Film Portrayal of American Soldiers on Patrol

[browningautorifle]

I can see this thread slowly going pear shaped already

That's because it's been answered?

[Aragorn243]

I actually like Casualties of War. I don't watch it expecting to see how American Soldiers acted, I just watch it to be entertained for a bit. It is rare that a movie is an actual true telling of the truth about anything. Life in general can be very boring with a few exciting things here and there and the boring parts in film stories are either skipped or modified to appeal to a certain audience. Today's "War Movies" will often have a sideline love story so they can get women to come. Hacksaw Ridge for instance is probably closer to based on fact than many movies but they lumped several days worth of action into one night, changed this or changed that to make the storyline smoother etc. When I watch one of these movies, I tend to look them up afterwards to see how much of what happened is accurate. You can't accept anything as a true and correct version anymore and in a way that is unfortunate as that is what people are going to tend to believe.

[Flying10uk]

Key word is "based". Doesn't mean it's true

It did state in the credits that 4 American soldiers went to military prison for the alleged crimes which it went onto say were later reduced on appeal. I don't know if the information that appeared in the credits was complete fiction or if there was an element of truth in what was clearly stated, in the credits, at the end of the film. Normally I would expect the information in the credits to be reasonably truthful and accurate. Is this not the case?

[browningautorifle]

Normally I would expect the information in the credits to be reasonably truthful and accurate.

Its...a movie...

[ireload2]

Oliver Stone is in the business, like the rest of Hollywood, to sell a product that will make money.

As far as truth goes many times that is a matter of opinion.
I can show you millions of crying sissies who all claim that nuking Japan was unnecessary and that it was a war crime.
My dad was in 3 major battles in the Pacific in the USMC. There were over 50,000 Japanese killed in the 3 battles that he fought in.

About the nukes he said that he wished they had them sooner and more of them because many of the men that he knew would have still been alive.

It did state in the credits that 4 American soldiers went to military prison for the alleged crimes which it went onto say were later reduced on appeal. I don't know if the information that appeared in the credits was complete fiction or if there was an element of truth in what was clearly stated, in the credits, at the end of the film. Normally I would expect the information in the credits to be reasonably truthful and accurate. Is this not the case?

[Flying10uk]

If the information contained in the credits, at the end of films, is a complete fabrication and a pack of lies why bother having credits at the end of films at all? Wouldn't it be much simpler and easier to just end a film with "The End" and nothing else? I really don't see the point of displaying anything at the end of a film unless it has an element of truth to it.

[Aragorn243]

Propaganda didn't end with the Nazis. Always verify. Some are good some aren't.

[CINDERS]

The fog of time alters peoples perception

[browningautorifle]

So I guess this is where we leave this thread that's turning as pear shaped as Peter predicted...it's been answered and the answer not accepted once again. Is it to raise post counts? Is it to troll others? Who's to say...I sure get tired of it though.

[Flying10uk]

I don't accept that the information contained in the credits at the end of a film is likely to be made up nonsense, lies and propaganda produced by the film maker for some obscure motive. Likewise I don't accept that a person or persons who have been convicted of a crime are always guilty of that crime. My reading of of the film and the information in the credits at the end of the film is that certain serious allegations were made by one U.S. soldier against the other members of his patrol. The matter was investigated by the U.S. military, a trail held and the men convicted and imprisoned. The men appealed their sentences and were successful in having the sentences reduced. My take on the film is that the film makers took this basic information and made up a film around it. It still doesn't mean that the soldiers actually did what the film portrays them being convicted of.

So I guess this is where we leave this thread that's turning as pear shaped as Peter predicted...it's been answered and the answer not accepted once again. Is it to raise post counts? Is it to troll others? Who's to say...I sure get tired of it though.

I have no idea of what you, Jim, are trying to say here. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other on the subjects brought up in this thread but you certainly do. The only thing which I don't accept is that the information contained in the credits at the end of films is always a pack of lies, made up to deceive or influence people in a particular way.

I don't know what Peter was trying to say with his "pear shaped" comment, perhaps it was wishful thinking on his part?