Last week I finished watching HBO’s seven part miniseries “Generation Kill“. It is the somewhat true story following a group of recon marines during the initial invasion of Iraq, after the attacks of september 11th. This series was brought to the screen by David Simon and Ed Burns, known for their incredibly detailed police series “The Wire” and by Rolling Stone reporter Evan Wright, who was embedded with a group of marines in 2003.
First off I have to say that I loved this series. There. Whew, feels weird to say that right away, but sometimes you just know right? Like from the first time I saw episode one, I was smitten. I just had to see more. I would have called right after it ended, but my friends told me to wait at least three days, which I did, and then the series never answered. I had to wait a whole week to see it again, and that was very tough. But the second time was even better then the first, and thats when I knew it was love.
Like “The Wire” this show is incredibly detailed. There is probably not one unauthentic moment in the show. I felt like I was watching a documentary, rather than a drama. There is no soundtrack or score, just the awful singing of the guys in the Humvee (which is also one of the funnier parts of the show) and they talk like you would expect a group of marines to talk. Professional and on point when they have to be, and completely foul and crude when they dont.
The casting was also excellent. My main focus is Alexander Skarsgard. Probably best know as Eric Northman, the cool as fuck, 1000 year old vampire from “True Blood” and here he is the cool as fuck 28 year old seargant Brad Colbert. I don’t know exactly why I think Skarsgard is the coolest thing in acting right now, probably because he just is. A clever addition to the cast was Lee Tergesen as the embedded rolling stone reporter. The reason I liked this character so much is that it gave the marines a reason to explain what and why they were doing. If he wasn’t there, I highly doubt the marines would turn to each other and explain why they had to patrol at night or how to attack the incoming convoy. It was a great way to explain what was happening without it seeming forced.
Now, any HBO miniseries about war will automatically be compared to the stellar series “Band of Brothers”. To clarify, I doubt there will ever be another series about war as good as band. It is near perfect. Probably the best depiction of war ever captured on film. So everything that comes after will always pale in comparison. But I also feel that there are different stories that need to be told and going forward we will be seeing a lot more movies and shows set in the Iraq war. And to that note, I hold Generation Kill as the benchmark to which all future Iraq war stories will be measured. It is an amazing piece of filmmaking and a great story. Do not hesitate to go pick it up on Blu ray or DVD. It will be well worth it.
