Unrealistic

I am not LDS so not certain what a mission would be like. One thing about the movie I can agree was pretty unrealistic was the seizure that man had ( forgive me I cannot remember which Elder he was.) First off and most importantly, when a person is seizing do not, I repeat DO NOT stick something in their mouth or try to hold them down, EVER. That is one of the biggist myths of seizures there is. If you put something in their mouth they could choke on it or break their jaw or teeth, not to mention bite your damn fingers off. They will NOT swallow their tounge, another myth. You can't swallow your tounge, it is attached to the bottom of the mouth with tissue that holds it in place. If it wasin fact possible to swallow tounges, we would all be dead just by laying on your backs and falling asleep or falling down backwards. It can't happen. Putting something in a seizing person's mouth serves no purpose and can cause more damage. It amazes me how many people don't realize that. As far as holding the person down, what is the point of that? Also serves NO purpose and is dangerous for the person seizing and the people holding them down. When someone is having a seizure , that type of seizure, their muscles are very tight and stiff and because of that holding them down could break their bones or cause damage in other ways to them physically. In a seizure , an ambulance should be called, and anything that could hurt the person seizing should be moved away, such as if anything could fall on them or they could hit their head or body on it. Otherwise, just let the seizure run it's course and let the paramedics do their job,

Also, not ALL seizures are gran mal, as this one was. Another myth, in fact most seizures are not gran mal. There are many ways a person can have a seizure, sometimes just when someone spaces out or goes blank for a few seconds, that is a seizure.

I just wanted to clear that up, it made me very angry. Probably because I see that a lot on movies and in TV and hear from people a lot about that they did that when someone around them had a seizure. I wish movies would do a bit more research when dealing with things like seizures and how to react to them. I think that some see that on movies and believe that is what you do, it gives someone basically enough false medical knowledge to be dangerous.

Ok my rant is over. Thanks.

The movie, was however, based off of the director/writers mission. So, it may not have depicted a "normal" missionary experience, but it was a real experience.

With the exception of the dying elder, I observed most everything else on my own mission over the course of the entire two years. Cramming it into one transfer and one district makes it less believable but similar tactics seem to be frequently used in all kinds of films.

Maybe "The Best Two Years" had a more realistic chronology, but "God's Army" was more aimed at depicting the emotional and spiritual experience that a missionary gains while serving. Although it can be argued that "TBTY" does the same thing, it didn't delve as deep into the actual hearts and souls of the missionaries as "God's Army" did.

Because "God's Army" is more intent on portraying the human side of missionaries, and how they must rely on Christ to overcome their weaknesses, it is the more valuable movie, however inaccurate it's timeline may or may not be.

I think, depending on the point the director's trying to make, they're going to squish things together if it gets their point(s) across. Best Two Years was focusing more on one man's struggle on their mission after having a companion take their girl and also on the others as well, so it was able to be more realistic. Did it bug you that it wasn't realistic? (random question: have you seen the movie Vertical Limit?)

[blue] "I believe in living in the now, where ghosts of past wrongs do not divide." - Captain Nemo

I don't know if anyone said this, but... Well... The Best Two Years was more for fun... I did not get a chance to go on a mission cuz I got married at 18, but I know what I'm saying after reading plenty of missionary's journals, and also I am a ward missionary. I know its not the same as full time, but you know what I mean... TBTY was made because they wanted to show that missionaries can have alot of fun on their mission (I think) as well as show that if you have faith, you can do anything. GA teaches the same thing, except it adds the drama of a dying missionary who wont quit cause he knows that what he is doing is right. So far, I loved the Best Two Years, and I loved God's Army and I would recommend anybody to watch them. None is better than the other because they are both good movies about missionaries. No two missions are the same. Depicts two different missions in two different continents. Thank you for taking your time to read this comment. ^_^