‘The Marine’ packs a record number of technical errors into the first five minutes

Mike Dowling
Feb 22, 2021 9:36 AM PST
3 minute read
Civil War photo

SUMMARY

‘The Marine’ is a classic American film and accurate portrayal of a marine transitioning to civilian life,” said no actual Marine, ever. The film, produced in 2006 by WWE Films, stars WWE superstar John Cena as John Triton, a highly re…

'The Marine' is a classic American film and accurate portrayal of a marine transitioning to civilian life," said no actual Marine, ever.


The film, produced in 2006 by WWE Films, stars WWE superstar John Cena as John Triton, a highly regarded Marine who is unwillingly discharged from the Corps after he disobeys an order while on a hostage rescue mission in Iraq. All of this takes place in the first 5 minutes of the film. The rest of the movie is John, now a civilian, tracking down his wife after she is . . . you know what, it doesn't really matter.

No one expects accuracy or Academy award-winning performances in a film made for wrestling fans, but if this entire film had been a military movie, it could have possibly set the record for the most technical mistakes in a film.

(We should also note that the WWE has a fantastic relationship with the armed forces, producing an annual Tribute to the Troops show every year and John Cena is known for being especially supportive of military service members.)

So here they are, 21 major mistakes (with timestamps) in the first 5 minutes of 'The Marine':

1. (1:14)  John's ribbon stack on his Dress Blues is completely out of order.

2. (1:15)  Not only is the Combat Action Ribbon out of order, it is worn backwards.

3. (1:18)  John's salute is a good example of how not to salute. His saluting arm is not parallel to the ground, his hand angled inward far too much, and it's far above the brim of his cover.

4. (1:19)  John's dress blues uniform is unkempt. His white glove is noticeably wrinkled (while saluting), his coat sleeves are too long, and his pants are not tailored causing them to bunch up at his feet because they're much too long.

5. (1:20)  JOHN IS FREAKING STANDING ON THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

6. (1:50)  John is single handedly performing reconnaissance on an Al Qaeda compound with no back up.

7. (1:57)  On combat mission, John is not wearing any head or eye protection.

8. (2:22)  Who could miss the unrealistic and gigantic muzzle flash from John's M16?

9. (2:27)  The 40 MM grenade John shoots from his M203 creates a huge unrealistic fireball that engulfs three insurgents.

10. (2:31)  Bullet holes in the wall from the 7.62 mm caliber rounds fired by the insurgents are enormous.

11. (2:35)  John is not wearing any type of flak jacket.

12. (3:04)  After eliminating the insurgents in the room John turns to the bloodied hostages on the floor. Instead of checking to see if they need any immediate medical care he asks in a nonchalant manner "Are you guys ready to go home?"

13. (3:32)  There is no special operations command in Stuttgart, Germany.

14. (3:41)  No Marine Colonel dressed in his Alphas would walk in to a gym to fetch a Non Commissioned Officer. He would send one of his many aides to get him.

15. (3:46)  The Colonel's ribbon stack is completely out of order.

16. (3:49)  John has his back turned to the Colonel the entire time when he is speaking with him. As an enlisted Marine he should face the Colonel.

17. (4:06)  The Colonel's rifle badge is noticeably slanted out of place on his service alphas uniform.

18. (4:09)  John is not wearing an authorized Marine Corps cover in uniform.

19. (4:17)  The Colonel gives John the terrible news about the decision to discharge him out of the Marines. This would normally be done privately in an official capacity, not casually outside the base gym and in public.

20. (4:22)  The Colonel gives John his discharge paperwork in a small letter envelope. There is so much paperwork when a service member discharges they often need folders or very large envelopes to carry them.

21. (4:49)  When the Colonel is finished giving John the bad news he renders John a salute. Officers are not supposed to salute an enlisted rank first. To make matters worse, when John renders a salute back the Colonel walks away before John finishes his salute (see image below). This entire saluting sequence is entirely screwed up.

See the trailer of the movie below, and watch the whole think if you'd like to catch another two or so hours of errors.

Video thumbnail

NOW: The 16 best military movies of all time

OR: 11 movies every soldier needs to see

NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

Sign up for We Are The Mighty's newsletter and receive the mighty updates!

By signing up you agree to our We Are The Mighty's Terms of Use and We Are The Mighty's Privacy Policy.

SHARE