I owe so much to United States Marines Corps that I was honored and proud to have served for 4 years. So as we approach its 238th birthday I will countdown my personal top 5 favorite movies of all time about the Marines Corps.
I dedicate this all my brothers and sisters who served and are serving. Ooh - Rah Devildogs, Semper Fi. Hope you enjoy....
Robert Duvall, who has given some of the most impressive, epic performances of all time, a legend, an Elite, shines brighter in this movie than any I can name. He plays Bull Meechum, or as he calls himself 'The Great Santini', an affectiate term for Marine pilots who had a knack for getting out of certain death situations, like a magician or illusionist. Duall's character is a jarhead in every sense of the word here and the character plays to the nature of what he has experienced, seen, and the small bits of hope he has to hold onto wihtout ever showing the emotional toll it places. While this character is larger than life, tough as nails, Duvall chooses to make him subtle not verbose, rational not out of control, and still let the moster loose when time deemed appropriate. It's one of the best build ups to a monster I have seen on a Movie screen. For those who are Breaking Bad fans, this is Heisenberg transformation in an hour and half.
This movie is really about a son trying to understand who his father is so that he might actually gain his approval and respect. The problem is The Great Santini has lost his way, he enjoys the part of Marine a bit too much. Taking the sophmoric, fraternal aspect of that life and not letting it die long after it should have for Bull.
Along with Duvall, Michael O'Keefe, who plays his son Ben brilliantly, earned Oscar Nominations. For O'Keefe this movie, one of his first, put him on the map to stardom, landing the role of Danny in Caddyshack. This movie also gives you an idea of the scope of one of the most underrated female performers of any generation Blythe Danner.
This movie is very uncomfortable and it just descends darker and darker but it also highlights a fundmental aspect of the Marines. That brotherhood, that comraderie that is unlike any other. It also dulls the image of the squeaky clean Marine and that's what in the end makes it so compelling. Most people do not get to see that side of the stress that life can offer. Most people are like Ben Meechum, they want so desperately to worship and feel for if only a moment the kind of kinder spiritism Bull shows his fellow Marines.
Yeah this movie takes a weird path and has a twist that kind of veers it away from the true essence of a military movie but it depicts real ife, tragic and hopeful, deseperate and exciting, and sometimes just fun and funny. It is shot like a we are watching hidden camera footage with an ode to grand wide shot scenes like those of the 1950's. Only toward the end do we get that 1970's full single shot follow that so accompanied the important stanzas of the film era.
This movie is to Father and Son relationships what 'Mommy Dearest' was to Mother and Daughter relationships but at least it's honest.
Jake Gyllenhaal leads us though the modern Marine's experience from boot camp into Iraq and the reprocushions of the psychology that is associated with war. As Anthony Swafford we experience what truly is the uniqueness of the comraderie and disassocaition that one experiences through being in the Marine Corps. From the unforgettable, colorful characters that we encounter who shape us into the Marines we become to the bureaucratic, poltical machine that the Marines can sometimes represent.
While this is a lesser man's Full Metal Jacket, it represents more of what I experienced in the modern era of the Marine Corps. It also has a unique voice, tempered by a perspective that shows more of what intelligent, syncial skeptics might view as comedic idealogy surrounding the absurd idea of war and what a Marine's purpose really is but where it succeeds is bringing it all back to reality of what is truly heroic and horrific in all the same space about what Marines have to do for the world.
Yet there are a few light hearted jabs and barbs at a Marine experience's expense. Maybe it will be very 'inside baseball' kind of talk and for most probably will not resonant in laughter. For those of us who have served it is a welcome voice, a deja-vu for what we know.
Sam Mendes is one of my favorite drirectors and does so well with the source material here. He doesn't glam it up or make it an abridged version of subtle truths. We see what Spafford and his devildog brothers and sisters saw, good and bad, slow and fast, funny and tragic. He uses the voiceover with an eerie similarity to Jacket but still with a different tone, a different direction. It's smart intraspectiveness moves frame to frame and follows with a strong edit just right to give you what you need and move you to the next emotional cliff. It is the first movie of it's generation to really give you an idea or subtle sense of what Iraq had to be like for those who served to fight there. It also gives you that insider look into a coveted fraternity that few people see from a member's view.
While that may not be epic or exciting for most, it does allow the characters to come out and give you more verboseness and true emotion. The performances are so close to home and remind me so much of those I know from my own days. Peter Sarsgaard and Jamie Foxx in particular give spot on performances. For those of us who are Marines, who would have welcomed them and not mistaken them for anything but one of us. Most of the performaces resonant like that. It made me laugh, hake my head, cheer, and reflect. I don't think a movie you like could be asked to do any more than that.
This might be an insider, Marines only type of pick just because those who are mere moviegoers may have found this to be a bit more synical and harder to stay with even though it tries hard ot bring you in (maybe too hard as my one criticism). For me though it is so close to home and it is a well made movie on it's own. Well enough to make this list and be one of my favorites.
We follow one Marine's journey, nicknamed Joker from boot camp into the Vietnam War. The most comprehensive, immersive, and engaging movie about what it is to be a United States Marine. It takes you down the path we all went to get to where we all wanted to be but it does in the confines and settings of one of the most trying times a Marine has ever known. It challenges the politics of a war that many had issues with but moreover it challenges the moral fabric of being. It shows the harshness of war and the emotional, mental toll it takes on those who experienced it and how different that hjourney is for everyone.
I dedicate this all my brothers and sisters who served and are serving. Ooh - Rah Devildogs, Semper Fi. Hope you enjoy....
5. THE GREAT SANTINI (1979)
Robert Duvall, who has given some of the most impressive, epic performances of all time, a legend, an Elite, shines brighter in this movie than any I can name. He plays Bull Meechum, or as he calls himself 'The Great Santini', an affectiate term for Marine pilots who had a knack for getting out of certain death situations, like a magician or illusionist. Duall's character is a jarhead in every sense of the word here and the character plays to the nature of what he has experienced, seen, and the small bits of hope he has to hold onto wihtout ever showing the emotional toll it places. While this character is larger than life, tough as nails, Duvall chooses to make him subtle not verbose, rational not out of control, and still let the moster loose when time deemed appropriate. It's one of the best build ups to a monster I have seen on a Movie screen. For those who are Breaking Bad fans, this is Heisenberg transformation in an hour and half.
This movie is really about a son trying to understand who his father is so that he might actually gain his approval and respect. The problem is The Great Santini has lost his way, he enjoys the part of Marine a bit too much. Taking the sophmoric, fraternal aspect of that life and not letting it die long after it should have for Bull.
Along with Duvall, Michael O'Keefe, who plays his son Ben brilliantly, earned Oscar Nominations. For O'Keefe this movie, one of his first, put him on the map to stardom, landing the role of Danny in Caddyshack. This movie also gives you an idea of the scope of one of the most underrated female performers of any generation Blythe Danner.
This movie is very uncomfortable and it just descends darker and darker but it also highlights a fundmental aspect of the Marines. That brotherhood, that comraderie that is unlike any other. It also dulls the image of the squeaky clean Marine and that's what in the end makes it so compelling. Most people do not get to see that side of the stress that life can offer. Most people are like Ben Meechum, they want so desperately to worship and feel for if only a moment the kind of kinder spiritism Bull shows his fellow Marines.
Yeah this movie takes a weird path and has a twist that kind of veers it away from the true essence of a military movie but it depicts real ife, tragic and hopeful, deseperate and exciting, and sometimes just fun and funny. It is shot like a we are watching hidden camera footage with an ode to grand wide shot scenes like those of the 1950's. Only toward the end do we get that 1970's full single shot follow that so accompanied the important stanzas of the film era.
This movie is to Father and Son relationships what 'Mommy Dearest' was to Mother and Daughter relationships but at least it's honest.
4. JARHEAD (2005)
Jake Gyllenhaal leads us though the modern Marine's experience from boot camp into Iraq and the reprocushions of the psychology that is associated with war. As Anthony Swafford we experience what truly is the uniqueness of the comraderie and disassocaition that one experiences through being in the Marine Corps. From the unforgettable, colorful characters that we encounter who shape us into the Marines we become to the bureaucratic, poltical machine that the Marines can sometimes represent.
While this is a lesser man's Full Metal Jacket, it represents more of what I experienced in the modern era of the Marine Corps. It also has a unique voice, tempered by a perspective that shows more of what intelligent, syncial skeptics might view as comedic idealogy surrounding the absurd idea of war and what a Marine's purpose really is but where it succeeds is bringing it all back to reality of what is truly heroic and horrific in all the same space about what Marines have to do for the world.
Yet there are a few light hearted jabs and barbs at a Marine experience's expense. Maybe it will be very 'inside baseball' kind of talk and for most probably will not resonant in laughter. For those of us who have served it is a welcome voice, a deja-vu for what we know.
Sam Mendes is one of my favorite drirectors and does so well with the source material here. He doesn't glam it up or make it an abridged version of subtle truths. We see what Spafford and his devildog brothers and sisters saw, good and bad, slow and fast, funny and tragic. He uses the voiceover with an eerie similarity to Jacket but still with a different tone, a different direction. It's smart intraspectiveness moves frame to frame and follows with a strong edit just right to give you what you need and move you to the next emotional cliff. It is the first movie of it's generation to really give you an idea or subtle sense of what Iraq had to be like for those who served to fight there. It also gives you that insider look into a coveted fraternity that few people see from a member's view.
While that may not be epic or exciting for most, it does allow the characters to come out and give you more verboseness and true emotion. The performances are so close to home and remind me so much of those I know from my own days. Peter Sarsgaard and Jamie Foxx in particular give spot on performances. For those of us who are Marines, who would have welcomed them and not mistaken them for anything but one of us. Most of the performaces resonant like that. It made me laugh, hake my head, cheer, and reflect. I don't think a movie you like could be asked to do any more than that.
This might be an insider, Marines only type of pick just because those who are mere moviegoers may have found this to be a bit more synical and harder to stay with even though it tries hard ot bring you in (maybe too hard as my one criticism). For me though it is so close to home and it is a well made movie on it's own. Well enough to make this list and be one of my favorites.
3. A FEW GOOD MEN (1992)
Tom Cruise stars as Lt. Daniel Kaffee, a care free naval officer who'd rather plea his way through a case rather than fight it out in court. That is till he comes across 2 hardcore Infantry marines who are accused of murdering a fellow, weaker platoon mate and refuse to take any sort of deal. Forcing Kaffee to pursue trial in what becomes a fight to get to the truth.
Sure one would probably say this movie doesn't show the Marines in the greatest of lights but one line that always resonates with me is when Captain Jack Ross, played nicely by Kevin Bacon, is insulted by Kaffee who makes a blanket statement about Marines, "Don't you dare lump me in with Jessup and Kendrick because we wear the same uniform!"
Still though, yes the marines are the "bad guys" here but just like all of our aspects of life there are a few of those who take this idealism a bit far. There are also those who come back to the core principles they were given by the marines, like Lt. Markinson, played very well by JT Walsh. Even the young Mariens on trial get a sense of it, especially PFC Harold Dawson, played by James Marshall.
As a movie, there are so many powerhouses, Jack Nicholson, Keifer Sutherland, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollack, small appearances by Christopher Guest, John Jackson (who plays virtually the same role he played in JAG), Noah Wyle, and JA Preston ("And the Colonial will adress the court as your honor as i am sure I have earned that.") .
Then to add to that it was penned beautifully by Aaron Sorkin, probably one of the Top 5 writers of all time, and directed by Rob Reiner. For Reiner this is a bit of a depature but it was nice to see him step out of his comfort zone and really deliver a powerful drama here. His opening seuqence where we follow the Marine Dirll team practicing into Demi Morre walking past practicing her pitch to the JAG Corps is seemless. Honestly this big of an ensemble needed a presence like Reiner's.
Sorkin wrote the infamous and very often parodied, "You can't handle the truth" banter that Cruise and Nicholson deliver so well. It is one of the most memorable back and forths in movie history. Honestly Cruise and Nicholson have this amazing chemistry on screeen and they do a dance routinee each time they are shown that rivals the greatest. Equally strong is Demi Moore and Cruise, and Pollack gives just enough to be the voice of reason and a nice buffer between the two.
I can not turn the channel when its on and for that it deserves a plac eon this list. This movie is packed with memorable scenes, moments, dialogue, shots, and just good moviemaking sense. The fact that is about Marines and the honor they carry, even if it is misguided just gives it so much more meaning to me. Of the 5 that I will feature here on this list this week, this is the best "movie" of the bunch.
2. HEARTBREAK RIDGE (1986)
Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Highway, as salty a Marine as they come. A badass infantryman who knows nothing but the Marine way but for the first time in his life he is staring at the end of all that. He has one last assignement that brings him back to where it all started and as he figures it a fitting place for it to end. He knows nothing about being a civilian but for the first time in his life he just might be willing to give it a try. His last assignment is working for the very thing he hates, a fake Officer who tries to play tough but is nothing to the contrary. He gets stuck trying to bring back a Recon platoon's band of misfits to prominence. All whiel trying to convince his ex -wife he can be the man she just loved just not as Marine.
The testerone that flows through this movie will not be matched by very few I have ever seen. Clint Eastwood is near flawless as Highway and there are a couple surprisingly good supporting performances like Mario Van Peebles, Marsha Mason, and Arlen Snyder. It's really like putting Dirty Harry in a Marine uniform, there are plenty of great one liners and tough guy antics.
As a Marine movie goes though it really shows the enthussiasm of being a Marine like no other. It may be the one movie that guys who haven't been Marines would see and it would make them say damn that might be cool to do all that, to be that. It also has quite a bit of insider type gaffs and truths. It is the one movie on this list that shows how the Marines is much more of a job than it might appear.
I think it would be hard pressed for me to find a guy's guy that wouldn't say this movie is at the top or near the top of their list. It's tailor made to be that. Even still there is actual tender moments and you really feel for Highway at points where he seems all but lost and yet trying really hard. It's watching a guy know he's at the end and he can't pretend he's not anymore.
Don't get me wrong this is not a thinker's piece of art, this is man fluff but it has glimpses of movie magic and really lends itself to why Eastwood is an incredible director. He directed this movie and kept the voice going very much the same direction but still showed it's vulernability. Not sure any other person directing may have takent he source material in that direction.
The writing is so much how marines talk and why not, it was written by a guy who not only penned other grat gems like Hamburger Hill but served himself in James Carabatsos. He really dug into the rhythm of the language and culture.
Heartbreak Ridge is that guilty pleasure, best movie ever made- nah, but damn good all the same.
1. FULL METAL JACKET (1987)
We follow one Marine's journey, nicknamed Joker from boot camp into the Vietnam War. The most comprehensive, immersive, and engaging movie about what it is to be a United States Marine. It takes you down the path we all went to get to where we all wanted to be but it does in the confines and settings of one of the most trying times a Marine has ever known. It challenges the politics of a war that many had issues with but moreover it challenges the moral fabric of being. It shows the harshness of war and the emotional, mental toll it takes on those who experienced it and how different that hjourney is for everyone.
How R. Lee Emery was not nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as Senior Drill Instructor, Gny. Sgt. Hartman I will never understand. For anyone who has experienced boot camp this is all to eerie a portrayal. Of course being a Marine himself probably helped him easily get into the role but make no mistake he has acting chops and puts them all on display here.
Matthew Modine, Vincent D' Onofrio, Arliss Howard, and Adam Baldwin all made their marks on this film as well and in what Stanley Kubrick seems to do best, which is a take a relatively unknown talentsand make them them known.
There is not a Marine I know that hasn't seen this movie at least 5 times and who doesn't quote you at least one line from it. It is the best depiction of a Marine's jounrey there has ever been and ever will be. Even dated as it might appear to those now or having gone through the experiences of being a Marine it has a signifigant revelance but it holds true the simple principles and due dilligence of what this all means to be United States Marines. The skeleton for which that is, has not changed.
There will several debates about what might be the best Vietnam movie of all time and while Full Metal Jacket just touches on that subject matter briefly , it actually combs through the experience in a much more abridged ideal than it's movie subject's brothers but all the elements are there.
As Kubrick so often does he demonstrates true human character through it's worst moral fabrics and shines out the true intent of human nature good and bad. Yet ultimately shining on the deepening consequences of those actions. He is meticiously in his detailing and the storytelling though lead through voice over, it is told in a fashion that is very eerie and omnious.
This movie demonstrates why being a Marine is so important but moreover how it resonates the harsh reality of that acceptance. As Marines we always hope that all of them come back safe and sound and there is a little hope that a Marines job may someday never be needed again. However I for one, am glad to know of the generations before me, the ones during my time, the ones now, the ones ahead of me, and the ones beyond me.
All who serve, not just the Marines, are my brothers and sisters. It is a meaningful rite of passage. It is a honorable commitment. I thank you all for doing so much and being who you are.
Semper Fi.
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