Generation Kill

This is at both times one of the most damning and inspiring looks at the war in Iraq. It shows the troops (sometimes) really looking to help the people of the country, and the hardships they have to endure doing what they think is right. Other times it shows them at a complete loss doing things that make you wonder how the army doesn't implode, or makes you absolutely hate some of them. This is a really interesting and well-made look at this war and one of the best things I saw this year.

Awesome show based on a good read. I can't believe some of this stuff actually happened. The action scenes were good (not so many but still stood out), but the dialog is what makes this must-see tv. The tough, gritty way all the characters express themselves really shine throughout its entirety. If you liked 'Band of Brothers', you should like this war depiction set in modern times as well.

Following The Wire (the undisputed best Tv-series ever) Generation Kill continues Burns and Simon's uncompromisingly realistic writing style, embedding itself deep within the idiosyncrasies and banter of the U.S. marines, and focusing much more on the characters, than the war they're fighting. It may not have the depth of The Wire or the scope of Band of Brothers, but it's the most honest (and funny) description of modern warfare, I've seen.

Finally, a war movie where nobody dies. Too bad you wish they would.

Lucid and matter of fact. The emphasis is on truthfulness. The men are shown to be what they are: unique individuals. There are: highly intelligent lieutenants, hard-working and good-natured sergeants and corporals, clueless commanders, incompetent and overzealous captains, psychos, racists, sexists, trigger-happy idiots, opportunists, and more. This is a series full of important details that foreshadow the horror of what's to come in Iraq. Illuminating and frustrating stuff.

As close to real life American warfare as you can get short of joining the military.

This miniseries could not be better. God damn. I'm on board for anything David Simon related from here on.

David Simon, again, showing everyone who is boss.

Evidently the makers of this series wanted another "Band of Brothers". This is way below that mark. Besides, a lot of these soldiers come across as juvenile delinquents, sociopaths, and retards that I wouldn't mind seeing on the receiving end of an IED. That being said, the material is so strong that it mostly overcomes these difficulties. Between the sterling acting jobs of all involved and the sturm und drang, it's not very possible to not find this captivating

Not sure it's fair to put this in with movie ratings - as it's a very different format (why not add The Wire so I can give it a perfect score...) - but this is a really intelligent mini-series. David Simon is obviously capable of making any subject feel gritty and real. What it lacks in plot it more than makes up for with deep memorable characters.

Excellent Iraq war mini-series adapted by the creators of 'The Wire'. The authentic feeling dialogue dominates as the marines philosophise and bitch about their situation and colleagues. The acting is great across the board from some HBO regulars and new faces; Alexander Skarsgård and James Ransone the standouts.

-1 for really wide cast making some plots difficult to follow.

Aside from some strong chapters, a dissapointing rewatch, mostly on account of the characters being poorly fleshed out and EXCEPTIONALLY OBNOXIOUS. There's only 3 out of 25 guys i didn't hope would be KIA: alas, they're invincible. Simon's point of incompetent leadership and military nepotism comes across quickly and clearly but there's not much other territory it covers from that point onwards. The last 3 eps are the weakest with some strange character behavior and tonedeaf, uninformed acting

The best work I've seen about Iraq, period.

Wonderful naturalistic portrayal of modern war. A deep indictment of American society and attitudes towards our responsibility as the most powerful state in the world.

Really good, I suppose it gives an impression about what modern wars are like. On an film-unrelated note: Alexander Skarsgård is extremely yummie

Fabulously realistic, if you know what I mean. Ransone is excellent. Love the dialogue.

At times a little too postmodern and ironic for its own good. I find it hard to believe that Captain America would be allowed to give orders but I've read stranger stuff so whatever. Otherwise thoroughly engrossing and hypeworthy.

Very good, Skarsgård is sooo hunky oh em geee.

Slow paced but it felt very real. I liked it.

a movie that truly portrays the generation gap of war, how different americans and american warfare is. this piece of cinema is so extremely entertaining that even through the credits i was unable to turn away. and that ending was amazing, i only wish there were more combat, but even with the small amount of combat it had, it was simply fantastic

My faith in humanity is restored. Would have liked to of seen more of Mr. Potatohead's inexplicably pluralized rants outside of maintaining grooming standards. Interesting how the word unfuck has become firmly embedded in the US army's (or in this case marine's) lexicon. It's going to take a lot of unfucking to get Iraq back on track.

Realistic, vulgar, and prophetic, Generation Kill succeeds in portraying the first few days of the Iraq War with an artistic dread that's entertaining, as well as important.

The definitive media engagement with the Iraq War, all the more better because it doesn't go out of its way to outright reference or lazily homage the fertile ground of films and commentary on Vietnam.

I love "real" dramas like this. It traffics not in the intense action sequences you may expect in a war movie (or miniseries), but rather in the emotional toll that it takes to enter a warzone. It masterfully depicts such a range of emotions and sentiments -- courage, fear, honor, duplicity, skill, incompetence, heartbreak, and accomplishment. One of the shows (along with The Wire and West Wing) that should be mandatory viewing in American schools.

It has a superb narrative but the acting is simply lackluster. There's no real sense of tension or danger despite soldiers being in life or death situations. I certainly appreciate it's tone, the concept of commanding soldiers with no actual battle experience making repeated bad calls is something that needs to be emphasized. More and more ex-soldier's and intelligence offers complain about war being treated like a business as the yes men constantly promote one another.

Stay frosty.

Notable primarily for its iconic use of Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag"; GENERATION KILL is enormously entertaining, unquestionably authentic, and not quite of much use. It depicts an Iraq war that is either beyond or below the trying moral and spiritual experience that we typically see in war films like PLATOON. The series doesn't leave you with anything- that seems to be the point. To quote the Simpsons, "there is no moral to be taken away, it's just a bunch of stuff that happened".

A member of the small circle of honest, important films and television series which catalog America's ongoing relationship with war. After a long and impactful journey, the show -- much like its characters -- does not know how to wrap things up.

Excellent. Complete series.

I've once heard The Wire mockingly described as a sociology textbook. If that's the case, Generation Kill would be a single sentence, bolded and underlined multiple times. How many scenes in a row can we have featuring the military higher-ups' selfish careerism leading to absurd consequences for our main cast?

It took me two attempts to get through this and in hindsight I wish I'd left it at the first. Seven episodes that feel like twenty, you give up any hope that something will develop after a few but force yourself through a story that's neither entertaining nor enlightening, and doesn't really say anything. Yes it's very 'real' but that doesn't mean it's any good. If I wanted to watch American soldiers acting like dickheads I'd just turn on the news.

Another amazing David Simon-written production. I think Simon's work is essentially naturalistic, but in everything I've seen from him I'm occasionally jarred by the intrusion of stylized dialogue or characters that tend toward symbolic archetypes. Where Simon's work excels is in revealing a world not driven by individuals or events but by the environment, the system.

This is how you make war drama. Not that drivel that the Pacific is showing.

Very entertaining, good acting, atrocious ending. Seemingly accurate depiction of Iraq except for the overly invincible Marines it focuses on.

Engrossing look at part of the Iraq war of 2003, where a group of elite soldiers are left with little to do and no-one to kill. Excellent mini-series, if you are a Band of Brothers fan give this a go