Military Thread: Humanity Hanging from a Cross of Iron

[Guard Dog]

49 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

What didnt you enjoy about it ?

I remember a couple of glaring historical inaccuracies. I’m kind of a history snob when it comes to the movies. I expect them to get it right and they seldom do. It was a beautiful movie to look at. Cinematography, the cast, all that was great. The plot was a little convoluted and sort of didn’t make a lot of sense but even that I can overlook. But when the US Army is using the wrong type of weapons, the wrong tactics, even combat taking place in the wrong freaking places I can’t get past it.

actually I had the same complaint with saving Private Ryan. The Normandy Landing that they depicted was great. Very well done. Stressful just to watch it. But the whole idea of sending a squad of men led by a company commander no less in the middle of the first weeks of the invasion just would never happen. And the premise behind the last battle and the strategic importance of a bridge that was less than 20 foot long. The Wehrmacht corps of engineers could have had that river bridged in a few hours. In the airborne would not have fought to defend it. The moment the first German column was sighted  they would’ve evacuated across the river and blown the bridge then set up a defense to attack any of the engineers that tried to repair/bridge the gap. 
 

hey I get it it makes for great drama and movies. But it irks me. The funny thing is the war movies I thought were the best ones were the most historically accurate and are sold him the most popular. Gettysburg and Tora Tora Tora are probably my two favorites because they were excellent and very historically accurate. But they probably don’t top anyone else’s list.

[BruceVC]

4 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

I remember a couple of glaring historical inaccuracies. I’m kind of a history snob when it comes to the movies. I expect them to get it right and they seldom do. It was a beautiful movie to look at. Cinematography, the cast, all that was great. The plot was a little convoluted and sort of didn’t make a lot of sense but even that I can overlook. But when the US Army is using the wrong type of weapons, the wrong tactics, even combat taking place in the wrong freaking places I can’t get past it.

actually I had the same complaint with saving Private Ryan. The Normandy Landing that they depicted was great. Very well done. Stressful just to watch it. But the whole idea of sending a squad of men led by a company commander no less in the middle of the first weeks of the invasion just would never happen. And the premise behind the last battle and the strategic importance of a bridge that was less than 20 foot long. The Wehrmacht corps of engineers could have had that river bridged in a few hours. In the airborne would not have fought to defend it. The moment the first German column was sighted  they would’ve evacuated across the river and blown the bridge then set up a defense to attack any of the engineers that tried to repair/bridge the gap. 
 

hey I get it it makes for great drama and movies. But it irks me. The funny thing is the war movies I thought were the best ones were the most historically accurate and are sold him the most popular. Gettysburg and Tora Tora Tora are probably my two favorites because they were excellent and very historically accurate. But they probably don’t top anyone else’s list.

I agree, movies about war and battles must be accurate where reasonable. But they must be correct most of the time  and these small things annoy me as well 

[ShadySands]

8 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

I remember a couple of glaring historical inaccuracies. I’m kind of a history snob when it comes to the movies. I expect them to get it right and they seldom do. It was a beautiful movie to look at. Cinematography, the cast, all that was great. The plot was a little convoluted and sort of didn’t make a lot of sense but even that I can overlook. But when the US Army is using the wrong type of weapons, the wrong tactics, even combat taking place in the wrong freaking places I can’t get past it.

This is something that never bothered me until I knew better and now I often find those movies unwatchable. It's more tolerable in movies set further back in time because I have less knowledge about the details but anything (semi-)modern I can't help but nitpick

[kanisatha]

2 hours ago, BruceVC said:

What about  'Thin Red Line ', its about the Pacific conflict with the Japanese ?

Yes that one is based on the Guadalcanal campaign, although when I checked it out it turned out to be about the story of a couple of AWOL soldiers. And I tend to not like those kinds of WW2 movies, focusing on the personal story of some individual. Feels like a soap opera that's just set in a war setting.

[kanisatha]

2 hours ago, BruceVC said:

Kanie you said you have interest in WW2 shows  and it seems like you really know a lot about certain military subjects. Have you also done military service or do you have another connection to the military generally?

No I haven't served in the military. I'm an immigrant to the US, so my situation didn't allow for it. I came to the US on a student visa, although In truth I was fleeing an oppressive home country. Had I grown up in the US I surely would've ended up in the navy or air force.

I've long had an interest in political and military history, and WW2 history is especially interesting to me (as is Cold War history btw). I have a doctorate in international relations and my areas of research and teaching are international security and conflict, military affairs, and foreign policy. My overall professional interest is on international rivalries, from the ancient world to today. In the past my research was focused on the India-Pakistan rivalry including especially its nuclear weapons proliferation dimension, but in recent years I've swung over to the Iran-Israel, Iran-Saudi, and emerging US-China rivalries.

[Guard Dog]

Do you know the movie I hated the most? Braveheart. They didn’t even get the freaking year right. Absolutely everything about that movie was wrong. Other than the names of the characters. But the person they screwed over the most was Edward II. It’s true he was nothing like his old man but he was not a sissy. He lost the war because he was brash and couldn’t control his temper. William Wallace and Robert the Bruce never actually met each other. They were certainly never on the same field at the same time. That was Hollywood history at its absolute worst. The fact that so many people liked it and it actually won awards makes it all the worse because it encourages to lay more turds like that

outlaw King on Netflix was so much better. It was in a completely historically accurate either but it’s only sin is that is compressed the timeline and skipped over a few things. But everything that is in the movie did happen.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Guard Dog

[ComradeYellow]

2 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

Do you know the movie I hated the most? Braveheart. They didn’t even get the freaking year right. Absolutely everything about that movie was wrong. Other than the names of the characters. But the person they screwed over the most was Edward II. It’s true he was nothing like his old man but he was not a sissy. He lost the war because he was brash and couldn’t control his temper. William Wallace and Robert the Bruce never actually met each other. They were certainly never on the same field at the same time. That was Hollywood history at its absolute worst. The fact that so many people liked it and it actually went towards makes it all the worse because it encourages to lay more turds like that

outlaw King on Netflix was so much better. It was in a completely historically accurate either but it’s only sin is that is compressed the timeline and skipped over a few things. But everything that is in the movie did happen.

It was a good fairy tale...

[BruceVC]

5 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

Do you know the movie I hated the most? Braveheart. They didn’t even get the freaking year right. Absolutely everything about that movie was wrong. Other than the names of the characters. But the person they screwed over the most was Edward II. It’s true he was nothing like his old man but he was not a sissy. He lost the war because he was brash and couldn’t control his temper. William Wallace and Robert the Bruce never actually met each other. They were certainly never on the same field at the same time. That was Hollywood history at its absolute worst. The fact that so many people liked it and it actually won awards makes it all the worse because it encourages to lay more turds like that

outlaw King on Netflix was so much better. It was in a completely historically accurate either but it’s only sin is that is compressed the timeline and skipped over a few things. But everything that is in the movie did happen.

GD well done for seeing past the blatant and outrageous anti-English propaganda in movies like Braveheart 

Its fun and entertaining but not accurate and these types of movies always paint the British in this really bad light and some of it is not historically correct

[BruceVC]

17 minutes ago, kanisatha said:

No I haven't served in the military. I'm an immigrant to the US, so my situation didn't allow for it. I came to the US on a student visa, although In truth I was fleeing an oppressive home country. Had I grown up in the US I surely would've ended up in the navy or air force.

I've long had an interest in political and military history, and WW2 history is especially interesting to me (as is Cold War history btw). I have a doctorate in international relations and my areas of research and teaching are international security and conflict, military affairs, and foreign policy. My overall professional interest is on international rivalries, from the ancient world to today. In the past my research was focused on the India-Pakistan rivalry including especially its nuclear weapons proliferation dimension, but in recent years I've swung over to the Iran-Israel, Iran-Saudi, and emerging US-China rivalries.

Good to know, I will throw some questions at you if you dont mind in the future. Just to get your opinion and share mine?

Mostly the ME and similar conflicts so its your  area of study 

[Gfted1]

US Navy, Boeing conduct first-ever aerial refueling with unmanned tanker.

[kanisatha]

5 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

US Navy, Boeing conduct first-ever aerial refueling with unmanned tanker.

These drone tankers are going to be a game-changer in future conventional wars (for anyone who has them).

Edited June 7, 2021 by kanisatha

[kanisatha]

21 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

Good to know, I will throw some questions at you if you dont mind in the future. Just to get your opinion and share mine?

Mostly the ME and similar conflicts so its your  area of study 

Sure thing. Always happy to chat about stuff in my professional areas of interest.

And to add to my earlier post, I also have continuing interests in military aviation and human exploration of space. I was an engineer before i switched professions to international relations. I have a B.S., an M.S., and an unfinished PhD in Aerospace Engineering prior to completing a PhD in International Relations.

Edited June 7, 2021 by kanisatha

[Guard Dog]

23 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

GD well done for seeing past the blatant and outrageous anti-English propaganda in movies like Braveheart 

Its fun and entertaining but not accurate and these types of movies always paint the British in this really bad light and some of it is not historically correct

Sounds like you were talking about “the patriot”.  I think the only thing in that movie that was historically accurate is that there was a guy named Cornwallis and there was an American revolution. The similarities end there

[Gorth]

Now, about that rivalry between Carthage and Rome...

[Guard Dog]

2 minutes ago, Gorth said:

Now, about that rivalry between Carthage and Rome...

Carthago delenda est 

[kanisatha]

2 minutes ago, Gorth said:

Now, about that rivalry between Carthage and Rome...

One of my favorites, alongside Athens and Sparta of course. Alexander versus Darius is also very interesting.

[Guard Dog]

6 minutes ago, kanisatha said:

One of my favorites, alongside Athens and Sparta of course. Alexander versus Darius is also very interesting.

Hannibal is one of my favorite figures from history

[Zoraptor]

In terms of being potentially hilariously inaccurate movies Vin Diesel's interpretation of Hannibal would have definitely been interesting to see, at least, though he did at least seem pretty invested in the idea on a personal level- but then again, so did Gibson with Braveheart and The Patriot. You just know that some people would be disappointed if he didn't eat Flaminius' liver with some fava beans and a chianti after Trasimene though.

4 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

But the person they screwed over the most was Edward II.

Much as I dislike Braveheart on general principle I'd say he in particular got screwed over by the old and more general adage of victors writing history. He wasn't portrayed sympathetically in Braveheart, but it wasn't massively off since he wasn't portrayed sympathetically in history either due to ultimately losing- and the victors had to justify the crime of crimes of murdering a king theoretically appointed by god.

[Malcador]

4 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

Sounds like you were talking about “the patriot”.  I think the only thing in that movie that was historically accurate is that there was a guy named Cornwallis and there was an American revolution. The similarities end there

Surprised they didn't make the villain a Hessian that looked like Himmler in that movie.

[Gfted1]

US Air Force completes tests of swarming munitions, but will they ever see battle?

[Gfted1]

First two B-21 Raider stealth bombers are complete and ready for testing.

[kanisatha]

15 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

First two B-21 Raider stealth bombers are complete and ready for testing.

This was clarified later on as the two airframes are in production but not yet complete.

[Raithe]

https://www.wearethemighty.com/military-life/7-reasons-why-enlisted-love-mustang-officers/

[Gorth]

Let's see if this thing keeps floating... testing how a 20 kiloton explosion next to a carrier affects it (I guess they are worried about the Chinese "carrier buster" bombs/ballistic missiles)

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-57547885

Edit: Video on the BBC page of the test. Apparently the carrier was scheduled for being taken out of action for a while anyway for maintenance work and repairs.

Edit2: I suck at numbers

[Zoraptor]

A 20kt explosion would be slightly bigger than that- see Operation Crossroads for an example.