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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Rendering of the hand salute does drive me crazy. Another thing that drives me crazy (especially in JAG) is when they show people having a normal conversation on a flight deck with no hearing protection! Really??
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Indeed, the salutes kill me.
Stand at POA, wrist straight, thumb extended and joined, fingers at the brim of the cover, upper arm parallel to the deck, "Good morning/afternoon/evening, sir/ma'am". and NEVER salute when uncovered.
Stand at POA, wrist straight, thumb extended and joined, fingers at the brim of the cover, upper arm parallel to the deck, "Good morning/afternoon/evening, sir/ma'am". and NEVER salute when uncovered.
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SGT (Join to see)
Cpl John Jones I wouldn't say NEVER when uncovered. It depends on the situation and service regs. For example in the Army you salute indoors when reporting (ie the CO wants to have a "talk", or you are attending a SOM or promotion board)
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Cpl John Jones
True, but for Marines, we only salute when covered, such as when we're on duty in the Barracks, or the squadron in my case, and we would salute when reporting our posts to officers or SNCOs when they came on deck. Other than that, we generally don't salute indoors, because we're almost always uncovered (even when we're before the CO's desk), unless of course it's for a promotion board, like you said, and they tell us to cover up and salute when we present ourselves.
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How about the A-team. Ever notice these special forces guys never once, ever actually hit anybody?
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1LT William Clardy
Cpl John Jones, maybe they were trying to avoid violating the terms of their escape and were only shooting to scare?
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For those responding with "uniform discrepancies" there is a reason. Most times, Hollywood will not hire a military advisor to assist with the making of their film. They assume that Wardrobe will do their own research. Assumptions are a dangerous thing sometimes. Hollywood goes with what looks right to them, not what looks right to those of us who serve.
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SGT William Risinger
even if they had AR 670-1 and got a uniform correct some jackass would scream stolen valor
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PFC Paul Ritchey
That issue actually came up back in the early 70s (I forget the name of the movie) and as a result many directors (I believe it is more as a rule of thumb that an actual rule) require minor discrepancies that only military personnel would notice so as not to be accused of "impersonating" actual military personnel.
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SGT (Join to see)
If you look at some of the more recent posts, there was a SCOTUS decision that filmmakers can use 100% accurate uniforms. So it's more they won't than they can't.
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Two easily rectified screwups really drive me nuts: Haircuts and rank insignia that are pinned on sideways.... If you’re gonna make a military movie, for God’s sake hire a veteran as the uniform advisor...!
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Well, in a movie like "The Last Survivor" which I thought was a great movie along with 13 Hours. I look at most military movies for entertainment. They do not get everything right, and I don't think they are supposed to. If you saw Air Force 1 with Harrison Ford, that was filled with inaccuracies, for good reason. You never show exact information about what is inside of that 707/747 to the enemy. Some of the things were damn close. But no cargo bay doors opening at the reat, no escape pod. and no parachutes. A few other things too. But they were the most obvious. Stargate SG-1, a series I completely enjoyed only had in my mind one major infraction. They show a SSgt escorting Col. O'Niell from the elevator. Now that issue was the SSgt was wearing the correct stripes, but also had a Majors oak leaf on the epulets. After that, they did their best to follow the proper protocols and uniforms following what we knew back in the day as AF-35-10. And I understand that they used actual members of the Security Forces as extras.
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