The Movie Jarhead Film Accuracy

Jarhead follows the journey of Anthony Swofford during his service in Middle East. Throughout his journey, Swofford presents a unique perspective on a variety of issues that indirectly affect American life and the “war” on terrorism. Some of the issues touched on include the mental stability and mentality of American soldiers, the influence of politics in the presentation of war, and the construction of a marine. Through these themes, along with the unique perspectives offered by the characters in the film, the audience is able to gain insight into the corruption and lies that are “war”. This insight ultimately helps the audience analyze the text deeper and enables them to draw the similarities in current events and dissect what they

During boot camp, we were taught about the Battle of Fallujah, but after reading this book, I was able to understand so much better. I was able to picture their tactics, strategies, their emotions, and why the Marines were called the “Greatest Generation.”

Although many historical filmmakers alter some events and use fiction as a tool in providing an accurate historical representation, the makers of “The

Have you ever seen “The Patriot”? If you have do you know the truth behind it because some parts really happened and some parts didn’t. Meaning that “The Patriot” is somewhat historically accurate. The Patriot is somewhat historically accurate because the main character Benjamin Martin was not a real person he was based on Francis Marion, the Battle of Cowpens was exactly the same because the colonist had extra help to fight off the British, and the surrender of Colonel Cornwallis was somewhat alike because his army could not get around the French and the colonist in history and in the movie. So “The Patriot” has many differences and similarities to history.

Prove of the Marine Corps new efforts at warfare would pay off, but with great losses, in the Pacific campaigns, such as Peleliu, Iwo Jim, and Okinawa. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, led to the largest deployment of Marines forces since WWII, which consisted of 24 infantry battalions, and 40 squadrons, which totaled to a number of about 95,000 Marines in the Persian Gulf region, as a part of Operation Desert Shield, which began in August of 1990 to January 1991. It has been known as the “100 Hour War” because “by the morning of Feb. 28, 100 hours after the ground war began, the Iraqi army was no longer a threat.”(www.globalsecurity.org ) Most of the fighting that had been going on between the US military and enemy forces, after 9/11 has been in Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as the Global War on Terrorism “One of the key strategies of Operation Iraqi Freedom during 2003 was the capture of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad. A convoy of thirty thousand Marines advanced five hundred miles from the border of Kuwait in just ten days. On April 9, 2003, Marines secured the center of Baghdad. That same day, Coalition forces declared an end to the dictator’s rule.” (www.marines.com )

“The noise were worse than ever, and everybody was shouting through the dark, and nobody seemed to be able to hear what anybody else said” (York, 1998). The movie Sergeant York was released in 1941 as a black and white film by MGM Home Videos. Directed by Howard Hawks, this film showed the life and struggles of the war hero Alvin C. York. The main character, York played by Gary Cooper, struggles with the thought of killing as World War 1 breaks out. The movie shows how Alvin came to know his wife Gracie, played by Joan Leslie; came to know Christ; and became a war hero. We also see how York comes to find friends while in the trenches; one of which is Michael T. Ross, played by George Tobias, they grow to be fast friends as the movie proceeds. York’s commanding officer was played by Stanley Ridges. To analyze the movie, we must look at the storyline, a particular scene, and the accuracy of the story.

Sometimes throughout history, events in real life happen that far exceed the story lines of novels and even some of the far-fetched movie plots. In order to keep from producing boring documentaries and to avoid confinement to a set script in history, screenwriters and directors often combine numerous true events into a new creation that only resembles or loosely portrays real life. These combined scenes can come from all different areas, countries, and even times. All in the name of entertainment and without having to be historically accurate. Early in 2000, the filmmakers out of Hollywood, California, created a film titled “The Patriot.” It was originally released as a fictional film for entertainment, but reiterated that it was loosely based on some historical events, but was still fictional, after attack from numerous historians. “The Patriot” portrays Benjamin Martin, a South Carolinian plantation owner, and his exploits for survival after the Revolutionary War forces its way into his family. His use of guerrilla warfare tactics closely resembles the real life fighting style of

I read the section about the battles that took place during WWII. It brought to my minds that in real life. There are more important things during a war than finding a private Ryan. War is a huge event and the little things like finding a person to keep the family name going is too small to include in war history. This is what separates the movies from the real life. Another difference is they don't show the actual planning it takes to start an attack or the inelegance that is needed to set up the perfect defense barrier to prevent the advancement of the enemy soldiers. A real battle can last days, weeks, months, or years, compared to movie war that lasts not even a day and has one guy or one platoon take on the entire other side. The casualties of real war is tremendous, rather than movies where you see almost the same characters in the whole movie accomplishing some of the most intense tasks with only one or two dying. Also, in movie war you don't see the other side's horror. You think all the opponents are bad horrible people that deserve to die, when they are just soldiers doing their job and the only reason we are fighting them is because of a bad leader or government. So in the movies every enemy deserves to die and should be shown no mercy, but the actual thing about that is that the enemy is just like any other soldier. And furthermore when the good guys lose a battle in a

“There are only two kinds of people who understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else just has a second-hand opinion.” (Gen William Thornson, U.S. Army) For decades, the United States Marine Corps has established an identity as a unique and fearless war fighting machine.

It’s a known fact that that the Vietnam War was fought by young American soldiers that bled and died next to one another in the jungles of Vietnam. With many wins and loses throughout the war there were over 58,000 American casualties by wars end. The movie, “We Were Soldiers” focuses on the role of the United State’s 7th Calvary Regiment in the Battle of Ia Drang, which was the first large-unit battle of the Vietnam War. Lt. Col. Hal Moore commanded the 7th Calvary Regiment that landed a helicopter in an area named “X-Ray” located in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam. LT. Col. Moore found himself and his men defending an area no bigger than

The Civil War was a time of fighting within the United States brought on by many events including the Missouri Compromise, abolition movement, presidential election of 1860, secession of Southern states, and other occurrences. Most Southern states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America. The big divide stemmed from the differing positions on slavery. The North had been gradually abolishing slavery and did not depend on such free labor in the way the South did. The agricultural dependant economy of the South relied on African American labor. Therefore, each side feared the stance the government would take on the issue of slavery and how that would affect the economy and politics of the nation. From 1861 to 1865, the

Historic movies are often produced with the premise that they will tell an honest tale about the past, but how accurate are they really? The Patriot is a historical movie the shows the life of an ex-war hero, Benjamin Martin, and his life continuing on through the American Revolution. This includes his interaction with the soldiers and generals, his political stance, and his involvement through the towns. Because the Benjamin Martin is fictional The Patriot cannot be called 100% accurate, but that doesn't mean that other aspects shown were inaccurate. The Patriot demonstrates authentic knowledge of history militarily, socially, and politically.

Parts five and six bring together the personal and professional relationship between Marines themselves and the American public. These relationships, forged by the millions of men and women who have donned the Marine Corps uniform, are a result of training methods and careful selection. General Krulak gives the reader a taste of why Marines do what they have come to be known as America’s force in readiness. First to Fight has many good traits. The book, while easy to read and addictively interesting, never sugarcoats the intense conflicts between high level officials. General Krulak enhances the “official” record with personal accounts of events and people now legendary. His no-holds-barred approach to his writing makes General Krulak’s book both honest and educational. His explanations of the struggle to keep the Marine Corps alive and the early development of amphibious doctrine make First to Fight a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the modern Marine Corps. In parts of the book, General Krulak provides a mountain of detail. While these facts would be of great historical value for a reader who knows military structure and nomenclature, they tend to bog down the reader at points. The political volleys also tend to get tedious when the General describes the how the Marine Corps had to fight tooth and nail for institutional survival. These

I feel that the film was indeed historically accurate. First of all, the ship was really called Apollo 13, as it was in the movie as well. They also had all of the correct dates and times that the ship launched and landed. The film did a really good job of giving some of the correct details about what happened on the ship and what the four men were feeling while they were in space. It made you think about the situation that they were in and what must have been going on in their head at the time. I can’t imagine that anything about the historical events were incorrect. It was a movie though, so there were some parts that I’m sure never happened in real life, but were put in the film to make it more enjoyable for the viewers.

A realist film that shows great accuracy is the war film All Quiet on the Western Front. The storyline incorporates just enough action to inform viewers that it is a war movie and at the same time it also embodies many other aspects such as the politics, emotions and hype involved with the war (Ronald, R. 2013). This gives the viewer a more accurate view as all aspects of the war are covered. Throughout the film we see that real locations have been chosen to enhance the realistic vision and accuracy of the film.