Realistic military tactics in movies?

On January 10 2013 09:15 cz wrote:
Saving Private Ryan

Almost any historical war movie.

On January 10 2013 09:21 laoji wrote:
Band of Brothers if you count it as a 10 hour movie =)

On January 10 2013 09:15 cz wrote:
Saving Private Ryan

Almost any historical war movie.

On January 10 2013 09:30 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:


Eh... Germans entering a town, down the main street... No bombardment of tall buildings where snipers, and machine guns would be, which of course they are just to be mowed down like nine pins.

On January 10 2013 09:21 Ramiel wrote:
Act of Valor

Some semi realistic stuff in there i should guess...

On January 10 2013 09:37 Kukaracha wrote:
What do you call realistic ? Application of textbook tactics in a real world setting or the chaos and oddity of war ? And what of the historical accuracy ?

If you want all of these put together, then I don't really know... but you'll understand that it's pretty rare to have a "realistic" movie, not only because you can't have a superstar die on screen like some kind of nobody 10 minutes into the story, but also because the definition of what "realistic" varies greatly between different people.

On January 10 2013 09:47 tokinho wrote:
If you are actually interested in war tactics, and not actually in the movies themselves. (Most people who do movies are definitely not interested in tactics) I highly recommend paintball instructional videos. There are several main concepts. Laning, bait, suppressive fire, 1 for 1's, double or triple moves, bunkering, crossing up.

They are somewhat similar to what is done in the military somewhat different. (for obvious reasons, The word retreat is not in their vocabulary, usually the field is "balanced", there are not shrapnel or non-specific weapons, supply happens when you are not being shot at, shooting someone in the foot, hand, or gun rarely kills them.)

I would suggest learning this. Laning for example is that you don't actually shoot at the person, but rather shoot from a position where you cannot get hit, where you don't want them to move through.

Bait is where you move someone to a position to get fire then push a different angle the moment that they shift fire.

Suppressive fire is common, especially back in the 10 man days. you would not stop shooting at the front row if you were a back player.

I suggest documentaries more than movies.

1 for 1's is a very common tactic where you create a whole then have the person trade usually to push a side. Double or triple moves are common. so for example everyone on the right side would move about the same time one bunker up if the other time is snap shooting.

Paintball is not like war. Especially, War is a lot of artillery and attacking supply lines. Tom clancy has some bad action scenes but the plot overall is very interesting.

Can you say wikileaks? Probably the best resource for information about tactics even if a third of the documents are situation updates.

Company of heroes is a game which kind of emphasizes tactics over apm. (even if its one of the RTS that no one has really pushed yet, like DOW.)

On January 10 2013 09:21 Ramiel wrote:
Act of Valor

Some semi realistic stuff in there i should guess...

On January 10 2013 09:55 Bahku wrote:
Thanks for taking the time to make this post. I am interested in movies, not the tactics, but I can't stand watching 100 movies that all have the same tactic: "be a protagonist."

However, I'll certainly check out some documentaries, as I have excessive free time for a while. I would very much appreciate it if you could link me one.

Also, how on Earth is this not a general thread lol? Sometimes the mods on TL make me angry with how strictly they enforce such microscopic regulations.

On January 10 2013 09:47 Bahku wrote:

Just some sort of basic realism, I don't care.

Basically, I like it when movies set up a suspenseful, tense conflict, military or otherwise. The odds continue to stack against the hero, how will he prevail? Surely my mind will be blown when I see the conclusion! What kind of creativity will be used to ensure our hero's victory?

Oh, no, it's just protagonist reinforcements showing up/giant eagles/a bright light in the sky/blind luck and the bad guys all fall down.

What have I done with the past two hours of my life? It's hard for me to even feel suspense any more in films, because it always feels like it's going to be resolved at any moment. I don't want our fiction to mirror human religions where the good guys win before the battle begins; I want fiction to mirror harsh, cold reality where the only survivors are the clever, the bright, and the talented, and I want to see how they do it.

On January 10 2013 11:29 Blisse wrote:



You have an extremely rose tinted view of war.

"suspenseful tense conflict" doesn't happen.
"odds continue to stack" doesn't happen.


It depends on what kind of war you want, maybe colonial, World War, or modern.


Band of Brothers showcases what actually happens in the World Wars pretty well. Some action, lots of doing nothing. They have some real tactics, but nothing really amazing. War is exactly like that. Creativity kills. You run up a hill and hope you don't get mowed down. Not because you zigzagged, but because he was shooting your friend instead. You live because you're lucky, not because you're special. Blind luck is real.

Act of Valor supposedly does current tactical operations correctly, in the way they engage targets and clear rooms kind of stuff. The plot makes no sense (drive a pickup truck inside the enemy base?).

I don't really watch much about the wars before the World Wars.

The Pacific is also pretty good representation, without character development like Band of Brothers (some would say without good character development too).


Also, why are half your examples in this post criticisms of the Lord of the Rings?




It's not a general thread because you're not discussing realistic military tactics, but asking for recommendations. There's no real discussion involved here.

On January 10 2013 10:04 cLAN.Anax wrote:


I saw that. Heard it was supposed to be based off of true accounts. Still fiction, but based (mostly?) in reality.

On January 10 2013 12:06 Bahku wrote:

You make a post of multiple paragraphs discussing movie realism, then state that there's no discussion involved here. I find that pretty funny. I know I'm not bring data spreadsheets and I didn't write a novel as the OP, but I can't imagine this not passing for a general thread on any other forum.

No big deal, back on topic. When I talk about suspenseful conflict and odds stacking unfavorably, I'm talking about the movie's plot, not necessarily the specific military conflict. And I know blind luck is real, but so is skill and decision making.

Don't even pretend to suggest that team A can't beat team B from a disadvantage by playing their cards better. I don't want A to beat B because B misses every shot and A never misses, that completely destroys the film for me and makes every scene leading up to it feel meaningless.

The examples were criticisms of LotR because 1) "giant eagles" is an iconic stereotype of a cop-out in an epic series and 2) I just watched "The Hobbit" last night so it might have been a little on my mind. LotR isn't annoyingly unrealistic, and I still love the series.

I might check out "The Pacific" because I've heard a bit about it. Thanks for suggesting.

Also thanks for the suggestions Tokinho, I'll watch at least one.

As his platoon advanced upon the enemy positions; the leading scout was fired upon and 2d Lt. Gregg (then a Tech. Sgt.) immediately put his machineguns into action to cover the advance of the riflemen. The Germans, who were at close range, threw hand grenades at the riflemen, killing some and wounding 7. Each time a medical aid man attempted to reach the wounded, the Germans fired at him. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, 2d Lt. Gregg took 1 of the light .30-caliber machineguns, and firing from the hip, started boldly up the hill with the medical aid man following him. Although the enemy was throwing hand grenades at him, 2d Lt. Gregg remained and fired into the enemy positions while the medical aid man removed the 7 wounded men to safety. When 2d Lt. Gregg had expended all his ammunition, he was covered by 4 Germans who ordered him to surrender. Since the attention of most of the Germans had been diverted by watching this action, friendly riflemen were able to maneuver into firing positions. One, seeing 2d Lt. Gregg's situation, opened fire on his captors. The 4 Germans hit the ground and thereupon 2d Lt. Gregg recovered a machine pistol from one of the Germans and managed to escape to his other machinegun positions. He manned a gun, firing at his captors, killed 1 of them and wounded the other.

On January 10 2013 09:47 tokinho wrote:
If you are actually interested in war tactics, and not actually in the movies themselves. (Most people who do movies are definitely not interested in tactics) I highly recommend paintball instructional videos. There are several main concepts. Laning, bait, suppressive fire, 1 for 1's, double or triple moves, bunkering, crossing up.

They are somewhat similar to what is done in the military somewhat different. (for obvious reasons, The word retreat is not in their vocabulary, usually the field is "balanced", there are not shrapnel or non-specific weapons, supply happens when you are not being shot at, shooting someone in the foot, hand, or gun rarely kills them.)

I would suggest learning this. Laning for example is that you don't actually shoot at the person, but rather shoot from a position where you cannot get hit, where you don't want them to move through.

Bait is where you move someone to a position to get fire then push a different angle the moment that they shift fire.

Suppressive fire is common, especially back in the 10 man days. you would not stop shooting at the front row if you were a back player.

I suggest documentaries more than movies.

1 for 1's is a very common tactic where you create a whole then have the person trade usually to push a side. Double or triple moves are common. so for example everyone on the right side would move about the same time one bunker up if the other time is snap shooting.

Paintball is not like war. Especially, War is a lot of artillery and attacking supply lines. Tom clancy has some bad action scenes but the plot overall is very interesting.

Can you say wikileaks? Probably the best resource for information about tactics even if a third of the documents are situation updates.

Company of heroes is a game which kind of emphasizes tactics over apm. (even if its one of the RTS that no one has really pushed yet, like DOW.)