National Geographic Channel

Although a Brit, or maybe because of it, I found the candour of this film about American troops exceptionally touching. It was not your usual 'gun ho' infused American war documentary and so was far more in line with the sort of documentary work we are used to being produced by European film makers - there was no jingoistic posturing, no preaching about the 'mission' and little macho bravado. If anything it painted a grim and unforgiving picture of the Afghanistan campaign and the arduous and dangerous task of the coalition troops have there. Notably, there was no talk by the men who were interviewed about winning the ‘War on Terror’ – they just wanted to do their time and get home.

National Geographic ChannelI suppose if you did want to cast a negative slant on the American method of approaching the campaign it was in one heart rendering scene where US troops inadvertently killed several Afghan villagers and wounded women and children during a fairly ineffectual raid on a 'unfriendly' mountain hamlet. But on the swing side the resultant ambush of them by local Taliban highlighted that this 'innocent' village was a centre of Taliban operations in the area that, in all likelihood, harboured the very militants that ended up killing one of the troops and wounding several of others.

Such is the horrendous tragedy of an insurgency and counter-insurgency.

Restrepo reminded me, in a way, of an Australian war movie called 'The Odd Angry Shout' where the nature of an insurgent war was caricatured by lots and lots of time spent digging holes and fighting boredom punctuated by intense and brutal fire fights. Although the Restrepo documentary makers are at pains to emphasise that they US troops were pestered by low level sniping and other attacks on an almost daily basis. Even so, to me, one of the untold enemies of the troops seemed to me to be the weary routine and inane daily tasks they had to undertake in an abysmal location bereft of any of the modern conveniences...

But again this also, for me, highlighted one of the failures in the mission statement for the coalition campaign in Afghanistan. In a country where the overwhelming majority of the population have nothing and scrape by on a subsistence way of life how can our ideas of ‘progress’ in any way be an sufficient incentive for the local tribes people to resist the influence of the Taliban? What does progress mean to them? Particularly when many of them just want to be left alone to continue a way of life that has lasted hundreds of years. But I digress...
Another difference between real soldiers and we airsofters is that at the end of the day we can go back to our cosy beds, big screen tellies and refrigerated beers - not some dreary hole in the ground!

Because of this my admiration for our troops – and all coalition allies - always increases the more I hear about what they have to endure. A brilliant film that is a definite must see!

Milgeek rating:

Scheduling: Restrepo: Outpost Afghanistan:

> First aired - Monday 29 Novemner at 9:00PM - National Geographic Channel
> Repeated: Thursday 2 December at 10:00PM - National Geographic Channel
> Repeated: Sunday 5 December at 3:00PM - National Geographic Channel
> Repeated: Tuesday 7 December at 9:00AM - National Geographic Channel

For future episodes refer to NatGeo UK web site: http://natgeotv.com/uk/restrepo

A little bit different for me as this isn't a historical or factual history of warfare or a particular military formation but rather a fictional novel about the Fleet Air Arm during World War 2.

Audiobook version available from Audible.co.uk (£11.79)

My latest 'read' is about the First World War air war, primarily the development of the British Royal flying Corps (and subsequently the RAF) though the words of those who were involved by means of diaries and letters. The book - On a Wing and a Prayer by Joshua Levine - is a spoken recount of these memories and really gives a first rate impression of the excitement and terror of the earliest air combat.

Above: British SE-5's engaged in dogfight. From an original oil painting by Albert J. Enckler - do check out Mr. Enckler web site as he has a beautiful collection of vintage aircraft painings: The Art of Albert J. Enckler

It's hard to believe that we are only four years away from the centinial anniversary of the start of the Great War, but this book brings the lives of the combatants, and civilians, to vivid life. This is only the second book I have read on the history of the Great War and I count myself lucky in choice of audio books on both occassions. On a Wing and a Prayer is something special...

'Provides a thrilling insight into the way SAS soldiers are selected and trained, and reveals fascinating details about recent SAS deployments: East Timor, the 2000 Olympic games, the Tampa, the Afghanistan campaign and the regiment's action-packed mission in Iraq.'

The Iraq War and it's aftermath has brought the slightly shady world of the freelance 'security operators' to the fore with companies like Blackwater becoming a familiar name to the public - although not for any of the right reasons. To the media and the public in general there is something rather unsettling about ex-military personnel offering their services in the commercial field, and the industry still cannot seem to shake the negative association with the term 'mercenary'.

Soldiers Without Borders in some ways tries to clarify or de-muddy the preconceptions about private security firms which utilize ex-servicemen in the employ of foreign nations. It describes the experiences of former members of the Australian SAS who have moved into the private sector and made a life for themselves conducting a wide variety of both hands-on and consultative roles in the grey world of soldiers for hire.

The book tells the stories of a number ex-members of 'The Regiment' who have chosen to work under contract to private companies and other nations, bringing their unique expertise to a wide variety of roles. Sometime the story is a positive one, but sometimes the venture does not end so well.

The book, it's author and the ex-SAS members involved go to great lengths to explain the reasons why a soldier might be tempted into the commercial arena and they likewise stress fervently that working for foreign nations does not mean any conflict of national interests.

It is an exciting field, whatever your feelings about the nature of a soldier for hire you cannot help but feel that it is adventurous. The Australian perspective is particularly interesting as the Aussies certainly have their own way of doing things - which they believe, naturally, is the best way of doing things - and it is always entertaining to hear an Australian, in their down to earth manner, 'tell it like it is'.

Whether the current winding down of US military involvement in Iraq - undoubtedly one of the biggest markets in recent history of the 'hired gun' - means a commensurate reduction of the vacancies for such soldiers or an increase in demand as private companies take up the slack I cannot say. The future of the 'solder of fortune' will always be linked to the fallout of colonial ambitions. In any case you at least have to feel that there is a big difference between the professionalism of operators like the ex-members of the SAS and other 'Tier One' Special Forces members and those of more tenuous military backgrounds.

This book is fairly interesting, but I don't think it will convince anyone who already has an opinion about soldiers for hire that it is a good thing or a bad thing and members of the British and US forces may be a little irked by the Alpha Male arrogance of the Aussies in their attitudes that they do things the right way and everyone else does it the wrong way. But I suppose you have to have 'an attitude' if you aspire to be a member of one of the best military formations in the world.

The bottom line: Interesting from a military history point of view, and some of the stories are certainly engaging (though be warned, some are quite mundane), but all the way through there is a sense of 'they doth protest to much' when the subjects of the book seek to justify their move to private sector which certainly left me with a feeling of ill ease.

Milgeek rating:

Mick Flynn has seen action in every major British war zone of the past 30 years and still serves with the legendary Blues & Royals today. Bullet Magnet is his story - the story of an extraordinary modern warrior who mixes warmth and humour, and at times heartbreaking poignancy, with truly breathtaking fighting skills. ©2010 Mike Flynn; (P)2010 Orion Publishing Group Ltd

While America is OK about making war movies about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan (I will be doing a review of 'Green Zone' and 'Hurt Locker' soon) here in Blighty it's no longer considered 'PC' to make war movies - despite our brilliant tradition making classic films in this genre.

What we do do though is a quiet and surreptitious line in war memoirs - for some reason it's OK to write about war, just not make films about it. I've read some absolute corkers about the modern British military - like 'Hellfire' and 'Ground Truth' (see my Bookshelf), but this latest book by Corporal-Major Mick Flynn surpasses even those for telling it like it is.

Mick Flynn has become one of the British Army's most decorated soldier and it's not hard to understand why - he is not only long-serving - having been involved in Northern Ireland, The Falklands, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan - but is one of those 'true grit' larger than life personalities that really does deserve the over-used monica of 'hero'. The action that Flynn has been involved in as a consequence of his long service is graphically described in the book and is plentiful and reads like a fictional adventure - it would without a doubt make a fantastic movie!

Do not get the idea that this book is in any way 'Gung-Ho' in the American style of war-story telling, the true grit of this memoir comes from Mick Flynn's dogged professionalism and comradeship for his fellow soldiers. If there is any sense of him being an 'action junky' it is only because he takes a pride in doing the job he has in order to help preserve the lives of his mates. This guy really enjoys his job, but his job just happens to be soldiering.

Tony Thornett's head exploded next to me. Bits of skull and brain flew across the pavement.

"F***ing Jesus," I thought. "Gotta move, gotta move!"

There were people screaming and shouting everywhere, shots going off but I was locked in my own bubble.

I glanced at Tony. He was making a gurgling sound, the air rattling in his throat as his body tried to keep breathing.

Was that Tony? That wasn't Tony any more. He'd gone.

"Medic!" someone shouted. There was no medic - we were on our own. My commander was leaning over the wheel trying to give him first aid.

Fear gave way to self-preservation and then to anger.

Pure and cold-blooded.

It was the first time I'd felt it - the kind of controlled rage that means you're ready to kill, but your mind is clear and cool as glass.

Extract from Mick Flynn's Bullet Magnet. More extracts can be read on 'The Sun' web site.

The action is all described is down to earth terms and he does not gloss over the grisly nature of war, and I reiterate that there is a lot of action. As with 'A Rumour of War' - another book I reviewed lately - 'Bullet Magnet' satisfies readers who are seeking plenty of action but at the same time describes this action in such a way that the reader is left with no illusions that war is an adventure.

The bottom line is that 'Bullet Magnet' is one of the best books I have read (or rather listened to as I got it in audio book form) in a long time. It reminds us that despite the controversy about the perceived rights or wrongs of war our troops go on performing their duty selflessly and to an amazingly high standard regardless. They are there because they are there and the lengths they go to in the performance of that duty surpasses all expectations on a daily basis...They are Heroes.

Milgeek rating:

Links:

> 'I enjoy the fear, says Major Mick Flynn, off to the front line at 50' - Article in The Sunday Times, June 4 2010

> 'Interview: Corporal-Major Mick Flynn, Britain's most decorated soldier on his return to Afghanistan' - Article in The Scotsman, 22 June 2010

His choice of Gamer as his latest action role is quite interesting and seems to be in line with the current vogue for cult comic and gaming movies (original storytelling seems to be shunned by the Hollywood money men at the moment).

Gamer is a fun sounding story - a seemingly violent prisoner is given a chance for freedom if he survives 30 rounds of a live computer game. Set *slightly* in the future the movie imagines the next stage of gaming where the gamer takes control of a real live avatar, playing with live ammo against other live competitors. Interesting.

There is some OK action sequences and a smattering of FPS gamer in-jokes (I had to explain to my wife what 'tea-bagging' was for example!) and behind the scenes there is a thriller plot where main character must discover who set him up for his wrongful conviction...

Yes - actually it is a lot like 'Death Race' in fact!

The only thing is it just isn't all that good a movie. Jason Statham's jaunt at 'Frankenstein' in the newer 'Death Race' at least included some quite exciting race sequences (a prerequisite, you would have thought as that is the nub of the movie plot) but 'Gamer' is rather lean on the gaming elements. Instead it rather muddies the water by some quasi-highbrow sentiments about the morality of virtual gaming.

To be honest we *get* the negative possibilities of total emersion 'gaming' and it was a issue which was dealt with far better in movies like Cronenberg's 'eXistenZ' (1999) and even the under-rated - though slightly disappointing - 'Surrogates' (2009) with Bruce Willis.

What we really wanted from 'Gamer' was action, particularly game related action. But gamers will be let down and will not see their sub-culture well represented by this movie. If you remember that horrendous carbuncle that was the movie version of 'Doom' (2005) you will at least smile at the nicely done First Person Shooter sequence when you see the main character's action as if it was a bit of 'Doom' game play - kill counter included!

Sorry Gerrard, we like you but you really need to choose your scripts a bit better. 'Gamer' - unlike 'Doom' - isn't even bad enough so that it's funny (after a few beers) - it's just plain bad.

Milgeek rating:

Alternative reviews of 'Gamer':
> 'Gamer' at the IMDB (5.7/10)
> 'Gamer' review at Rotten Tomatoes (30%)

Other sci-fi movies based around computer game playing and immersive reality (or VR):

> TRON (1982)
> Brainstorm (1983)
> War Games (1983)
> The Last Starfighter (1984)
> Brainscan (1994)
> Doom (2005)

Like many I went to see the new A Team movie with a little trepidation as it has been my experience that things are never quite as good as you remember them, whether they be classic video games, Wagon Wheels or TV shows.

The big surprise was that it wasn't what I expected - I had expected that I would hate the new A Team because they weren't George Peppard, Dirk Benedict, Mr. T and Dwight Schultz, but in fact I loved the new actors (except perhaps Sharlto Copley as Murdock, who was the weekest characterisation). No, the new A Team were actually very enjoyable and faithful to my memory...What spoilt this movie was the horrendous editing!

It's a real shame, because the actual physical filming should have been a no-brainer but Joe Carnahan (Smockin' Aces, Narc) managed to make a simple job turn into a chaotic and ill defined series of manic cuts that meant some of the time you could not follow the action.

I cannot believe that having managed to put together a group of actors that were very satisfactory stand-ins for the original crew - the hardest part of the project - the director managed to drop the ball with some frenetic and over-styled editing that meant that you actually missed some of the action

The A Team was always about three things - over the top and slightly crazy characters, completely stupid plots and action, action and more action. This new movie managed to get two out of the three right, sadly spoiling the action sequences happens to be a big no-no in my book as that is what the new audience (who perhaps don't remember the original TV series) will judge the movie on.

Other reviews of this film have been 50/50 and I guess there may have been enough money made that they might consider a second, the characters were certainly likable enough - but, for goodness sake, PLEASE get another director!

Milgeek rating:

Favourite character: Face. Yes I have to admit Bradley Cooper stole the show. I loved him in 'Hangover' and he remained the cheeky and lovable romeo in The A Team - though I do feel let down by the choice of Jessica Biel as the love interest...But that's because stick incects just don't do it for me.

Here's my rating for the new characters (compared to the original cast):

I actually wasn't a big fan of George Peppard in the original series, his 'flabby' acting made him my least favourite character in the original cast. Liam Neeson on the other hand came off very well and at least was in better shape and able to be a bit more involved with the action.

I'm sorry but there can only ever be one B.A. Baracus and that is Mr. T! I even dig his recent Snickers adverts and only he can pull off 'you crazy fool!' 'Rampage' Jackson could maybe walk the walk, but he couldn't talk the talk! He was just adequate.

Bradley Cooper, in my opinion, *is* Faceman. Dirk Benedict was something of a cult actor - having played Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica - but Cooper brought a new cheeky edginess that won you over.

Perhaps the greatest disappointment in the new movie was the pale and laboured performance of Sharlto Copely at 'Howling Mad' Murdock. Dwight Schultz was undoubtedly my favourite character from the original series and his over the top antics were truely amusing, whereas Copely didn't seem so much mad as on heavy medication!

One thing about the Vietnam War is that it has probably produced more written material - histories, memoirs, political and military analysis, social commentary and novels - than perhaps any other war. It's actually not hard to understand why, for while one could say that it was not as 'big' a war as World War Two it lasted a lot longer and was certainly far more accessible from the point of view of the civilian population. Vietnam is often called the first 'TV war' where the folks at home viewed the gritty realities of the war on a screen in their own home.

(I, personally, am of this generation - having grown up in the 1960s. I vividly remember watching grainy flickering news footage of the Vietnam War on our 20" black and white Bush television.)

Because of this proliferation and interest in books about the conduct of this war you do have a far greater breadth of experiences to chose from - everyone, it seems, who was in any way involved in the Vietnam War has written a book!

Two books that I am just reading illustrate the diversity of experiences that are available in book form, 'Rumour of War' and 'Combat Pay' tell two very different stories about the war through the eyes of two men who served there, on the ground and in the air. Both stories are quite different from the usual dry military history or the 'gung ho' action drama that you might associate with this war sub-genre.

Here are my short reviews of these books. Despite my copies being the audio book versions you will find my review is based on the substance of the stories and not the quality of the audio recording...

However, I wanted to review this film mainly because I know of no narrative which so cleary defines the fundamental difference between men and women than ‘Captain Corelli's Mandolin’ does (particularly with regards to the ‘ethics of war’).

What’s it about?

The film is set on a small Greek island, in a fishing village, just as the Second World War is starting. It begins by introducing a fated relationship between a doctor’s daughter (Penelope Cruz) and a simple but handsome young fisherman (Christian Bale) who becomes engaged to be married on the eve of Italy’s invasion of Greece.

Bale’s character dutifully goes to war with his compatriots to fend off the Italians and leaves his fiancée at home fretting about his fate – and, importantly, mulling over whether he was actually the right man for her!

To cut to the chase – as they say – with the help of their German Allies the Italians occupy Greece and the Captain Corelli of the tile is lodged with the Greek Doctor as part of the garrison force.

So begins the love triangle.

My problem(s) with the film

Now – OK – it’s a romance, and the only reason I sat and watched it was because my wife wanted us to have so ‘romantic’ time watching a ‘girly film’ - futhermore, female logic was that because this was set during a war it was therefore technically a 'war movie' so I should enjoy it! But having started to watch the movie I slowly became incensed with the so-called ‘romantic’ premise on which the story is based...

You see, predictably, the Cruz character falls in love with Corelli (Nicholas Cage of all people) – despite the fact that (a) she is engaged to a good Greek patriot who has (b) until recently been fighting the Italians in battle!

WTF? So – let me get this straight, women find it not only perfectly acceptable but, presumably, admirable for another women to bag off with wartime enemy soldier while, at the same time, her fiancée is away fighting this very same enemy in defence of their homeland?

Anyone else see anything wrong with the morality here?

The main justification for Cruz’s character to so easily ditch her intended spouse is he didn’t take the time to respond to her letters while he was at the front. Of course, how terrible – completely exonerating her shagging an enemy of her nation! (As it turns out we find out later that the reason he didn’t write back – quite aside from the small matter of a war going on – was that the poor boy couldn’t read or write!)

And it gets worse...

Yes folks, it does get worse – and I’m not just talking about Cage’s abysmal acting either!

Apparently the Italians weren’t really a bad lot at all – they were just misunderstood. They didn’t really want to be a part of Hitler’s Fascist Axis – they just wanted eat, drink, sing and make love!

In fact – secretly they were at odds with their German allies – and at the first chance showed their true colours by actively joining the Greek resistance in fighting the nasty Germans.

OK – here’s my problem with that scenario...

First off, Italy under Benito Mussolini was actually the first Fascist state in Europe – pre-dating Hitler’s Germany by some years. The Italians were just as enthusiastic in their embracing fascism as were the Germans in their attempt to become leading powers. And as part of this Italy launched its own bid for domination as early as 1936 with the invasion of Ethiopia, as well as their involvement in support of the Fascists during the Spanish Civil War and the creation of the ‘Pact of Steel’ with Hitler in 1939.

The Italians were no simple bystanders in Hitler’s larger plans (as hinted at in this movie) they were dedicated and enthusiastic Fascists who saw the world in terms of a Nationalist Socialist dominated global empire!

The big difference between the Italians and the Germans was (a) they were crap and (b) when things started going bad they jumped ship faster than a rat with a life preserver!

But due to contemporary Italian-America sensibilities Hollywood (and the book’s author) seemed to brush over Italy’s fascist ‘foibles’ and paint them as simply unlucky in their choice of friends – and good chaps underneath it all!

In conclusion

Well as you can tell from this rant I was not happy at all with this cinematic tripe. But most of all I was incensed by the idea that women find this movie ‘romantic’ and enjoyable.

The moral of the tale seemed to be ‘it’s OK to shag an occupying soldier if your loved one is out of sight for more than two minutes and he doesn’t write back to you (the bastard).’

One last parting shot – which reinforces the completely unfair quirky racism that goes on in this film...

In the end the nasty Nazis are beaten (hooray!) but as part of the aftermath one girl who dared to flirt with a German officer was hanged by the Greek Resistance. In my book this was just deserts...But what, you might ask, happened to Cruz’s character as punishment for her dalliance with Captain Corelli?

Was she hung? Or at the very least dragged through the streets, her head shaved and a ‘W’ branded into her forehead (as they did with collaborating women in France)? No – the war over Corelli returns to the village, no harm done and water under the bridge, and presumably they continued their shagging right under the nose of her former fiancée and Greek patriot, just to rub salt in the wounds!

Researching into the 'mystery' FN carried by screen character 'Tosh Donaldson' in the 1978 movie 'Wild Geese' I actually unearthed some very interesting facts about the actor who played him - Ian Yule.

Ian Yule was an ex British Para and member of the SAS - hence him being the only member of the Wild Geese who actually wore his own regimental beret in the movie. But quite aside from that - were that not enough - Ian was also a real life mercenary who fought with the infamous Colonel 'Mad' Mike Hoare in the Congo in the 60s and 70s!

Mike Hoare was brought onboard the production team of 'Wild Geese' as a technical advisor and Ian acted as an unofficial weapons expert. There is a rather amusing story of one run in that Ian had with Roger Moore where he told the star of 'James Bond' to 'get his bloody hair cut' - but not so politely!

More about the 'mystery' FN shorty...
While I am being less so successful in my quest to find out more information about the weapon that Tosh used in the 'Wild Geese' I have at least confirmed so small tidbits about the sight and the magazine.

The reflex sight seen on the cut-down FN might seem a little odd looking to us now but this is what early reflex sights looked like. It is what is called a passive collimator - or O.E.G. (Occulded Eye Gun) sight - and was the predecessor to our holographic red dots. The one pictured above is a Singlepoint sight, a type made famous when it was photographed in use during the Son Tay raid* in 1970. The Singlepoint was also used in the early 70s by the British Army.

On the magazine, after asking around it is generally agreed that this is a 30 round British L4A1 (7.62mm BREN) mag. This is quite a clue to the origins of the weapon itself as the L4A1 was an 'inch pattern' magazine specifically designed to fit the British weapon and as far as I am aware could not fit the metric FN FAL. In short this points to Tosh's 'shorty' as being of British L1A1 origins rather than a cut-down FN FAL.

...Yes, all very geeky I know!

* The Son Tay raid (Operation Ivory Coast) was undertaken in 1970 by US Special Forces and was intended to free 70 POWs held by the Communist Vietnamese.

Wild Geese - a gold mine of curious weaponry
My parting shot on this issue is that apart from being a bloody good movie - in an all action rabble-rousing way - Wild Geese has a large umber of curious weapons on show, if you care to look hard enough. However, to save you time just take a look at the IMFDB web site which has a page listing the weapons used in the film...

The IMFDB entry for the 'Wild Geese'

I am apt not to agree with their belief that Tosh's rifle is a rare R1 (or R2) South African battle rifle and they have also missed out Colonel Faulkner's (Richard Burton) P38 pistol, but even so it's a pretty diverse haul of interesting weaponry.

Finally, if you haven't seen 'Wild Geese' in a while why not take the opportunity, as did I, to buy Arrow Films 'Special Edition' DVD - which is on sale at a very reasonable £6.99 from Play.com - Go on, treat yourself!

Interesting Links:

> Wikipedia entry for the 'Wild Geese' (1978)
> Wikipedia entry for Colonel 'Mad' Mike Hoare
> Tony Earnshaw's 'The making of Wild Geese' Part One
> Tony Earnshaw's 'The making of Wild Geese' Part Two