We, the Marines

WE, THE MARINES offers informative footage of Marines in many stages of training. New recruits' heads are shaved. In training, they shimmy through mock riverbeds covered in mud, carrying heavy packs. They drag "wounded" comrades out of harm's way. They jump from airborne planes, they shoot from helicopters, they escape from a submerged, upside-down helicopter. All of these actions seem all the more heroic and admirable as depicted in well-composed, sharply-edited scenes accompanied by popular music ("Rise Up" and "Stand by Me," for example). Former Marine Gene Hackman narrates, advising that the Marine motto "Semper fidelis" (always faithful) means that loyalty to other Marines makes the corps a special military organization. Being a Marine, he explains, means being "in the corps all the days of your life on earth." We're advised that Marines are resourceful, that they can perform difficult tasks immediately, but that the impossible takes a little longer if you have the training and grit to be a Marine. Learning to deal with the unexpected is part of the curriculum. Plans are good but it's important to know that they are always subject to the changes real situations will inevitably impose. The film notes that in addition to combat-readiness, Marines provide humanitarian aid around the world. They helped Japan after its major tsunami and Haiti after the earthquake.