WHAT I’VE BEEN WATCHING: Generation Kill

5 Comments | Posted: April 23rd, 2009 | Filed under: What I've Been Watching | Tags: ,

generation-kill

I just finished watching David Simon’s look at the Iraq War, based on Evan Wright’s account of his time with the Marine Corps’ First Reconnaissance Batallion, and declare it supra-good.  Much like The Wire, Generation Kill is an unflinching look at a world that the most of its viewers would never experience, and it’s just as immersive with an admirable level of craft across the board.  Simon had Wright’s accounts of the actual soldiers to use as a base, but the performances really bring them to life in a way that becomes almost documentarian when combined with the handheld camera work and high production values with carefully nuanced audio production that uses some of the same techniques from The Wire (overlapping background dialogue, no background score) to good effect.  Just as interesting as the main series (seven one-hour-and-change episodes) are the interviews with the marines portrayed, including Rudy Reyes, who played himself in the miniseries.  Amazon has the series for $26.99 for a limited time and I can easily think of six dozen worse ways to spend your money.

Share This Post:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Ping.fm
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr

5 Comments on “WHAT I’VE BEEN WATCHING: Generation Kill”

  1. 1 Nicolas Papaconstantinou said at 9:05 am on April 23rd, 2009:

    About five pages off finishing the book, which is JUST incredible reading and makes me sick about my own writing.

    Not unlike Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets did last year, actually.

    Watched the first ep of series when it aired, loved it, failed to watch the rest. Then when I picked up the book, it became a “thing”, needing to finish the book before returning to the series.

    Rest assured, will watch it soon…

  2. 2 Thom said at 9:35 am on April 23rd, 2009:

    So, you are saying this would be better money spent than the Sin City Blu-Ray?

  3. 3 The Goog said at 9:56 am on April 23rd, 2009:

    I started watching this shortly after reading the book. I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the book and only made it a disk and a half into the show before losing interest. I’d spend my money on the book before the show.

  4. 4 Poormojo said at 11:36 am on April 23rd, 2009:

    I completely love this series. “Fair” isn’t quite the right word, but I feel like it does some of the same things for the military command structure that The Wire did for the police in Baltimore. You see people who are fuck-ups and people who are competent at every level. It’s amazing.

  5. 5 John Pontoon said at 11:55 pm on April 25th, 2009:

    This show, like The Wire, was just mind-blowingly good. David Simon is our time’s preeminent genius on the subject of systems that break your heart.