'Excellent' war drama branded 'most accurate' by Marines who served in Iraq

The HBO miniseries Generation Kill, set during the Iraq war, has been lauded by US Marines as one of the most "most accurate" depictions of the soldier experience.

Airing in 2008, the show is based on Evan Wright's book about his time as an embedded reporter with the US Marines during the Iraq invasion in 2003.

The series was nominated for several Emmys and a Royal Television Society Award, and bagged three Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, a Golden Reel, and a Gracie Award.

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The star-studded cast includes Alexander Skarsgard, Jon Huertas, James Ransone, and Lee Tergesen.

Before filming started, the actors underwent a six-day boot camp led by Eric Kocher and Rudy Reyes, who is known for his role in the Channel 4 reality show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, reports the Express.

Reyes, a sergeant in Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, joined the show as a military advisor, but it wasn't long before he was cast as himself. Director Susannah White told The Telegraph: "He's like a unicorn. There is no one else in the world like him. So, we cast Rudy as Rudy."

Wright, the journalist who accompanied the Marines, said the miniseries differed from the book as it provided less context. However, he believed this was beneficial as it allowed viewers to experience "action of the film in a way that's much closer to the way we experienced it on the ground".

He told HuffPost: "In that sense the adaptation is more realistic than the book."

The miniseries boasts an impressive 8.4 out of 10 stars on IMDb, with over 62,000 reviews. One reviewer, identifying as a US Marine, wrote: "As a US Marine I can pretty much relate to everything that went on in this series... From the banter among low ranks, to the stupid games we have to endure, to living in terrible conditions, it's all here. To weapons jamming and MRE's, this series really has it all."

Another viewer, claiming to be a Marine who had been deployed to the same location, praised the show for doing an "excellent job of capturing the 'essence' of what the invasion of Iraq was like to the men who were there".

They further added: "This show comes closer to accurately portraying wartime Marines than any other show I've ever seen. I think this is as close as Hollywood can get short of being there and filming it live."

A third reviewer said: "As a marine who was part of OIF/OEF & the invasion and crossed paths with and personally knew members of the Force Recon unit profiled, it's one of the most accurate wartime movies I've ever seen! Absolutely perfect to the smallest detail!".

Generation Kill is available for rent on Apple TV.