Generation Kill (Blu-Ray/3 Disc/Ff-4x3) (2008)

"...bold, uncompromising...searingly intense.  The New York Times
"Electrifying...grippingly powerful.  The Washington Post
"...rewarding in its complexity. It feels real - and that realness is bracing, sad and funny in equal measures.  Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle

Editor's Note This gritty, seven-part miniseries chronicles the befuddling first 40 days of the Iraq war from the perspective of the Marines' First Recon Batallion. As the soldiers journey into Baghdad, they face unclear conditions and bear the often deadly brunt of misguided bureaucratic decisions. Based on Evan Wright's best-selling book, and brought to the screen by the creators of THE WIRE--David Simon and Ed Burns--GENERATION KILL's viewpoint remains firmly fixed on the ground level; rather than proselytize the show uses its large cast and broad canvas to show war in all its visceral chaos, allowing viewers the chance to take what they can from steeping themselves in the black humor and confused terror of the experience.

	Jon Huertas
	Kellan Lutz
	Rey Valentin
	Lee Tergesen
	James Ransone
	Josh Barrett
	Alexander Skarsgard
	Langley Kirkwood
	David Barrera
	Rudy Reyes
	Sal Alvarez
	Billy Lush
	Stefan Otto
	Pawel Szajda
	Evan Wright - Source Writer
	David Simon - Executive Producer
	Ed Burns - Executive Producer

Tulsa TV Memories 9 of 10
If as many people had seen the recent war films of the Middle East, as these movies are good and relevant, there would be a bunch of much better-informed moviegoers about what's been going on over there. Now add HBO's new 7-part miniseries, "Generation Kill" to the list...During WWII, there were numerous war films, but they gave great support to our troops over there as well as us folks back stateside wishing the war was finished although just about everyone knew it was a war that must be fought...Now, things aren't so plain and simple. Instead of pulling for Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon in "Mrs. Miniver" as Nazi bombs fall on 1942 England in the first months of WWII, "Generation Kill" keeps us up to date on just how terribly NOT SUPPORTED our troops are during the first few weeks of the Invasion of Iraq in 2003..."Generation Kill" appears to have the same feel as "The Wire," another successful, long-running, critically acclaimed HBO series. "The Wire" dealt with lower-level drug cops hassling with police bureaucracy in Baltimore. It's more of the same in "Kill," except enlisted leathernecks, ordered to fight a war against Saddam's 'Iraqi terrorists,' are hassling with an upper-level military bureaucracy...Most Marines in the first episode are shown as pumped and ready for the invasion, some of them with a serious 'Bring it on!' attitude and frequent utterances laced full of all the coarse terms I ever heard while in the U.S. Army. To push that point home, the arrival of Evan Wright, the embedded Rolling Stone journalist, is given no enthusiasm whatsoever until he reveals to the platoon he once wrote for "Hustler." - Gary Chew

DVD Talk 9 of 10
Given how politically charged the debate over the Iraq War has been, making a television show that depicts the soldiers in the field without lapsing into polemics would seem like quite a challenge, but the seven-part HBO drama Generation Kill manages to do just that. The show aired earlier this year [2008], and despite being the brainchild of The Wire maestros David Simon and Ed Burns and based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Evan Wright, the series seemed to land with little hype and quiet critical applause. Hopefully now with all seven episodes being released as a 3-DVD boxed set, this excellent program will find an audience...Generation Kill starts with the beginning of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and follows the Marines in the First Recon Battalion through the early weeks of the war, up to and just beyond the taking of Baghdad...Following their massive critical success dealing with Baltimore crime in The Wire, writers/producers David Simon and Ed Burns have turned to Evan Wright's portrait of the Iraq War, Generation Kill. The seven-part series follows the course of one Marine Recon Battalion as they roll up and down the Iraqi landscape, gathering information while dealing with enemy forces and garbled messages that have trickled down the chain of command. Unrelenting and unvarnished, Generation Kill shows the harsh day-to-day of war without politicizing or imposing standard Hollywood drama. This new boxed set delivers the complete series in style, including substantial extras. Highly Recommended. - Jamie S. Rich