A few months ago I heard that David Simon and Ed Burns, creators of The Wire (possibly the best US TV series in the world ever, as it’s also know), were working on a mini-series for HBO about the Iraq War called Generation Kill. Last week I found out it had aired in the US. Naturally it’s not available to buy here yet so I was forced, forced I tell you, to torrent it. I will be buying the DVDs though when they eventually come out as it’s rather good indeed.
It’s a tricky one to describe though as there’s so much prior art for this kind of thing. The most immediate comparison is a series called Tour Of Duty which was on telly in the early 90s but that was superficial rubbish by comparison. Similarly the heavy-handed Vietnam movies with a message don’t quite relate. Generation Kill is more subtle and oddly detatched considering how intimate the portrayal of the characters is. I won’t say any more other that to highly recommend it to you. I understand it’s still on HBO On Demand, if you have access to that. Otherwise wait an absurdly long time for the DVDs or get ye to the torrents. It’s well worth it.
Thanks for the heads-up Pete. It have watched 5 episodes so far and it is pretty good. It does follow the familiar genre format (stupid medal chasing officers, the brown nosing supply sergeant, the by-the-book sergeant major) but the dialogue is superb. You might want to take a look at ‘Over There’ which mixed added the folks back home into the mix.