Generation Kill (miniseries)

Generation Kill
Genre	War drama
Based on	Generation Kill by Evan Wright
Written by	David Simon Ed Burns Evan Wright
Directed by	Susanna White Simon Cellan Jones
Starring	Alexander Skarsgård James Ransone Lee Tergesen Jon Huertas Stark Sands Billy Lush Jonah Lotan Wilson Bethel Marc Menchaca
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	7
Production
Producer	Andrea Calderwood
Production locations	Mozambique Namibia Upington Kragbron
Cinematography	Ivan Strasburg
Editors	Jason Krasucki Oral Norrie Ottey
Running time	63–69 minutes
Production companies	Company Pictures Blown Deadline Productions
Budget	US$56 million
Release
Original network	HBO
Original release	July 13 (2008-07-13) – August 24, 2008 (2008-08-24)
External links
Website

Generation Kill is an American seven-part television miniseries produced for HBO that aired from July 13 to August 24, 2008. It is based on Evan Wright's 2004 book about his experience as an embedded reporter with the US Marine Corps' 1st Reconnaissance Battalion during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, adapted for television by David Simon, Ed Burns, and Wright.^[1] The miniseries was directed by Susanna White and Simon Cellan Jones and produced by Andrea Calderwood. The ensemble cast includes Alexander Skarsgård as Sergeant Brad 'Iceman' Colbert, James Ransone as Corporal Josh Ray Person, and Lee Tergesen as Wright.

Production[]

The cable channel HBO gave the go-ahead to a seven-part miniseries, based on Evan Wright's book about his experiences as an embedded reporter with the U.S. Marine Corps' 1st Reconnaissance Battalion during the Iraq War's first phase. The series is set during the invasion of Iraq, from late March to early April 2003. The miniseries was shot over a six-month shoot from mid-to-late 2007 in South Africa, Mozambique, and Namibia.^[2] The primary production value aspired to was authenticity.^[3][4][5] The miniseries was produced on a budget of $56 million.^[6]

Crew[]

David Simon and Ed Burns co-wrote and executive produced the miniseries alongside Company Pictures' George Faber and Charles Pattinson, and HBO's Anne Thomopoulos. Andrea Calderwood was the producer; Nina Noble served as co-executive producer; author Evan Wright was credited as a consulting producer; Susanna White and Simon Cellan Jones directed the episodes; and two former U.S. Marines, Eric Kocher and Rudy Reyes, served as the production's military advisors as well as starred in the series.^[7]

Cast and characters[]

There are 28 starring cast members with a large supporting cast. The majority of the characters were drawn from the Second Platoon of the First Reconnaissance Battalion's Bravo Company. Lee Tergesen played embedded reporter Evan Wright, though throughout the series he's only referred to as "reporter" or "Rolling Stone". Wright was assigned to the lead vehicle of Bravo Company, which he shared with Staff Sergeant Brad "Iceman" Colbert, played by Alexander Skarsgård, Corporal Josh Ray Person, played by James Ransone and Lance Corporal Harold James Trombley, played by Billy Lush. To prepare for their roles as Recon Marines, the cast attended a six-day boot camp led by Eric Kocher and Rudy Reyes.^[8]

Other starring characters, from 2nd platoon include:

Additional characters;

• Robert John Burke as Major general James "Chaos" Mattis, commanding officer of 1st Marine Division
• Chance Kelly as Lieutenant colonel Stephen "Godfather" Ferrando, commanding officer of the First Reconnaissance Battalion
• Benjamin Busch as Major Todd Eckloff, executive officer of the battalion
• Michael Kelly as Captain Bryan Patterson, commanding officer of Alpha Company
• Brian Patrick Wade as Captain Craig "Encino Man" Schwetje, commanding officer of Bravo Company
• Eric Nenninger as Captain Dave "Captain America" McGraw, the erratic commanding officer of 3rd platoon, Bravo company
• Neal Jones as Sergeant major John Sixta, a loudmouth Battalion SNCO
• David Barrera as Gunnery sergeant Ray Griego, Bravo Company's operations chief
• Owain Yeoman as Sergeant Eric Kocher, a long-suffering team leader under the command of "Captain America". The real-life Eric Kocher portrays another Marine (Gunnery Sergeant Rich Barrott) who drives Captain Patterson's command Humvee in Alpha.
• J. Salome Martinez Jr. as Corporal Jeffrey "Dirty Earl" Carazales
• Nabil Elouahabi as "Meesh", the battalion translator

Episodes[]

Soundtrack[]

Although the series has no score, it features a large collection of music, much of it songs that were popular among the American populace in late 2002 and early 2003. The newer music (in the show's context) serves to illustrate pop culture during the time of the invasion. All of the songs are sung a cappella by cast members, with the exception of Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around" and Josh Ray Person's "Re-Up Time".

Reception[]

Critical response[]

The miniseries received very positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, it received a score of 80 out of 100 based on 27 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[9] On Rotten Tomatoes, the miniseries has an approval rating of 86% based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The critical consensus reads, "Generation Kill plunges the viewer into war with a visceral force that's still somehow reined in by masterful storytelling and a strong command of period details."^[10]

Entertainment Weekly gave the series an "A-" rating, and critic Ken Tucker remarked favorably on its avoidance of cliché, self-consciousness, and agenda-driven storytelling, and praised its execution, nuance, and verisimilitude.^[11] Robert Bianco of USA Today wrote: "the seven-part Generation Kill is what you'd hope for from the people behind The Wire: an honest, barely adorned, sometimes painfully vivid representation of life as we live it now. It's journalism converted to art, with both benefiting".^[12] Austin Smith of the New York Post, however, was not as impressed; he described the series "as dull and throbbing as a severe headache".^[13]

A red carpet screening of Generation Kill was held for U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton in California, where the series was favorably received.^[3]

Accolades[]

Generation Kill was nominated for 11 Primetime Emmy Awards and won three in 2009, in the miniseries categories. Nominations included Outstanding Miniseries, Outstanding Directing (Susanna White for "Bomb in the Garden"), and Outstanding Writing (David Simon and Ed Burns for "Bomb in the Garden"). It won for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, Outstanding Sound Editing, and Outstanding Sound Mixing.^[14] It was nominated for two awards by the Visual Effects Society in the categories of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special and Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial.^[15]

References[]

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Generation Kill (TV series)

• Official website
• Generation Kill at IMDb