Written By Rick Ellis, Sunday, July 13th, 2008

More than five years after the invasion of Iraq, the commercial track record for movies and TV projects about the war is pretty grim. There have been more than a dozen feature films that deal in some way with Iraq, and despite a flurry of stars and well-known directors, none of them have found big box-office success. While TV projects are much fewer in number, they haven't been any more lucrative. A few documentary-style series have come and gone. The one high profile scripted TV project, FX's "Over There," limped through one short season.

It is not clear why so many of these projects have struggled at the box office and in the ratings. Is it because they weren’t very good or just that audiences have lost interest in the Iraq war? Or do some audience members just expect that any project about the Iraq war come with some strong point of view that they won't agree with?

That's just one of the questions faced by HBO as it unveils its newest miniseries, "Generation Kill." The seven-part program is co-produced and co-written (along with Evan Wright) by David Simon and Ed Burns, the team behind HBO's acclaimed drama "The Wire." Which in cable TV terms is as much of a guaranteed opening as you can get. Audiences are going to tune in to see what Simon and Burns do next, no matter what the subject matter. But whether they stay or not depends on what they see on the screen.

"Generation Kill" is based on an award winning magazine series and non-fiction book by journalist Evan Wright. He was embedded in the lead humvee of the Marines First Recon Battalion's Bravo Company, Second Brigade during the first days of the Iraq war.

Reading his book, you can see what attracted Simon and Burns to the project. Simon in particular loves stories that involve every day, intimate looks at people in crisis. The characters in "The Wire" and "Generation Kill" might not have anything in common on the surface, but the way in which their stories unfold is very similar in tone.

The miniseries sticks pretty close to Wright's book, and in one case even uses one the actual Marines. There often isn't any specific storyline playing out during the episode. As is the case in a real combat situation, there are long stretches of boredom and frustration punctuated by unbelievable violence and anger.

And the Marines of First Recon have much to be angry about. Their equipment is often missing or second-rate (leading them in one case to try and purchase some armor off of eBay). And their commanding officers often have little idea of what to do once the battle is won. The First Recon's experience sadly hints at what is to come in Iraq. There are a lot of good people ovrwhelmed by circumstance and the expectations of people nowhere near the battlefield.

This is not to say that "Generation Kill" offers up any particular point of view about America's war in Iraq. These Marines are just living day-to-day, which is probably the most accurate picture you could paint about this period.

I'm interested in seeing what audiences make of "Generation Kill." It's an important work, but it isn't always an easy one to watch. There are many more characters than any viewer could follow, and a number of the scenes seem almost unconnected from each other.

Still, I can't recommend "Generation Kill" strongly enough. Simon and Burns are at their best when they hunker down and focus on the small characters and intractions that reflect what happens in real-life relationships. They execute that perfectly here, and if it's not always easy to watch, that's a pretty solid reflection of the war in Iraq.

"Generation Kill" premieres on Sunday, July 13th, 2008 on HBO.