MovieChat Forums > Stop-Loss (2008) Discussion > Glaring Errors (possible spoilers)

Glaring Errors (possible spoilers)

posted 15 years ago by Yinky
4 replies | jump to latest

When the Army heroes return home they are given a parade. Yet the color guard is carrying a MARINE CORPS flag.

Pvts do not refer to Sgts as "sir." That in itself is insulting to enlisted personnel. I believe the response an enlisted person would give, after being addressed as "sir" by an enlisted counterpart is "Don't call me sir. I work for a living."

They teach the actors to carry out military missions and fire military weapons, but no one ever teaches them how to perform a proper salute.

Under no circumstances is a company of soldiers traveling from their base to their next duty station (or combat, etc.) going to be carrying their *beep* M16s on the *beep* bus. That alone took my rating from three to four stars. How this glaring, horrible error was overlooked is simply dumbfounding. I was disgusted by this.

And then: all the little brothers who enlisted, after the situation with Brandon (the stop-loss), Steve's nutty behavior, and Tommy's suicide. Yes, those things right there would make me say "sign me up!" Not.

[–] aGuiltySoul 15 years ago

The one thing that bothers me every time I watch this is when a Sgt is addressed as "Sir" which is an address used strictly for officers. A Sgt is NEVER addressed as sir nor accepts such address. I agree with you. Both my parents are ex-military and I was taught that.

I'm not an expert on modern warfare, but I remember listening to the commentary and Kimberly Peirce said that they DO carry their weapons on transport. She had military advisors. They didn't oversee the script but these other details, yes.

As to who signs up, it never looks the same from the outside as it does from the inside. The younger brother and cousin would probably look upon their military relatives as heroes...as the country continuously promotes them...and be anxious to emulate them.

"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."

[–] Yinky 15 years ago

I am an ex-Marine and our rifles were locked in the armory, period. If you are on a mission you'd have them, but not if you're stateside or enroute (still in the U.S.--in the foreign country, I suppose you might) to the mission. But! I was in during peacetime, so it might be different. Still, I can't see any logical reason why they'd have had their weapons on the bus in the United States and I REALLY can't see them getting on a plane with M16s over their arms. That's like a tragedy just waiting to happen.

As far as who signs up....well, I haven't had the same experience. I don't remember anyone whose brother got all shot up in Vietnam just itchin' to enlist. But I don't know, you might be right. It's sad, all around.

[–] OIF-Retread 9 years ago

I can't remember in the movie, but if the unit was on the buses heading to the airport, they may have had their personal weapons with them.

I don't think it's a violation of OpSec to say we carried our rifles on board a contracted civilian airliner, from the States to Kuwait. No ammo, of course. But they still made us go through metal detectors. We left them aboard the planes under guard when we disembarked for a layover in Ireland.

[–] LookinGood 10 years ago

I have no idea how it all works in reality, but something kept me thinking:
I thought that Tommy Burgess got a dishonourable discharge after the incident with the jeweller's shop?
So why, when he died/committed suicide, was there a funeral with full military honours? Wouldn't the military say "As far as we're concerned, you were never part of us"?

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