U.S. Marines Pre- 1999
All Marines enlisted prior to 1999 will identify with the realism of Marine Corps Boot Camp in this film. A must see for all Marines new and retired.
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I first saw this film back in 1982, just after NAVY boot camp, and I was amazed at how realistic it was. I know Marine Corp training is probaply the toughest of all types of basic training, and this movie catches that spritit. The day it is ofered on DVD, I'm there. I'd go as far to say it's a must see not only for Marines, but for those thinking of joining up. A great movie.
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It's a tough universe...If you're going to survive, you've really got to know where your towel is.
Jack Webb was R. Lee Ermy before R. Lee was R. Lee and all without a single four letter word. This movie is as good today as it was back in the day. Definately needs to be on DVD.
shareActually you can get it on DVD through Amazon. Here is the link for it
http://www.amazon.com/D-I-Jack-Webb/dp/6300271315
The other site that offers it is cheaper but it is under construction---or should I say reconstruction and that is http://store.thesmallscreen.org/
I first saw this movie when it was first released in 1957 and it was this movie that inspired me to join the Marines in 1966 right out of high school. BTW, this movie is actually based on a book called "Death of a Sand Flea" (Remember the scene in the movie)? It was written by a former Marine sometime in the late 40's or early 50's and it was based on his experiences in Marine boot camp
All the Amazon.com listings are for the Warner Brothers issue on VHS format. This title can be had on DVD format from the iOffer dot com site for $8.00. Mine even comes with the theatrical trailer included.
shareR. Lee Ermey WAS a Marine and he really WAS a D.I.! Jack Webb wasn't even though I like him.
shareWasn't Webb in the Army real world?
Not much difference. I'm sure one branch thinks they're better than the others.
With the way the world is with all the terrorist wars, I think they should get rid of all the individual branches (Army Navy Air Force Marines) and have one big armed forces branch and that's it. At least for basic training. Then they can branch into specialties.
Wasn't Webb in the Army real world?
According to Wikipedia:
"During World War II, Webb enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces, but he "washed out" of flight training. After that happened, he applied for and received a hardship discharge, being the primary financial support for his mother and grandmother."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Webb
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You got your mind right, Luke? share
Jack Webb COULDN'T use four letter words for this role. The censors of the time would never have let it be shown or filmed. Believe me having read and heard of Jack Webb's penchant for realism*, if he could have sworn like Ermey did, he would have.
* (LAPD Lt. Dan Cooke recounted once that he was on the set of Adam-12 and noticed that the phone numbers and extentions on the prop telephones were all the corrrect numbers for the police station shown in the opening credits [Hollenbeck]. He said something to the crew that that level of detail wasn't necessary. Afterall, who would know? "Mr. Webb would know" was the reply.)