MovieChat Forums > Act of Valor (2012) Discussion > Typical American propaganda movie

Typical American propaganda movie

posted 12 years ago by erol-mehmet-a
143 replies | jump to latest

I thought that kind of cheap propaganda movies were no longer produced. We saw movies like this mostly back in Cold War era. Same American style cliches :

1) Constant glorization of values like family, honor and freedom. Of course, these values are just taken as the truth without ever looking at their origins in religion, nationalism or stupid conception of manhood. This is American type of conservatism : justifying their actions with these vague notions. Freedom is the most ridiculous one and always used by any US politician to convince ordinary US citizen.

2) Muslims or communists ( in other words, "enemies" of US ) are the most evil persons in the entire world. It is a general rule that their followers are brainwashed people, not individuals willingly joining their cause.

3) A black soldier in US Army is a must. You know, it should be politically correct.

4) Cowardice is general trait of muslim-communist leaders. While they encourage their followers to make self-sacrficies, they tend to be cowards when the turn comes to them.

[–] ShroudOfFrost 12 years ago

You forgot not a single American soldier is killed, except for the one who sacrifices himself to save others.

However, what you have said here is nothing groundbreaking. Everyone has been saying this over and over again.

[–] erol-mehmet-a 12 years ago

Several of them were killed but they were not main characters. By the way, If I were the soldier who saw grenade coming, I would have tried to kick it, not jumped over it. It was pretty close for kicking and all of them could be saved this way.

[–] ShroudOfFrost 12 years ago

I have seen this movie before and I can promise you not a single American dies in the film except for the guy having a baby when he jumps on the grenade.

[–] erol-mehmet-a 12 years ago

Do you exclude regular US soldiers participating in the operations ? I recall some of them being shot by Mexican mafia men.

[–] ShroudOfFrost 12 years ago

If you care to (I know I don't), rewatch it. I swear to you, that was one of the things I was looking for because I just got done watching a Russian propaganda film a couple of weeks before I saw this and it had the same thing so I was looking out for it.

[–] fulanito_uk 12 years ago

I did like TOP GUN all the same...
you have to admire someone who can direct a 1 hour and a half long advert and make revenue from it.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] LibertarianSoldier 12 years ago

Those were mexican special forces run by the commander they met in the suburban in the desert, who end up driving one of the dump trucks. You can check on that based on their black on black uniform and using an MP5 or similar style weapon rather than the M4 or similar style weapon used by the seals.

Yes, the only American to die was the one that jumped on the grenade. You see the other two SEALs that were injured were alive during the funeral, the one that was shot in the face and the Chief who was in the wheelchair.

[–] witster18 12 years ago

I counted two that died in different firefights BEFORE the guy jumped on the grenade....

2 for sure... just watched it last night.

[–] Amazon_Bass 11 years ago

You're wrong.

4 Americans die in the film:
- An American (looks like a politician of some sort) who goes to take his son at school;
- The son of the politician;
- The guy with the Morales chick when she was kidnapped;
- The guy who jumps on the grenade (ok, I give you this was the one engaged in a military mission).

[]s
Dan

[–] jmeggers 10 years ago

Actually, the falling-on-the-grenade scene is drawn from real life. Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor was killed in Iraq in 2006 when a grenade was thrown onto the rooftop where SEALs and Iraqi soldiers were positioned. Monsoor fell on the grenade to protect the other troops. According to the Wikipedia entry, he died about 30 minutes following the explosion. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. When Monsoor was buried, Navy SEALs lined up at his gravesite to embed their Tridents in the top of his coffin, another scene echoed in the movie. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_A._Monsoor)

I recognized at least one other scene in the movie as being drawn from real-life SEAL history, at least as it has been published. Near the end of the movie when one of the SEALs is engaged in a shootout with Shabal, SEAL Dave is wounded and out of ammunition when Shabal comes out from behind his protection and approaches Dave, presumably to finish him off. One of the things Marcus Luttrell related in "Lone Survivor" was that when the Americans finally went to retrieve the bodies of the other three SEALs killed on their mission, at least one of them was found to have been shot in the face at basically point-blank range. According to Luttrell, apparently the Taliban view that as their ultimate victory over an enemy. So, understanding that, it's easy to draw the conclusion that when Shabal approaches Dave, that is his intent -- to shoot Dave in the face at close range. In the movie, however, he is stopped from doing so by another SEAL, but that's Hollywood for you, since he and Rourke were the main protagonists of the story. Can't have both of them die!

I suspect there are other portions of the movie inspired by SEAL history, though I don't claim to know what they are. But I think it's clear the tone of the movie is meant to pay homage to Navy SEALs who have died in the line of duty. I'm one of those people who marvels at the capabilities of these guys and while it's clear they're not "superhuman," I would love to understand more about how they do what they do, and the movie provides some insight into that. I don't believe that makes it any more "propaganda" (as some have claimed) than many other movies, but everyone's entitled to their opinion.

Sadly, I wish the SEALs were better actors, but that's not what they do, so it's probably unrealistic to expect that. I think the story line was fairly engaging, and the action sequences fantastic, but for me, the acting is where the movie stumbles.

[–] jgkight 12 years ago

Kicking the grenade would be bad move. They have a kill radius of about twenty feet and they were in an enclosed area. Could cause more casualties kicking it. Besides, you have 3 to five seconds to do something, he chose to jump and smother it.

[–] alveolate 12 years ago

exactly. u do not know how long the grenade has before blowing up... if it blew just as you kicked it in the air, the damage would be greater. all officers are trained to jump on grenades - it is like "the way" to go in honour. nonetheless, it takes real courage and sacrifice to be willing to do it when it happens. it was such an emotional moment!

[–] thedudeabides33-645-68148 11 years ago

Actually the kill radius of a normal fragmentation grenade is 50 feet and the danger radius is closer to 200 feet. If he hadn't jumped on it they would have all likely died. And to the OP, this is not an American propaganda piece, at most you could call it a military propaganda piece, but even that would be stretching it...simply put this was a movie with real soldiers in it for real soldiers and I truly believe that real soldiers watching it will appreciate it much more than the average movie goer. That being said, unless you have as they put it in the movie been "down range" you have little to no idea what you are talking about. Everything about this movie is and will always be 100 times more genuine then any other "army" movie Hollywood has ever done. The unfortunate thing is that most people don't want to see what war and being a soldier is really like, most people prefer the Hollywood version of it. This movie gets it right.

[–] lunnsworld 12 years ago

You have no clue how or why America won its freedom. This must be a child,

[–] IfOnlyItWereTrue 12 years ago

From the tone of your comment I suspect you don't either.

[–] TriggerPullerUSMC 8 years ago

The reality is while often we do suffer losses in combat- in stand up combat brawls (not IED-VBIED) US forces do tend to meet or exceed the mission objective and that means in part, lower casualties and even when someone is harmed typically a better than 87-90% success rate in saving the life of the service member due to advanced trauma care in the field and back in the rear.

There was a SEAL member with a head shot in the first CQB encounter in the jungle- unsure if he lived or die.

Out of curiosity is your experience in combat different than the general operational consensus? Again not talking about IED/VBIED/EFPs.

[–] TriggerPullerUSMC 8 years ago

The reality is while often we do suffer losses in combat- in stand up combat brawls (not IED-VBIED) US forces do tend to meet or exceed the mission objective and that means in part, lower casualties and even when someone is harmed typically a better than 87-90% success rate in saving the life of the service member due to advanced trauma care in the field and back in the rear.

There was a SEAL member with a head shot in the first CQB encounter in the jungle

I'll leave you with this: Honor Them

http://www.levelzeroheroes.com/fallen.html

[–] erol-mehmet-a 12 years ago

Well, family, freedom and honor are sacred values to me as well. But it seems you don't get the point : American chauvinism is based on the exploitation of these values, without going in detail about their true meaning. It is enough to arouse "proudness" of being American, the fighter of freedom. This is quite different from European experience in which chauvinism was much more direct; in terms of nationalism and in anglo-saxon case; imperialism.

Yeah, commies killed many people. But what about capitalism which is what America worships and fights for to spread ? Take it from the early industrialization era to today please. From the British workers that died of overwork and malnutrition during 19th century to African children that are dying everyday because of rampant diseases. And capitalist system cannot give them enough medicine and food because they can't PAY. That's is how capitalism murders people. And victims of capitalism is many more times of that of communism as the latter lived only for 80 years.

The north used black soldiers in the Civil War too. But they were still seen as the scum of United States. You know that but you have to be politically correct. Today, black people of US are still second class citizens but media organs of the US has to do everything to spread messages of brotherhood against so called common enemy.

It seems that you lost your touch with reality. To call men who are making kamikaze attack against World Trade Center is ridiculous. They may be evil ( and indeed evil ) but they got balls, they were true believers of their ideology. I know what you will say, they were brainwashed. Then I say, what about you ? Weren't you brainwashed by education, media and state ? Also, cowardice has nothing to do with brainwashing. Courage is ability to act without fear in risky conditions. Hitler was evil too, but noone could say he didn't have balls. In fact, he had balls much bigger than both Stalin and Roosevelt. But, of course, Churchill would be good candidate to compete with him. As a last note, I also wonder what do you think about Japanese kamikaze pilots of WW2 ? Were they cowards too ?

Yes, this movie was a nationalistic crap and you need to read a lot of books.

[–] SuperSanity 12 years ago

Black people are second class citizens? Only the ones who choose to be.

There is, unseen by most, an underworld...a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit...

[–] alan_cx 10 years ago

"Only the ones who choose to be."

Wow.

Says it all...

[–] acolonelofcorn 12 years ago

It might be "American propaganda" but then so are the overwhelming number of commie *beep* movies coming out of the same Hollywood system, along with every sort of extreme left wing agenda driven film. So the problem you have isn't that it's propaganda, it just doesn't promote the left wing rhetoric you know and love.

[–] imizrahi2002 12 years ago

i came here to write a review...
this is a first for me...being part of a discussion...

erol mehmet a says, 'you need to read a lot of books'.
may i suggest one?
'the people's history of the United States' by howard zinn.
while zinn has a decidedly left slant to his commentaries, that doesn't change the facts/history that is presented in this book...
thing is, we ALL have 'agendas'. and we will proselytize to serve those agendas. be it a religion, nation, sports team, whatever...

what i got out of reading this book is this...
it comes down to animal behavior(and if you don't know that we're animals, pls read no further. this is REALLY not for you). there are alphas and all the rest.
alphas, by definition, will do whatEVER it takes...repeat. whatEVER it takes to remain alphas...that includes putting in the line of fire anyone necessary to protect themselves and the few they truly consider 'their own'. 'their own' doesn't necessarily include soldiers. white, black, muslim, christian...makes no difference...they're just tools to gain the alpha's objective,
regardless of all the rituals bestowed post mortem. just a lot of gloss to hide the ugliness of it all.
there's no judgment in what i'm saying. i know it's easy to get emotional in conversations such as these. easy to try and moralize. come out on the side of 'right'.
but it comes down to 'what can we, personally, live with?'. that includes the price and tax.
i don't expect any of what i've said here to change. or to change anyone who reads this. even if we use up the planet and move 'elsewhere', we will carry these hard wired tendencies with us whereever we go...unless otherwise bioengineered.
you can placate yourself with all the words/concepts you wish...valor...honor...
god and country...
but there will be blood/suffering, i'm sorry to say...
there is no movement without friction.

[–] IndigoFlame 10 years ago

You think reading a history that you admit has a 'slant' is a good way to learn about America? Maybe you should balance your reading with a slant to the right?

https://webwewant.mozilla.org/en/
http://www.opera.com/

[–] trscg11 12 years ago

oh i love it. people from europe believe they know what america is about by watching our movies.

ok for once get it right. if you believe that the japanese pilots who performed suicide attacks weren't brain washed...you read the wrong books. the same is true for the cowards that attacked the WTC. they were told different things but the result was the same. they believed they were doing the work that needed to be done as told to them by a coward mastermind in the rear of the fight.

blacks are second class citizens? wow you must have spent loads of time here 50 years ago. WE HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT YOU DIPSH*T! how many of them has any country in europe had? i must just be 'merican but i think....zip.oh and politically correct just to clarify there are loads of servicemen and special forces operators that are black. funny a couple might show up in a movie.

capitalism...mmm all 'merica here cause us hicks love things like...shoes and stuff. pull your head out of your bum. do you own anything? ipod, ipad, iphone. sh*tty little ten year old nokia? clothes? ok you've just joined us capitalists, welcome!

propaganda. lock stock must have been a prop film for england then. train spotting? its a f-ing movie. yes we do like ourselves a lot around here, but i've seen many movies from abroad and they well...suck for the most part.

really you are just anti american and being anonymous helps you get your point to the masses. the reality of your post is that you don't like it when we look good. but here's what i have to look forward to:

next time government x anywhere in the world outside the us declares they are cutting anything free(education, healthcare, etc) i expect to see those shiny water cannons blasting the protesters off the streets. we don't have those here so thanks for the show. god bless america where we invented...pretty much all the stuff you love!

[–] IfOnlyItWereTrue 12 years ago

I can't stop laughing ... all soldiers are 'brainwashed' into believing that what they are doing is right. If you can't see that then you're a complete dumbass.

I suspect that you're such an ignorant dickwad that you think 'brainwashing' is some special procedure done by an evil dude in a darkend room to scarey sounds/music rather than the inculcation of cultural norms and values seen in all societies.

[–] trscg11 12 years ago

you're an idiot. next.

[–] IfOnlyItWereTrue 12 years ago

Yet clearly more intelligent than you ... so what does that make you?

[–] trscg11 12 years ago

your statement makes so much sense in the context of "i'm smarter than you".ok facts then.

there has been no draft since vietnam. even then 75% of the soldiers who fought there were volunteers. since then everyone who has fought in any war has been a volunteer. where is the "brainwashing"? you must be referring to living life as an american who believes that there are bad people and governments that need to be stopped.

people like yourself who troll forums looking to start fights forget what these wars are fought for. i wonder if the 4 million women that are now allowed to learn to read in iraq would call our troops "brainwashed"?

[–] IfOnlyItWereTrue 12 years ago

Seriously!!

Who said anything about conscription? and in fact conscription 'could' be seen as evidence for a lack of 'brainwashing' - being that people have to be forced to fight rather than join up willingly - rather than your assumption of the opposite.

what these wars are fought for. i wonder if the 4 million women that are now allowed to learn to read in iraq would call our troops "brainwashed"?

That you could say such a thing and expect to be taken seriously is risible.

Maybe you could ask the 110,000+ civilians who've lost their lives whether it was worth it? Maybe you should also take a look at the worsening situation and wonder why Iraq is now on the brink of civil war if those 'saviours' did such a good job.

BUT maybe you could actually educate yourself on the reasons for the war and ask yourself wtf were we there in the first place.

Because I think you'll find that at no point was the education of women put forward as a justifiable reason for invasion - and in fact never in the history of the world has a country gone to war on the basis of education rights for women ... unsurprisingly all the reasons put forward at the time turned out to be wholly without foundation.

Not that I'd expect someone so clearly 'brainwashed' as yourself to get it.

[–] trscg11 12 years ago

i never said that was the reason for the war,i just stated that their improved situation was a result of the war. by ending a regime we made lives better. now brainwashed goes both ways. you obviously believe there is now reason for war. you too are indoctrinated. i wonder how you'd feel about the "brain washed" soldiers if they were freeing your people from tyranny.

110k civilians we killed? ha! your numbers are flawed to say the least. how about the 350k kurds we found buried in mass graves?

but that's not the point i was making. i was stating correctly that there was a positive effect. i could point out more positives but why i get that you don't like soldiers, war or when people are happy. i get it. stop trolling. thanks!

edited for a typo...couldn't let you go all grammar nazi on me

[–] IfOnlyItWereTrue 12 years ago

In nearly all wars the winning side has the positive effect of getting into power and the booty that it brings. Clearly none of them made any of the dead peoples lives better! Which might be OK if as a combatant you're willing to die for some idealistic, if ultimately illusory, cause. But it's a bit of a kick in the nuts if you're a defenceless civilian.

Going from IBC the tally for 2003-11 is ~110k. No idea why you're bringing the Kurds into it, as we sure as hell didn't go to war to help them out ... seems to me that the Americans et al happily supplied the Turks with enough weapons to suppress their Kurdish problems not too long ago ... of course, we needed Turkey as an ally against the Soviets so that's OK then!

It's also interesting to note:

Over 100,000 Kurds killed or "disappeared". No reliable figures for the number of Iraqi dissidents and Shia Muslims killed during Saddam's reign, though estimates put the figure between 60,000 and 150,000. (Mass graves discovered following the US occupation of Iraq in 2003 suggest that the total combined figure for Kurds, Shias and dissidents killed could be as high as 300,000). Approximately 500,000 Iraqi children dead because of international trade sanctions introduced following the Gulf War.

Did you see the last bit - 500k children dead due to sanctions.

So Saddam is a bad man because he killed people that posed a threat to his regime and the prosperity of his people, while the west is good because they knowingly allowed even more to die on the off-chance that it might have had some positive effect ... killing with kindness!

While you might want to pretend that something positive has come out of the Iraq debacle it's far too soon to tell and are such gains really worth the loss of life in the first place.

[–] trscg11 12 years ago

the world "sanctioned" them to death? site your source then. by the way i'm not trying to go back and forth with numbers all day just trying to tell you that my original point was this- just because youre a soldier does not mean you are brainwashed.

i would be interested to know your country of origin also

[–] bsu_oak530 10 years ago

Man, you're an idiot. Bringing the Kurds into the situation like the Americans somehow went to Iraq to avenge their deaths? Please. We gave Saddam the money that purchased those weapons in the first place, so get your sh!t right. Yes, over 100,000 civilians have been killed according to the stats. That's from drones, American bombs, gunfire, tanks, insurgents, etc. Now tell me how many Iraqi citizens Saddam butchered? It wasn't 100,000 or even close. Kurds were the Jews of the Middle East. They were not viewed as Iraqi citizens by many in Iraq, so what Saddam did to them was not really opposed by many in Iraq. It's still heinous, but it's not like he did that to his own people on a regular basis and America somehow saved them from him. While you want to think that way, it's not true. Iraq became a dangerous place after the United States removed Saddam Hussein from power.

[–] trscg11 10 years ago

ok i am an idiot. you got me. you are so smart that i must be dumb just to be in the same thread as you.

saddam killed 300k kurds... with poison gas. weapons of mass destruction much?

we gave EVERYONE weapons. between us and the russians i'm amazed the world still turns.

on a regular basis? that guy tortured the soccer team for loosing!?!

it became more dangerous after we deposed him? well if by "more" dangerous you mean a million women can learn how to read, then that's your opinion.

"but it's not like he did that to his own people on a regular basis" i think once is enough.

throw name calling out and what have you got?

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nickm2 10 years ago

it is the reason there were 600.000 excess deaths in Iraq during the war(the high estimate on that is 1.000.000) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancet_surveys_of_Iraq_War_casualties

600 thousand? Right! Show them to me...The Lancet Report came out in 2007; from 2003 - 2007 there were 600 thousand deaths. That's 150 thousand a year, 12,500 a month or 410 a day, every day for 4 years...show me those deaths-400+ deaths every day for 4 years--it can be newspaper reports, on line reporting, radio reports, whatever...ball's in your court.

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nickm2 9 years ago

So actually demanding proof that it happened is unacceptable? Screw that!
Show me the stiffs!

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] petrkocanda 12 years ago

Couldn't agree more.

Like watching live action version of Team America. Utter garbage filled with gay dialogues and brotherhood between lame figures. Really. How can this have such high ratings? The movie is poorly written, shot acted and even edited. Mess. But "good" americans will love it.

[–] ta2me92704 12 years ago

The movie is poorly written, shot acted and even edited. Mess. But "good" americans will love it.

Sort of like these sentences except for the 'love' part...

The thorn defends the rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict.

[–] satnamr9 12 years ago

Capitalism isn't perfect but so far its proven to be the best system to make the world work, we have come far from the type of kingdoms that have used slavery like the Egyptians did. Only this system that allows people to grow and think, and have a sense of freedom only in these times we made the most progress in science. I don't think societies based around religion worked well at that. And Islam dosn't seem to favour people outside Islam.

I agree it does seem like a typical american film to win the hearts and the minds of its citizens. But what do you expect?

Honor, Family, Freedom etc are good HUMAN values they don't belong to any nation or religion.

Now for Heroes and Cowards that entirely depends on your own belief and aswell as the context of the situation of the person that did the action.

I think its a cowardly action to kill innocent people and civilians what ever the side or cause. Because those people are forgetting what makes us great as race which is we are humane and not barbaric creatures. Also some people are just stupid and others don't value life.

It takes a lot more to follow a moral code when the situation changed, when there is no law or order and you have power to do as you please.

Hitler was a coward because he killed a lot of innocent people because he valued his pursuit to power and ideology more then the innocent women children and men he killed.

But it seems like you respect people that are fearless in killing and forgetting the value of life(by saying they have balls). Now you should really question your own beliefs and morals.

You can thank me later

[–] IfOnlyItWereTrue 12 years ago

As opposed to the direct targeting of civilians by Bomber Harris and the rest of the allies during WWII?. Or what about the remarkable number of civilians that have died in every conflict since WWII? Are you even aware that by engaging in a conflict you are tacitly accepting that for every soldier death 10 civilians will also die?

Ironically as technology advances, and the soldier is removed from the battlefield the ratio will only go up ... unless you really think that drone strikes only kill combatants ...

Hitler wasn't a coward, he was a warning to any sane person that you shouldn't listen to charismatic people!

Unfortunately, the human race is so flawed that rather than killing such charismatic people we elevate them into position of power, from the pulpit to the senate and then we wonder why things go to *beep*

[–] DisInfected 11 years ago

Wow! What a scintillating dialogue between some real intellectual giants, a real clash o the titans... Communism GOOD! Capitalism BAD! Pump your brakes there 'IOIWT', I can almost hear you grunting by the campfire.

I especially love the part where you advocate the murder of 'charismatic people'. Fascinating, coming from someone who has been ranting endlessly about the tragic killing of so many innocents...

It sounds as though you think the slaughter of civilians is something to be avoided, and it should be, unless of course an individual makes the fatal mistake of drawing attention to his or herself by showing 'charisma'. In which case, hell, Fire Up Them Ovens!

But don't worry, based on what you've posted so far, your personal safety is guaranteed!

Here's hoping a drone strike wipes out this entire thread...

[–] IfOnlyItWereTrue 11 years ago

Wow, someone from the shortbus learnt how to use the internet.

[–] alveolate 12 years ago

did you just say Hitler had ballS? i always thought he only had one... and btw, he committed suicide. i'm pretty sure that ranks high up there on the "have balls" chart.

you seem to exhibit precious little knowledge about american education & media. true, these institutions are probably tied to their own little agendas and may misinform every so often, but they also produced some of the most critical minds in recent times.

it is somewhat true that the american dialogue doesn't seem to dwell deeply on the roots of the values; but this does not mean that they don't know it. i for one know that the Catholic Church in america drives deep into the philosophy and religious roots of these values. but the US being such a huge melting pot, it is difficult for such specialised dialogue to be very public. suffice it to say that these are "universal" values.

you assume a little too much. the first assumption that you need to deal with is your sense of omniscience. no, you do not know everything. and no, you do not know more about america than the americans.

[–] linus-hirschi 7 years ago

and btw, he committed suicide. i'm pretty sure that ranks high up there on the "have balls" chart.

I don't usually necro threads, but when I do it's to tell people what complete fv.ck.tards they are.

Sod off!

[–] PerceptiveGal 12 years ago

Oh shut up. You f'ing go on and on and on and on and on. A grenade aimed towards your mouth would be a great political move that would benefit everyone.

"God, I can pull the grass apart and lay my hand upon thy heart."

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] PerceptiveGal 12 years ago

Are you talking to me?? I am talking about the people who are making negative comments about the movie and the men. I think you are mistaken as to who I am speaking to.

"God, I can pull the grass apart and lay my hand upon thy heart."

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Hello_Jill 12 years ago

No because it works and the poster is being a 'whiny little bitch.' Let's call things how it is instead of playing "nice."

[–] IfOnlyItWereTrue 12 years ago

hahaha miles you tool.

Your post just goes to show that you're so *beep* stupid you can't even see when someone is on your side ... no wonder collateral damage is always so high.

Even funnier though is that you've let your true nature comes through ... "make it possible for you to blow waiters for scraps of food so you may continue surviving" ... wtf? that's not even a society worth protecting.

You're a worthless human being irrespective of your employment status!

[–] murad23 12 years ago

You post makes no sense, it is nonsense. You indict the US for things every state has done, all major states having done much worse. your posting is about your own prejudice and nothing else.
As far as your contention that Hitler had "balls" the opposite was true. He was a coward.

[–] bliapis-04808 8 years ago

Any act of War is terrorism be it muslims or Christians (oh the eons old fight between these two factions! Will it ever end?).

But Muslims fight with no pay, they are not mercenaries. Americans and many of the Europeans are!

[–] TriggerPullerUSMC 8 years ago

Nationalistic crap?

Look- everyone who disagrees with you is so far being respectful but when you start saying things like that it leaves me the distinct impression that you don't get it, you never will and this country is way too good for you.

Say what you want I get where you are coming from you have never tested yourself- you have never been part of that 'thing' some of us know and you lash out in some quasi bs academic style.

You and I both know why this stuff has this meaning for you. You are empty and unable to fill it with the knowledge that as a man you can pass that test. I have too many times eulogized men who have served this country to ever agree that men who hit the WTC have balls like the men who I have served with. Men much better than you will ever be. Men who have saved more lives than they have taken, men who fight for those who can't or won't but still need protection from other men- Whether men like you admit it or not.

Those men didn't have balls that flew in to the WTC they were indoctrinated and brainwashed to believe they were going to a better place. That doesn't take balls they committed suicide that is it- They couldn't cope with life here or their demons or whatever but all they did was commit suicide.

It takes balls to risk your life to save a stranger. It takes 'balls' to be a single mother raising her kids after her husband was killed.

What you are not getting it we don't commit suicide- we don't start wars but we do fight when needed as a necessary evil.

You can sit here with your high minded but very wrong ideals and act like you have some insight but you know only one thing- that you can never be an honorable warrior. And you'll never understand what I understand from experience- no matter how many books you read. You are merely a witness- we are participants.

[–] CGSailor 8 years ago



I joined the Navy to see the world, only to discover the world is 2/3 water!

[–] 7 years ago

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[–] excalibur1814 12 years ago

I find your post a little racist... Especially point 3 which points out the fact that there's a black soldier in the movie! So what? If there was only one white guy in the film surrounded by a 'black' cast would you have bated an eyelid?

P.s. We've seen these films over and over again and it's not as if it's anything new.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] teck76 12 years ago

I'd sure like to know which planet it is you live on where Muslim extremists aren't brainwashed people with cowardly leaders.

[–] Cinnyaste 12 years ago

Thanks for the racist and equally propagandized posting. Now chill.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] ta2me92704 12 years ago

2) Muslims or communists ( in other words, "enemies" of US ) are the most evil persons in the entire world. It is a general rule that their followers are brainwashed people, not individuals willingly joining their cause.

4) Cowardice is general trait of muslim-communist leaders. While they encourage their followers to make self-sacrficies, they tend to be cowards when the turn comes to them.

Sounds right.

The thorn defends the rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict.

[–] sadsayeed 12 years ago

Completely agreed with OP. it is sickening that these movies try to advocate and advertise their war mongering motives among regular people, and even more sickening that some parts of the world remain full of fools where evidently a large number of viewers actually blindly believe these deceptions as truth and feel these actions are implemented for the sake their own benefits.

[–] ta2me92704 12 years ago

Death to Radical Islamist terrorists. Bet you'll never say that...

The thorn defends the rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict.

[–] sadsayeed 12 years ago

sorry, rather i'll say, 'enlightenment to all the ignorant minds who believe everything they're repeatedly fed to realize certain interest'; (though subconsciously they strongly believe that ignorance is a bliss, and i agree, it's also true in some perspectives).

[–] LibertarianSoldier 12 years ago

While I've become anti-current war, as a soldier who served two combat tours in Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne, I am 100% behind the troops. They do what they have to do. They have a job like everyone else. A dangerous and thankless job at that. It's the leadership in our country that we need to change. It's the warmongering that we need to change. We need warriors like those depicted in the film, warriors like real SEALs, Rangers, and SpecOps that are willing to fight and die so that we don't have to.

However much I disagree with the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, et al, I stand by the men and women of our armed forces because we need them to truly be safe. They're strength is what keeps the enemy at bay. They are a deterrent. I wish they were used less. I wish we could finally END all these wars we participate in. I know that in the long term, these wars are just making us more enemies, making us more of a target.

I don't know if anyone missed the intro video of the antagonist. He even said, almost word for word, that their aggression would continue until they were free of American occupation, aggression and intimidation. We have created our own enemies, but I don't deny that those enemies exist and thus the threat exist.

End the war. Support the troops.

Good movie, very accurate portrayal.

My only pet peeve is...

THEY HAD WAY TOO MUCH WHITE SHOWING ON THE FLAG THEY FOLDED AND GAVE TO THE LT'S WIFE!!!!!

[–] Hello_Jill 12 years ago

I think you saw a different film.