This is a promotional advert for the first-person military shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Naturally, as an advert for a military game it can be expected to include gun battles and explosions but this trailer glamorizes them. Death is portrayed in a humorous light (referencing the ability to "respawn" in these games) while the gunfights are heavily stylised, made to look very unrealistic and placing emphasis on how "cool" the action looks. Throughout it all there is distinctly American, very overtly masculine hard rock playing in the background. The progression of the "noob" (slang term for new, unskilled player) to a veteran is celebrated and with the words "there is a soldier in all of us" at the end it is implied that becoming a good fighter is something to aspire to. In a country founded out of a war, where most of the national heroes are military generals, this idolisation of military prowess is expected but also important. It is also worth noting that not one female is present in the trailer, reinforcing the traditional view of war as a man's job even in the context of a video game.
It could be argued that the lightness with which violence and death is treated is down to the advert being for a video game, where death means little and violence is commonplace. I would offer two counterpoints: firstly, the advert is live-action, thus separating itself from the unreality of video game CGI. Secondly, this is not the common attitude among modern war shooters, which often try to be more realistic in their depictions of war. For comparison, here is the promotional trailer for Battlefield 4: China Rising, a similar game:
The music in this trailer is very different, being understated electronic music with a mournful and menacing air. The bloodiness and danger of violence is also emphasised, in opposition to the Call of Duty trailer. War here is portrayed as a horror, if an exciting one in which the player takes part. The Call of Duty advert is thus unusual and yet distinctly American in the way it depicts the violence inherent to the game.
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