From my perspective....
The movie was probably about as realistic as it could have been. I found myself following where the movie was going and knowing where it would end up. I laughed at parts and a couple of places actually made me think back to those days. But there are a lot of people who were there, then. This movie is dead on about the preparation, the arrival, the waiting, then the throw into what we knew to be a combat environment vs. what it actually was. All the waiting, SCUD alerts, in and out of MOPP gear, etc. This movie depicts what was going on over there pretty well. As far as Iraqi freedom, there are no parrallels between this movie and Iraq/Afghanistan, other than they all occured in the Persian Gulf. The movie depicts a Marine Corps somewhat different than what exists today. I went to see it expecting that it would be crap - and found myself reflecting on a lot of things I hadn't thought about in around 14 years. My best friend, a GySgt (18 years in) went to see it yesterday and he took several of the Marines that he works with to see it. A lot of them hated the movie, thought it was a bogus story. They came in between '98 and now, after a lot of lessons learned had been incorporated Corps wide. Some had been to Iraqi Freedom, and stated that it was nothing like that over there - and I agree. Operations Desert Shield/Storm were nothing like Enduring or Iraqi Freedom. Again, the movie wasn't a bang bang shoot them up, because, for the most part, neither was Desert Storm.
Just my .02
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That movie was soooo boring, I wanted to walk out... They didn't shoot a single person except for the accident that occurred during boot camp... grrrrrr.....
