Great Movie Sergeant Majors

[simonr1978]

Just something that occured to me now.

Of course, anyone who's had any passing interest in movies, warfare, or the Vietnam conflict (And anyone who's had the pleasure of ATR Bassignbourn) will know R.Lee Ermery's Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Sp?) from Full Metal Jacket, but out of the collective databank of Warseer's movie enthustiasts are there any other really good Movie Sergeant Majors?

Sandy from the movie Wild Geese would be my nomination Edit Considering some of the language involved, might not be Safe For Work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT1sG9Nmz3w

Any others?

[ColShaw]

Sergeant-major Rawlins, "Glory" (1989) - Played by Morgan Freeman

[forthegloryofkazadekrund]

2 sergeants for me are


Gunnery Sgt. Tom 'Gunny' Highway from Heartbreak ridge (Clint Eastwood)

Sergeant Harry G. Wells from Dog Soldiers (Sean Pertwee)

[Easy E]

I think Sam Elliot played a fun Sergeant Major in We Were Soldiers...

The only decent thing in the movie if I recall.

[Kravunhive]

I agree with all those mentioned above. Glory is one of my favourite films and there's a couple of great scenes with Freeman and Denzel that stand out.

Colour Sergeant Bourne from Zulu was pretty cool

While I havent seen the whole film, when I was at Uni we had one of the editors, Tony Lawson, talk about cutting the film Cross of Iron. James Coburn was a German soldier on the Russian front in WW2 and seemed pretty bad ass from what I remember.

Then there's Sergeant Bilko?

[C. Langana]

Zim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNhYJgDdCu4

[marv335]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277434/quotes?qt=qt0408947

One of my favorites.

[canberraguy]

Not a Sargent major but major Payne was hilarious.

[Sniper Kelly]

The great Harry Andrews has to be near the top of the list! He played Sergeant Majors in Ice Cold in Alex, The Hill, and The Red Beret.

[forthegloryofkazadekrund]

Just remembered one of the greatest sergeants ever

Sergeant Oddball (Kellys Heroes) played by Donald Sutherland

Enough with the negative waves.....................

[Sai-Lauren]

Patrick Harper in the Sharpe tv movies (he becomes Sergeant Major at the start of Regiment).

[adamwelton]

You lot have made my decade-not one vote for Full Metal Jacket. My hat off to every one of you. I particularly like your rare references to the more obscure WOs of the classic era. I would like to add Richard Attenborough's obnoxious little colonial bastard in "Guns at Batasi": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns_at_Batasi to the list, and let's not forget Nigel Green as C/Sgt Bourne, the finest British stiff upper lip at Rourke's Drift in "Zulu": http://www.flickr.com/photos/35891355@N03/3318053331/.

Don't forget that CSM/SSM aren't Sergeants but they're still NCOs and still in the Mess with the rest of us, and they're the jam in the proverbial Green Army sandwich. God bless the lot of 'em, every angry bastard one.

[ColShaw]

You lot have made my decade-not one vote for Full Metal Jacket.

Well, he did get mentioned by the OP...

[marv335]

You lot have made my decade-not one vote for Full Metal Jacket.

I think you missed where the OP said.

R.Lee Ermery's Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Sp?) from Full Metal Jacket,//are there any other really good Movie Sergeant Majors?

[adamwelton]

Nobody else voted for him, which was nice. It shows a great deal of enlightenment that everyone seems to have made their own choice rather than give the stock answer that we expect. There are many like him (R. Lee Ermey was one himself in Vietnam I am led to believe and based his performance on a measure of reality) including the USMC one from "An Officer and a Gentleman", but again nobody has noticed so I'm happy with that. There are other armies around the world not just the U.S. one, although that particular body gets all the publicity due to their exposure to almost every major ruck since 1945 so it's no surprise to me that they get top billing.

[LuciusAR]

Any love for Sergeant Apone?

I'm not sure if he was a Sergeant Major or not, but he deserves a mention.

All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in bed? Another glorious day in the Corps! A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm. Every meal's a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Every formation a parade! I LOVE the Corps!

[LuciusAR]

Just remembered one of the greatest sergeants ever

Sergeant Oddball (Kellys Heroes) played by Donald Sutherland

Enough with the negative waves.....................

Good call, Big Joe (played by Telly Savalas) from that same movie also deserves a mention.

[ColShaw]

Also just a Sergeant, not Sergeant-Major, but Horvath (played by Tom Sizemore) in "Saving Private Ryan" was pretty impressive.

"I'm fine! I just got the wind knocked out of me..."