Generation Kill: A Modern Military Masterpiece
There are a lot of great miniseries out there. Chernobyl. John Adams. And of course other great military series like Band of Brothers or The Pacific. But there is one show that does not get nearly the level of love it deserves, and that is Generation Kill.
Based on the book of the same name by Evan Wright, the series follows the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the Marines as they spearhead the invasion of Iraq. The series was created by Ed Burns and David Simon, the creators of The Wire, and just like that series, Generation Kill attempts to demystify the military and present a much more realistic picture of the invasion that what you traditionally see in the media.
Now if you watched All The Pieces, the 4 hour retrospective I did on the Wire, you’ll know that I already talked about Generation Kill during one of the sections of that video. But even though I touched on it there, I wanted to do a stand alone video like this because even more than The Wire, I don’t think this show gets the attention or praise it deserves. I’ve never heard anyone bring up this show before, and it only came to my attention because of the research I did for that retrospective.
Which is a shame. Not only is it an incredibly well made miniseries, it’s also just a really enjoyable experience. The first time I finished the show, I immediately started over again from episode one and watched it all again. That’s how good it is, and hopefully this video will get the series on more people’s radar where it deserves to be.
So let’s take a look at Generation Kill, a modern military masterpiece.
The series follows the 1st Recon Battalion Marines, an elite fighting force of men. Though the recon force usually performs scouting and intelligence operations, it's decided that the unit will instead act as shock troops, driving in open top humvees and leading the northern flank into Mesopotamia.
Embedded with the unit is Evan Wright, a reporter for Rolling Stones, though in the series he's only referred to as "reporter" or "Rolling Stones". He rides along with Bravo company, riding in the lead vehicle of the unit. This exposed him to the real danger faced by the marines, but also gave him the best look into what their lives were really like during the invasion.
What is so great about this series compared to a lot of other military dramas, is the fact that it highlights how monotonous and boring much of the war is. Though there are dramatic moments and firefights, they are appropriately rare, and much of the series focuses instead on the daily minutia of the marine's lives as they make their way to various objectives. It does a lot to demystify the military and the invasion of Iraq, in the same way that the Wire shows the war on drugs in its true light.
Through this lens, we are introduced to the various characters of the series, who are as diverse in personality as you would expect real life to be. Alexander Skarsgard plays Brad "Iceman" Colbert, the calm and collected leader of the squad. Fans of The Wire will recognize James Ransone as Ray Person, the comical RTO and driver of the humvee, from his role as Ziggy in Season 2.
Along with them you have James Trombley played by Billy Lush, the somewhat disturbed marine of the unit. He's often referred to as a psycho, being extremely excited by the idea of killing people. However despite his weird attitude, he comes off more childish than anything else, being seemingly unaffected by the carnage all around them.
There are also a host of other characters. Espera is an assistant team lead who hides his deep thoughts about what is going on around him behind a facade of racial jokes. Lieutenant Nate Fick is the leader of the platoon, and tries to balance his duty to obey his superiors with what he needs to do to protect his men. And of course there is Rudy Reyes, the badass fashionista of the unit. Rudy is actually played by himself, the real life marine. He served as a consultant on the show, and the creators of the show were so impressed with him, they cast him as himself in the series.
Like I said, the series was created by Ed Burns and David Simon, the creators of The Wire. If you watched my retrospective, you'll know I always credit Ed Burns ahead of David Simon, because I believe it was his experience as a Baltimore City Cop that made the show as real as it was, and I don't think he gets the credit he deserves for the show's success. And the same is true of Generation Kill. Ed Burns served in Vietnam, and his experiences with the military hierarchy again make this series as realistic as it is.
The show went to great lengths to get all the details right, including realistic props and depictions of the battles fought. The actors were actually put through a bootcamp to learn real marine training, led by Rudy Reyes and Eric Kocher, another marine from the unit that served as a consultant on the show. The character Eric Kocher is played by Owain Yeoman in the show, but the real Eric actually played the driver of Captain Patterson’s humvee in the show.
Like The Wire, Generation Kill also explores the problems with bureaucracy. Just like the police department of Baltimore, the commanders of the Iraq invasion are presented as more focused on getting results that will boost their careers instead of what is best for their men or for the overall objectives of the war. This pervasive attitude extends all the way down from the generals to the captains and sargeants trying to make their way up the ladder.
Now I do want to point out that this is only one perspective of the events of the war, and I’ve read some statements from some of the marines who were actually there that the show exaggerated some of these conflicts to make drama. For example the show paints Colonel Godfather and General Mattis in this self-serving light, but from what I’ve read most marines consider them to be very good officers overall. I’m sure they absolutely had criticisms of the officers, but the show can make it seem like no one was ever happy with anything the officers ever did during the war, which I don’t think is true. So while the show is extremely realistic in its technical details, take the presentation of the characters with a grain of salt.
Just like the Wire, Generation Kill throws you right into the life of the marines, and also like the Wire you are quickly introduced to a new vocabulary that you have to pick up on. Terms like Screwby, Danger Close, and even Combat Jack are thrown at you without any explanation. Luckily it's not hard to pick up on the context of what they mean when they discuss this stuff, and the fact that the reporter is a fish out of water works as it allows him to ask questions about military operations.
One of the reasons why I love the show as much as I do, is because it really makes you feel like you know the characters. Whenever I watch this series, I feel like I'm taking a roadtrip with my friends. The way the marines constantly mock each other, but at the end of the day you know they would all take a bullet for each other, you can really feel their bond. It’s what makes the series so enjoyable for me, and why when I watch even one episode I pretty much have to finish the entire thing right there.
The series is unique in that it features no score, only using source music. All of the music in the series is sung a capella by the characters as they drive through the desert, again highlighting the monotony of much of military life. The only exception is Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around", which plays over the movie that the marines' filmed of their time in Iraq during the final scene.
This scene is incredibly poignant, as it highlights the glory and camaraderie the marines share, as well as the utter devastation that they unleashed during the war. A detail I love is that gradually the marines grow visibly disturbed by the video and leave, with the more sensitive ones leaving first and the more disturbed individuals staying longer. By the end, even Trombley has left. It’s a powerful statement about the nature of war, and the effect it has on the men who wage it.
I hope you all enjoyed this video. If you’ve never seen the show before, give it a chance. I truly feel this is one of the great miniseries out there, and it deserves to be more well known than it is. Hopefully this video helps with that, and stay tuned for more content coming soon.
