A movie review and an an apology

Rating: 7/10 (31 March 2006)

I was wrong - Wrong about the movie and wrong about the book. Swofford is a whiny malcontent, he may even be a coward, but he was 100% right on. I don't agree with his conduct and some of the things he did or said. I let my personal feelings about the man get in the way of the truth and the truth is this movie is about as accurate as anything I have ever seen about the modern Marine Corps. Do I like how it was portrayed? No. Is it an accurate portrayal? Yes. The movie and the book contain embellishments. Between Swofford and Hollywood, the movie wasn't how I remembered it. The details had been changed, sometimes dramatically and I got wrapped up in that instead of concentrating on what the movie/book were trying to say. It's not so good watch a movie about your life knowing the details have been changed to help the story along or the movie producers' life easy. I have a personal stake in this movie and in the Gulf War and I forget to be objective and intellectually honest with myself.
I am also a 2/7, GW veteran. When I saw the book in the store I couldn't believe it. So I bought it, read it and then threw it away because I misunderstood it. I didn't see it for what it was  the truth, and if there's one thing we all know  the truth hurts. War is a destructive and corrosive event and no matter what happens, you will be affected by it for the rest of your life. Lack of action or not, no man or woman can come out of it the same as they went in it. A good war movie doesn't have to be about death and destruction; it just has to show what war does to human beings. Swofford had put the essence of that into his book and his movie. Both are masterpieces and you are a gifted writer. Thanks you for making me confront my own demons about the Marines and the GW. For the first time, I have put those events into perspective in my life.
You and I would not have gotten along in the USMC. That's fine as we both know there are a lot of Marines we both didn't like. You probably would not have liked me either. I was a smart ass college drop out seeking some sort of reckoning with my plush suburban life. The USMC slapped the heck(stronger word originally inserted) out of me and made me a man. I owe my entire existence and success in life to what I learned in the USMC. You are convinced that the USMC destroys more than it builds. I think the USMC forces people to grow up and be who they were meant to be. Criminals realize they are criminals. The insane were always there, the USMC just brings it out. I don't think the USMC makes either. I believe you think the USMC does. We differ on a fundamental level. So be it.
I'm sorry about throwing away your book. I'll go out and buy another copy and the movie too. They'll both go on their respective shelves where they belong. I gave this movie a 1 when I first saw it. Sorry Swoff, I was wrong to do that. I changed it to an 8 because, now admit it, you took a few liberties here and there. And what was with the silly shooting scene at the end of the movie?? Did they pay you extra to let that in?