Courage Under Fire
In 1991, millions of people tuned in to CNN to observe a real life and death drama played out in the cities and deserts of Iraq. For the United States, the war was more or less a display of power and a preservation of economic interest. Nobody was to ever hear of the mishaps and foul-ups of the war. In many eyes the war was seen as a chance to boost American spirit and make the government look empowered. Director Edward Zwick and writer Patrick Shane Duncan snatched onto this notion and expounded on it in their movie Courage Under Fire. Through its superb acting, successful plot, structure, and filming perfection, the movie becomes a powerful and brilliant examination of the consequences of guilt and responsibility, and the meaning of absolute truth.
Courage Under Fire was the first Gulf War movie to hit American theaters. It is a movie that steers clear of the typical type set of the war film genre. Movies like Platoon and Apocalypse Now took us into the heart of the savagery of war and its torment upon the individual. Courage Under Fire contrasts greatly with these movies by showing that acts of valor do not necessarily result from the savageness of the battlefield. The real subject of the film is not a specific war, but the military ethos and its effect on many individuals.
The movie begins as many war films have, on the battlefield. Lieutenant Colonel Nat Serling (Denzel Washington) finds himself in an impossible situation, under heavy attack at night in the middle of the Iraqi desert. He is being assaulted by the Iraqis and in an instant loses his long time friend to the horror of "friendly fire.'; He has ordered his crew to fire on another American tank under his command. Back home, the government is eagerly searching for Gulf War heroes and as a result, Serling is decorated for his bravery; yet, deep inside, he really knows that it is all a sham. He is drowned in his medals and awards and handed a desk job in the Pentagon, all to keep him quiet. Serling becomes intensely burdened by his guilt. He has become an alcoholic, his marriage is falling apart, and the government, which is covering up the incident, has not offered a means to assuage his battered conscience.
Serling's very first assignment is to determine whether or not a female officer, Capitan Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) is a deserving posthu...
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...ne flawlessly. The set was extensive, to say the least, with large battlefields and too many different locations to count. Each set was perfectly constructed and everything was realistic. Through this realism, the movie made sure that each individual watching the movie became engrossed in the storyline and the overall atmosphere. Movies that fail to do this are never taken seriously. The costumes and dialogue were also done without a flaw. Everybody looked as though they belonged in the movie and the uniforms all seemed as though they had been hand delivered by the U.S. Army. The music was a presence but certainly did not make or break the movie. It was just an average performance by James Horner.
Overall, this is a very strong movie that makes a powerful statement about the U.S. government and its actions during the Persian Gulf War. Courage Under Fire is an astoundingly intelligent and well-produced film. I would most certainly recommend this film to the mature and experienced moviegoer who is looking for something different in their viewing experience. It is a story about honor, bravery and the truth with a mystery nestled inside. Overall a 3 1/2 Star accomplishment!
To me this was a very great movie; Stanley Kubrick did a stupendous job producing Full Metal Jacket. When watching the very begging of the movie to the very end, the way Kubrick captured it all it seems that he captured the way marines had to overcome their superior during boot camp and finally overcome their fears over in Vietnam. To rate this movie as it depicted the hardships that marines have to endure and the life in Vietnam from a marine’s perspective would have to be an 8/10, definitely a thumbs up movie.
Fury, directed by, David Ayer, starting Brad Pitt as Sgt. Don Collider, is a fictional film that portrays how hard life can be for a soldier during war. The film takes place in around April 1945 in the ending stages of World War II. Sergeant Don Collider has the mission to lead his 5 man team in a Sherman tank to a final push against the Nazi’s. The platoon faces many obstacles on the way, and one of the major ones they face is having a young rookie soldier in the platoon. The young soldier, Norman Ellison acted by Logan Lerman, is scared and lost and doesn’t know what to do in time of action. He puts the whole platoon at risk not only once, but multiple times.
Stavans, I. (2005). Assimilation and Jewish Ethnic Identity. The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography, Rpt. In Race and Ethnicity. Ed. Uma Kukathas. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Contemporary Issues Companion. Retrieved Apr 4, 2014, from http://ic.galegroup.com.proxy.hvcc.edu:2048/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displa
The film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is a Steven Spielberg film released in 1998 which aimed to make a both shocking and effective portrayal of warfare. The film shows realistically the severities and horror of warfare. Spielberg admitted that he was ‘looking for realism the whole time’. A conventional war film aims to show fearless soldiers and frightened or brutal enemies. Spielberg wanted to show fear from both sides and highlight the terror felt by young men. I feel it is easy to become detached from the fact that many soldiers were young men with individual lives and varying views. The film uses de-saturated colour so that the audience feels the film is older. The effect of de-saturated colour allows audiences to feel that they have also taken the step back in time along with Private Ryan. Another effect is the use of handheld cameras which allows the audience to feel they are in the battle and moving up the beach or across ground. Spielberg saw the opportunity to use D-day as an opening scene. Not only would D-day be an action packed opening scene it would also show its many brutalities. This scene is the film’s selling point and almost trademark. Finally the film shows how ordinary men find themselves fighting on the frontline.
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The Jewish State was a book written by Herzl in 1895, which gave reasons for the Jewish population to move from Europe to either Argentina or Israel and make a new Jewish state of their own. Herzl thought the Jewish people had obtained a solid national identity but lacked a nation with a political system of their own. With their own Jewish State, the Jews could be free to practice their religion and culture without the fear of anti-Semitism. In The Jewish State he wrote. Herzl suggested a plan for political action in which they would acquire the Jewish State. He believed Jews trying to assimilate into European society were wasting their time, because the majority would always decide their role in society. As the anti-Semitism in Europe grew, it became clear that the only way to solve the Jewish problem would be to create their own Jewish sta...
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Brandeis’s depiction of Jewish qualities is, more than anything, a call to understand Jewish identity. As a proponent of Zionism, Brandeis recognized the importance of unity, and tried to bring Jews together in identifying their characteristics: “…qualities with which every one of us is familiar…” (Glatzer 707). In the United States, a country whose Jewish population was composed of Jews from other nations around the globe, a sense of strong identity was of singular importance. These treasured qualities of mind, body and character “…may properly be called Jewish qualities.” (Glatzer 707). Brandeis redefines the meaning of “Jew” for those who had lost themselves in immigration and overwhelming anti-Semitism.
In the face of increasing anti-Semitism during the interwar periods Jewish identity often came into conflict with societal pressures to assimilate. Irving Howe’s, A Memoir of the Thirties, written in 1961, depicts his experiences as a Jew in New York City. In his memoir Howe describes the living and social conditions during this decade that pushed many New York Jews to become involved in some type of socialist movement. Although the memoir is primarily about political activities, his description of the social conditions and the Jewish community provides ...
	The book Red Badge of Courage, is about a physical and emotional pain that a solider of the Civil War might of went through. The soldiers pain comes from all of the horrible things associated with war. The main character, Henery Fleming, joins the Union army dreaming of the heroic things he will accomplish. During the war he discovers that war is not so great and becomes real unsure of himself. Henry then meets up with his friend Jim Then halfway through the book he confronts his cowardice and gains a realistic and sense of duty and responsibility. When the novel ends he has conquered his fear. Then Henry meets Wilson, the loud solider, who I think represents the two sides of human nature. Wilson is a mean and tough guy that no one likes and then towards the end of the book he finds that he really cares about Henry. While Henry is dealing with all of his emotions they are moving into war.
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Samuel C. Heilman, Portrait of American Jews, The Last half of the 20th Century (Seattle & London: University of Washington Press, 1998), 4.
The Need for The Continued Resilience of the American People during the Later Days of The War as Exemplified in MGM’s “They Were Expendable”.
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