Good movie could have been great

Rating: 7/10 (2 August 2009)

Spoilers - I will talk about parts I did not like
Too much Hollywood - no soldier is going outside the fence in Iraq on a lark - if that really happened I would be amazed and I will take back the comment - no three man bomb squad is going to go after trigger guys and separate to clear buildings by themselves - just would not happen - they each tried to clear a 3- 4 story building? And of course a guy would be abducted and they would get him back in 10 minutes - happens all the time.
Take all the unrealistic junk out of the movie and there was enough tension and suspense to make this an excellent movie. I guess that Hollywood stuff makes it fun for non- military, but if you even spent a year in the military you would know that would just not happen.
Finally - do writers and directors only lift their Officer characters out of Stripes or Apocalypse Now? Could you please take some time to talk to real officers? - they are not all buffoons and sadists. Ignore any scene with officers in it - if you want to see the good and bad of officer leadership, watch Band of Brothers.
Actors were great and it just pains me to watch the unrealistic garbage when what these EOD guys actually do is amazing - the fact that they actually go back for multiple rotations is heroic enough with out adding the John Wayne/Jack Bauer stuff. So close and yet so far.