Markus Becker Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 With much sorrow, we announce the passing of the one and unique Odball. Only positive waves please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Galbraith Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 The Tank Commander we all aspired to be. 🫡 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Przezdzieblo Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmgill Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike1158 Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 Goodbye, Farewell and Amen. Hawkeye Pierce, 4077 MASH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogDodger Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 He turned the character into a legend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Galbraith Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 This is literally all over Reddit and Twitter at the moment. The guy was seemingly the patron saint of Armour enthusiasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETAC21 Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 1 hour ago, Stuart Galbraith said: This is literally all over Reddit and Twitter at the moment. The guy was seemingly the patron saint of Armour enthusiasts. Not the tankers we were, but the tankers we wanted to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Galbraith Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 I was thinking why this was earlier. I would guess it that he has this entire pretence of being utterly indifferent, workshy, cowardly, a drunk, more interested in the women and the partying than the war. And yet, when it comes down to it, and the shit hits the fan, he is actually a ruthlessly efficient tank commander that could kill 2 German Tigers, and still look cool whilst doing it. I find him a much more memorable portrayal of an American Tank Commander than Brad Pitts Wardaddy. Even if he was a strange sandwich, a hero by any other name is still the same.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futon Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 I think a lot of US war stuff during the 1960s and 1970s kind of reflected a desire to take a break from being up front patriotic. Not to be unpatriotic but just a sense to chill down a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Galbraith Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 Absolutely. Kellys Heros was looking at WW2 through Vietnam era eyes (MASH was exactly the same). But in a strange way, they seemed to drill down on something more accurate (alright not hippies but still) of a servicemans outlook in WW2 than say, the heroic films of John Wayne just a decade before. Perhaps im over analysing it. But that so many ex tankers seem to 'get it' seems to suggest Troy Kennedy Martin knew how to create a plausible character, albeit a distinctly improbable one. Incidentally, if anyone wants to read the novel, its on Archive.org. Its got quite a bit from the script that didnt make it into the final cut of the film. Some of it you will probably be glad they didnt include. Some of it you wish they had a bigger budget. https://archive.org/details/kellysheroes00hirs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike1158 Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 Reminiscent of 'Catch 22' or 'Let a soldier die' and possibly also by the change in war reporting/photography through the decades. The 'burned girl running out of a napalm hit village in Vietnam for example. Pretty sure the censors would not have allowed that a decade or so earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Galbraith Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 Yes, there are great tonal similarities with Catch 22. Interestingly enough, the book is if anything even more bitter, and Heller wrote that in 1953. Which illustrates not all perceptions of the war were the same. Evelyn Waugh did much the same thing with his 'Sword of Honour' series I gather (I really must get around to reading that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Galbraith Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 Incidentally, I was just doing a search to see what Sutherland thought of the Oddball character, and apparently he was delighted he was such a hit with generations of people. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/07/20/the-tao-of-oddball-donald-sutherland-on-his-iconic-kellys-heroes-role-at-its-50th-anniversary/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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