Monday Metal (Veteran's Day Supplemental)

You know, sometimes a writer just has to have the guts to write the thing he wants to write.

In 1986 Sylvester Stallone, deep into his post Rocky-III 80's cheese phase, wanted to make a thriller about a heavy hitting cop the chief called in when all else failed. A cop who walks into a deadly hostage situation and does what he does best. Stallone wanted to give that cop a cool name. That name was Marion Cobretti, or Cobra. Is Cobra overwrought 80's cool?* Of course. But it is cool. Sylvester Stallone could do that because well, he's Sylvester Stallone.

Writing World War 1990: Nederland it took some guts to portray all those Dutch soldiers waving orange flags and shouting 'Oley-51'.  We don't even like to read those scenes over. But they worked, and here and there a reviewer drops a positive comment about them. Which is nice.

In another 80's cheese film, Iron Eagle, young Doug Masters pops The Spencer David Group's Gimmie some Luvin' into the tape deck, accelerates to attack speed and kicks some ass. 'This one's for you, Chappie' indeed. The scene works. It's cool AF. Don't mock it. We know for a fact some men in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment went over the berm into Iraq with Metallica blasting.

So when we ruminate about British troops riding into battle with music blaring, it's been done before. Heck what do you think gunpowder era fife and drums were? But what if the Brits weren't attacking with fife and drum music on the regimental net. What if instead the commanding officer's gunner was a East Ender metal head? What if he really liked Judas Priest? What if the commanding officer, leading an attack which he doesn't expect to survive, decides, 'Hell with it. Let 'er rip, Danny.' And what if those limeys advance to contact with this?:

*Yes, we knew it was cheese back then.