Reply to: Platoon

[rootsnall]

Full Metal Jacket is one of my all-time favourites. Platoon is just a fairly ordinary straight-forward war movie. Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter, The Thin Red Line and Saving Private Ryan would also beat it in my rankings.

Just got Band of Brothers DVDs from a mate for a rewatch, very good ! And in anti war WW1 mode I always enjoy All's Quiet on the Western Front, the one with Kirk Douglas in the French Army, and Galipolli is good even if the Aussies made it up to try and blame us .

[IR35 Avoider]

Full Metal Jacket is one of my all-time favourites. Platoon is just a fairly ordinary straight-forward war movie. Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter, The Thin Red Line and Saving Private Ryan would also beat it in my rankings.

[wendigo100]

My son's history lessons were similar, he's not doing GCSE though. They seem concentrate far more on analysing historical situations and interpreation than on hard historical facts.

Most of his last year of history lessons, before he dropped it, was spent on the American West of the 19th century. Cowboys and Indians etc. They did virtually no "conventional" British/European history at all.

I suspect that watching Platoon counts as Modern History and analysing the causes and effects of the Vietnam War.

Yes, they concentrate on 20th century for GCSE O-level.

Perhaps there is too much analysis these days. My daughter kept up history because she loves learning about what happened and why, not because she loves analysing it herself down to the nth degree.

I don't remember her ever doing much about cowboys and indians though, if anything.

[wendigo100]

If I was a parent I would be bloody annoyed that an "entertainment" was part of my child's curriculum - unless it was extraneous to the real work.

On the contrary, the more entertaining the better.

In the case of Platoon, although the events were fictional, it gave some idea of the yanks' difficulties in Vietnam - jungle warfare, tunnels, booby traps, trying to pick out the enemy from villagers, yank ill-discipline, poor moral, etc, etc, - that eventually did for them.

[CptFantastic]

If I was a parent I would be bloody annoyed that an "entertainment" was part of my child's curriculum - unless it was extraneous to the real work.

History is usually defined by the popular medium representing it.

Yes, you can argue that history and reference books have far more accurate information regarding past events (nothing can beat a reprint of a soldier's letter from then), rather than one man's condensed version for TV / film.

But just imagine that, if we can believe the Bible consists of real stories, how much of history is condensed or cut? Remember, books became the popular medium after Johannes Gutenberg was credited with creating the very first printing press.

[threaded]

Deerhunter has got to be the best of the bunch !?

Give me a break! It takes 3 hours to say "1 shot 1 kill" and the Septics gave it 5 Oscars...

They're all fictional anyways & Full Metal Jacket has got to be the better film

[hattra]

Watched the Deerhunter in the Studio kinema in Swansea.

Projectionist got the reels mixed up, which made the story a little confusing...

I only noticed coz I'd seen it before.

I had a similar experience with the Decameron many years ago! Should have known it would happen, the projectionist was down the pub with the audience before the show.

[rootsnall]

I was into reading about Vietham at the time Platoon came out and I place it my top ten movies. I think it far better then Full Metal Jacket that got raver reviews. Watched the latter recently and it reminds me of my visit to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. American GIs are another animal all together.

Did the Cold War as part of my history O'level back in 76.

Deerhunter has got to be the best of the bunch !?

[OrangeHopper]

I was into reading about Vietham at the time Platoon came out and I place it my top ten movies. I think it far better then Full Metal Jacket that got raver reviews. Watched the latter recently and it reminds me of my visit to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. American GIs are another animal all together.

Did the Cold War as part of my history O'level back in 76.

[DaveB]

My son's history lessons were similar, he's not doing GCSE though. They seem concentrate far more on analysing historical situations and interpreation than on hard historical facts.

Most of his last year of history lessons, before he dropped it, was spent on the American West of the 19th century. Cowboys and Indians etc. They did virtually no "conventional" British/European history at all.

I suspect that watching Platoon counts as Modern History and analysing the causes and effects of the Vietnam War.

[sasguru]

If I was a parent I would be bloody annoyed that an "entertainment" was part of my child's curriculum - unless it was extraneous to the real work.

[wendigo100]

What part of the history curriculum is this? The history of the contemporary work of Willem Defoe? Or the blood soaked history of the warmongering USA?

You are Noam Chomsky and I claim ... etc etc

[ratewhore]

What part of the history curriculum is this? The history of the contemporary work of Willem Defoe? Or the blood soaked history of the warmongering USA?

[wendigo100]

And that's history is it?

My history GCE stopped at 1914...

Well, I suppose it is now. They concentrate on the 20th century at GCSE O-level these days. Well, up to the end of the cold war, anyway.

[wendigo100]

you watched it... what do you think?

Oops, extraneous question mark. Er, yes, it was quite good.

GCSE O-level study is a bit different to my day.