENTS - do you see that can't/don't/won't salute properly? Now THAT'S a pet peeve!
For movies, I have to say that I'm torn between hair and ribbons/medals.
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SGT Michael Glenn
We had a lt that tried to lock a whole squad up because we refused to salute him because we were all in doors ( he was the only one who had head gear on). there were no special requirements calling for us to have to salute him, in the end the CO ran across his sorry ass and locked him up, I have no pity for over zealous fools.
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Cpl John Jones
You have a point there, Master Chief, no one throws parade ground salutes every time (yes, including senior officers and enlisted personnel; the upper arm not being parallel to the deck was fairly common, even from me), but I can't say that I ever saw a Marine cover his or her entire eyebrow (or even the bridge of his or her nose) when saluting, well, except for mock saluted amongst our peers.
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I agree with all of the above, with improper saluting being at the top of the list. But the one gross mistake in a single movie that tried to be real is in "Crimson Tide". A CO or anyone else would have a dog on submarine, let alone allowing them to piss on a missile tube. The one time I saw a dog on my sub was when we were in dry dock and we had a bomb threat. The dog toured the boat sniffing for a bomb (never to be found). A question for you boomer sailors, did you guys have vests and Kevlar helmets on board? Because that would be the second gross error.
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SFC Michael Hasbun
In fairness, they did acknowledge and address that specific item violation in the movie...
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LTC Paul Labrador
I just saw a movie last week that makes The Hurtlocker look like a documentary: Jarhead 2. While the first one was kind of out there, it at least looked accurate (except for all the dude firing their weapons into the air at the bonfire party scene). This sequel made me want to destroy my TV. Just soooooo many things wrong it was painful. Major uniform discrepencies. Trying to play off M1919 .30cals Brownings off as M2 .50cals. Ridiculous plot. I had to turn it off it was so bad.
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SGT (Join to see)
SSG (Join to see) Can we not talk about how wrong as sin hurt locker is? When I was at PH I at Redstone Arsenal, the MOS-Ts would do friendly wagers on who would score higher on tests. Well the ante kept escalating until they finally decided to call it quits when the loser had to stand in front of the instructor's office and sound off with "Hurt locker was the best, most accurate movie. EVER".
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