I believe the experience of Company G, Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division, one of the most decorated units of the “Forgotten War” is an ideal miniseries for the Korean War in the vein of Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Generation Kill, and Masters of the Air.
A company of veterans, reservists, and recruits from various American backgrounds are called up to spend three years of their lives fighting major battles for the freedom of a nation halfway around the world. Now That Should Be A Movie. Now That Should Be A Band of Brothers-like miniseries. Short Pitch It is called Give …
Logline: When 46 hard-fighting Irish-Texan cannoneers face off against an invasion of 15,000, it will result in the only medals issued by the southern Confederacy.
Short Pitch
It is called The Battle of Sabine Pass
It is a war action movie.
In the vein of 300.
It is like Fury meets Glory.
It follows ambitious, jovial Irish officer Dick Dowling
And young runaway drummer boy John Drummond
As they fight to free the Texas coast from Yankee invaders and prejudice against Irish and Catholic immigrants.
Problems arise when most of the Texas army is pulled from the coast and Dowling and his forty-six men find themselves the only ones to stop an invasion of 15,000.
Together their skill, training, dedication to each other and Gaelic love of fighting will result in one of the most lopsided victories of the war.
The idea came to me when I read a paragraph about the battle in The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts by Burke Davis and it grabbed hold of my Irish and Texan descendent soul.
My unique approach is focusing on one unit of artillerymen called The Davis Guard and their struggles with military life, war and bigotry against Catholic Irish.
A set piece would be when Dick Dowling is standing on top of the mud pile called Fort Griffin. He has told the Davis Guard that their officers want them to retreat. “What say you,” says Dowling in a thick Gaelic accent. “No, no!,” reply his men. “Shall we fight,” he ask them. Fight, fight, fight,” they reply in unison. “It’s too hot to walk back to Sabine City,” one jokes. Just then a courier rides up. He carries a small Confederate flag. Dowling grabs the flag, crawling higher on the parapet and waves it toward the approaching gunboats. “Dick Dowling is a dead man before that flag shall come down!”
Target audiences would be men and women 20-70, teenagers, military buffs, action movie fans, history buffs, Civil War reenactors, naval buffs, Navy veterans, service members and their families, Catholics, Irish Americans, Irish people, and of course, Texans.
Audiences would want to see it for its epic stand of fighting Irish against overwhelming odds, its action, adventure, and themes of courage, brotherhood, honor and devotion to duty.
Go see Devotion in theaters! You will consider it time well spent and will not regret the $7-$15 price of a ticket. I do not usually do movie reviews, but since I have written a blogpost about Adam Makos’ book, I have decided to give my thoughts on J. D. Dillard’s adaption. Who knows, I …
A set piece would be when the 5th and 7th Marines, including 600 wounded walking with the help of ice-glazed tree limbs, march into Hagaru. They had fought their way there over fourteen miles for four days and three sleepless nights. Their comrades gather on the surrounding hills to greet the arrival of their comrades who were covered with ice and stubble. At 600 yards from the perimeter, the column stops. The wounded and frost bitten who could walk, crawled out of their trucks and fell in line with their comrades, their boots stomping the snow in perfect cadence. In the snow. As the column enters the perimeter, some grunts join them, marching along side the column “From the Halls of Montezuma…”They began singing “…To the shores of Tripoli…” It is the Marines Hymn. “…We will fight our nation’s battles…” Rugged veterans were brought to tears. “Look at those bastards,” they say. “Those magnificent bastards.”
It is called Single Handed
It is a Prison Camp Drama
In the vein of Unbroken.
It is like Son of Saul meets Hacksaw Ridge.
It follows courageous Holocaust survivor Tibor Rubin
And compassionate World War II veteran Randall Briere
As they fight North Korean and Chinese Communists and American antisemites.
Problems arise when Tibor and Randall are captured by the communists and Tibor is denied his medals by a bigoted officer.
Now together Tibor’s death camp experience and Randall’s determination will help them survive a POW camp and get Tibor his Medal of Honor.
My unique approach would be a movie in five acts. Tibor the Holocaust Survivor. Tibor the Immigrant. Tibor the Soldier. Tibor the Prisoner of War. Tibor the American Hero.
A set piece would be when North Korean guards call the American prisoners out of their huts and line them up, execution style. Some prisoners cry out for mercy. Others wet themselves. Some fall on their hands and knees. Tibor pulls them back up. He tells the group to pray and begins chanting in Hebrew. His fellow POWs join him. The guards raise their weapons to firing position. Then the Chinese officers show up and stop the North Koreans just in time.
Target audiences would be men and women (20 to 80), Jewish people, South Koreans, Hungarians, history buffs, military veterans, and teachers.
Audiences would want to watch Tibor’s story due to the themes of bravery, determination, excitement of battle, suspense of surviving in a POW camp, courage in the face of adversity and antisemitism, and the human-interest story of the only Holocaust survivor to receive the Medal of Honor.
A set piece in a movie would be when he developed dysentery. Knowing that he was humiliated because others had to clean up after him, the other prisoners staged a mass break out of fake dysentery. When the guards give them more medication, they promptly passed it on to the father.
Black Beauty meets Hamburger Hill during the Korean War. Because of its human-interest story involving the bond between men and their animal during drastic times is why I believe Sergeant Reckless deserves a movie honoring our Korean War veterans.
The story recorded in Devotion showcases the best about humanity. Jesse and Tom were the finest America had to offer. Jesse’s determination to become a pilot is shining example of the determination that comes from following one’s dreams. Tom’s actions on December 4, 1951 are an example of the power of friendship. Hopefully, the film adaptation tells the story with the polish and finesse that it deserves. My prayers are with the production. May its success at the box office pave the way for more major films about the Korean War so that the veterans and fallen of “The Forgotten War” remain unforgotten.
It’s called The Last Stand of Fox Company
It is a War Action Drama
It the vein of Blackhawk Down
It is like Fury meets Hacksaw Ridge
It follows spit-and-polished but tough disciplined Marine officer Captain William Barber
And fatalist Patton-like Chinese American Marine Lieutenant Kurk Chew-Een Lee
As they battle overwhelming Chinese Communist forces and the sub-freezing conditions of the North Korean mountains in their fight to save 30,000 UN forces from 120,000 Communists
Problems arise as nearly every man in Barber’s Fox Company is wounded, the artic conditions ruin their equipment, and a wounded Lieutenant Lee has to go AWOL after slapping in the hospital a soldier with PTSD
Together their determination, resilience, comradery, skill and cunning hold a vital mountain pass for five nights and six days and help evacuate UN forces while inflicting heavy damage upon the enemies of freedom.
The idea came to me when I was listening to an audiobook version of The Last Stand of Fox Company by Tom Clavin and Bob Drury and heard Korea referred to as “The Forgotten War.”
My unique approached would be the multitude of conflicts the soldiers fight, from the Communists to the weather, to each other, and in the case of Lee, racism.
A set piece would be when Lt. Lee is leading the relief column for Fox Company throw the frozen mountains in the dark of night. He is wearing a pink sully-drop air panel so his men will not lose him in the dark or, worse, mistake him for the enemy, since he looks, well, Chinese, and accidently shoot him. He holds up a hand. The column stops. He advances through the dark, approaching a Chinese position. He knows a few words in pidgin Chinese, so he fools the commies into letting him come into their lines. Then he pulls out a grenade, throws it. After the blast, he mows the place with gunfire. Then he motions for the column to continue.
Target audiences would be military historians, history buffs, war movie fans, military servicemen and women, veterans, Korean War veterans and their families, Chinese Americans, Korean Americans, South Koreans, fans of video games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, fans of Top Gun: Maverick, and men and women (teens-50s)
Audiences would want to see the movie due to its themes of bravery, courage, comradery, fighting for freedom, resilience in the face of adversity, overcoming harsh conditions, Lieutenant Lee’s triumph over racism, the thrills, excitement and suspense of battling and defeating overwhelming odds, the heroic ordeal of saving tens of thousands of lives, and remembering America’s forgotten heroes of the Korean War.