Great remake of a timeless yet clichéd tale. If you've never watched a military flick before and you don't want the plot spoiled, then stop reading.
OK, for the rest of you:
Let me say that Kevin Costner has made a lot of crappy movies, but at least he finally got one right and redeemed himself for "Waterworld".
I'd have to say the same for Ashton whateverhisnameis. But in my memory he's been typecast for life as the character from "That 70's Show." He's probably going to be a great actor someday but for now he does the best he can do at this stage of his career.
If you haven't seen the movie, it's a typical military buddy flick. You watch Costner become the Coast Guard's best rescue swimmer, fumble his marriage, take over the young pups in the training school, turn the torch over to Ashton-- and you know who's gonna die a spectacularly tragic death. But the tale still drags you along for the ride.
I spent eight years at military training commands, starting right after the Navy killed one of their own students at their rescue swimmer school, and I have to say that the training command violated just about every principle of safe high-risk training. But they did it for Hollywood so that's OK! Other than that nitpick, this movie does even more for the Coast Guard than Top Gun did for Navy Air or John Wayne did for the Army & Marines. I won't spoil the critical scene when the three-time rescue-swimmer student is dealing with his panicked victims, and I won't give away the real reason that Ashton wants to be a rescue swimmer. I loved the way that Costner's character starts his military day with huge bottles of prescription painkillers & muscle relaxants. I also hugely enjoyed the way Costner's character held "Record Day" so that Ashton could set all the new school records and get over himself.
I have to say that the sailors in the "squid bar" don't represent the submarine force. Heck, they barely even represent the surface force. I never got a good look at their insignia but thanks to a YouTube video sent to me a few weeks ago, I'm guessing that they're P-3 aviators.
Of course the reason I saw the flick was because my daughter's been pestering me weekly to go see it. She kept turning to me and saying "Do they really do that in the military!??" and I kept saying "Yep!" But the rescue scenes are pretty realistic, she shed a few tears at the end, and I'm guessing there'll be a few late nights in our future while she reconsiders her military aspirations.
But, heck, if the recruiter had been hanging around the theater lobby I would've signed up again...
OK, for the rest of you:
Let me say that Kevin Costner has made a lot of crappy movies, but at least he finally got one right and redeemed himself for "Waterworld".
I'd have to say the same for Ashton whateverhisnameis. But in my memory he's been typecast for life as the character from "That 70's Show." He's probably going to be a great actor someday but for now he does the best he can do at this stage of his career.
If you haven't seen the movie, it's a typical military buddy flick. You watch Costner become the Coast Guard's best rescue swimmer, fumble his marriage, take over the young pups in the training school, turn the torch over to Ashton-- and you know who's gonna die a spectacularly tragic death. But the tale still drags you along for the ride.
I spent eight years at military training commands, starting right after the Navy killed one of their own students at their rescue swimmer school, and I have to say that the training command violated just about every principle of safe high-risk training. But they did it for Hollywood so that's OK! Other than that nitpick, this movie does even more for the Coast Guard than Top Gun did for Navy Air or John Wayne did for the Army & Marines. I won't spoil the critical scene when the three-time rescue-swimmer student is dealing with his panicked victims, and I won't give away the real reason that Ashton wants to be a rescue swimmer. I loved the way that Costner's character starts his military day with huge bottles of prescription painkillers & muscle relaxants. I also hugely enjoyed the way Costner's character held "Record Day" so that Ashton could set all the new school records and get over himself.
I have to say that the sailors in the "squid bar" don't represent the submarine force. Heck, they barely even represent the surface force. I never got a good look at their insignia but thanks to a YouTube video sent to me a few weeks ago, I'm guessing that they're P-3 aviators.
Of course the reason I saw the flick was because my daughter's been pestering me weekly to go see it. She kept turning to me and saying "Do they really do that in the military!??" and I kept saying "Yep!" But the rescue scenes are pretty realistic, she shed a few tears at the end, and I'm guessing there'll be a few late nights in our future while she reconsiders her military aspirations.
But, heck, if the recruiter had been hanging around the theater lobby I would've signed up again...
