What i picture every time i hear the official video "This is War- Thirty Seconds To Mars" on my ipod
Personally, i never understood the video for this song other than the fact it had to do with something about the military. When i worked in the hospital as a medical records handler i would listen to my ipod for hours as i sorted, put together and signed out hundreds of files a day. One song that played on my list was "This is war" by Thirty Seconds To Mars. I have quite an imagination when i listen to music and at the time i never saw the actual official video but only heard it. So every time it played i would think of what was going on in the video.
In my head, i imagined a satellite in orbit above earth zooming in on a soldier with him looking out of a window in the rear right of a Humvee, thinking to himself as the lyrics of the song begin; thinking back to his family of a loving wife, and son around 6-7 years-old. The final moments together with him hugging and kissing both of them all making eye contact one last time before he turns away to get on a plane. The wife hoping to see her husband again, as the son smiles knowing what his father does is good and brave but not fully understanding how dangerous it is.
When the man on the radio says, "There is a man running northwest." i begin to imagine the camera changing to a realistic point of view of events in warfare that the soldier had encountered in his time of duty. Starting with him as a gunner in a Humvee on night patrol with night vision goggles as he spots an insurgent running northwest. Then pictures would appear of people relating to their classifications as they were sang in the song. A sad middle aged woman next to a crying young girl in Afghanistan for civilian, a leader of some sort in place of martyr, a dead middle age man lying against a charred wall in a building riddled with bullet holes for victim. As the song speeds up a bit The soldier comes back to mind with him fighting in battles next to his fellow soldiers in the past against Insurgents. Sometimes in a vehicle with a gun mounted on it firing away or him and his squad breaching a door and clearing out a building with enemies inside.
The song begins to fade away as he wakes up from his daydreaming. His Squad leader seemed to have thought he spotted somebody suspicious running across the street. The soldier looks around to notice they are now in a town of some sort or more rather close to a town center less then a block away as they slow to a stop down a narrow street. The Squad Leader whispers to the driver to turn off the engine, not taking his eyes away from the center about 3 dozen yards away. He asks the driver if he saw something but the driver shakes his head no. The gunner is now scanning the area looking at all of the rooftops and balconies of the surrounding buildings. A light machine gunner from the rear left of the Humvee decides to get out, walk ahead a bit and take a look, the soldier gets out as well staying to his side of the vehicle scanning the right and rear, Assault Rifle at the ready. As the light gunner walks cautiously forward everyone is on their guard scanning the area while the Squad Leader radios in to command that there may be a hostile situation and requests for back up.
The song begins to fade back in as the light gunner is continuing forward a bit more as the rest of the squad makes sure the area is secure. After a few more seconds the Squad leader gets out of the Humvee and asks the Light Gunner if he can see anything. The Light Gunner replies with no as he turns around and shrugs beginning to walk back. The Squad Leader looks over the area one last time before spotting someone stand up on the rooftop with an rpg. He says the Light gunner's name causing him to turn around and notice the person on the roof then begins to sprint back to the Humvee as a fire fight erupts. The gunner on the Humvee, the soldier and the Squad leader are all firing towards the buildings surrounding the center as insurgents begin to appear. An rpg is fired but misses the Humvee by a few feet and explodes a building next to them. The Squad leader yells to the driver and gunner to get out of the Humvee. The driver gets out quickly but the gunner takes to long and another rpg is shot exploding the vehicle sending it flying over their heads behind them. They fire a few more times before the insurgents begin to retreat. They yell, "all clear!" Suddenly an object moves within the dust clouds and smoke in the center. The soldier asks' "what the fuck was that?" the squad then tries to look into the smoke and dust to make out something. The Squad Leader says, "anything?" to which everyone shook their head no. Its until the electric sounds are heard that some sort or mech or makeshift robot armed with weapons and a man controlling it from the inside appears locked and loaded. The squad Leader yells, "Run!" getting the squad to retreat. The mech shoots an incendiary missile at them exploding close and igniting the Light Gunner. He screams from the pain but eventually get drowned out by the sound of flames engulfing the area. The Squad leader, Driver and Soldier are running for their lives shooting at the mech at the same time as its shooting at them with machine guns. Bullets wizzing by until one hits the squad leader and they are dragging him along till they get tired and forced to hold position, firing back. The Squad leader bleeding to death "looks towards the sky" and at the same moment two missiles fly over them towards the mech and destroys it. The sudden explosion forced the soldier and driver to shield themselves from the blast for the moment then decided to look up and behind to see where the missiles came from. Two jets fly over them simultaneously followed by three black hawk helicopters landing and dropping off troops in slow motion until the song speeds up again. The soldiers advancing slowly firing at the same time, forming a defensive wall between the enemies and fallen squad. A Platoon leader puts a hand on the Soldier's shoulder signaling to come along back to the helicopter for extraction. The soldier and driver pick up the Squad leader under each arm and limp him to the helicopter as the firefight continues around them. The soldier gets shot as well spinning around and falling on his back gasping for air as medics appear to try and help him, lifting him into the helicopter.
As the song nears its end with the chorus the soldiers son is seen playing with his army men in his bedroom both sides dying with explosions made from his mouth while he pilots a toy helicopter to pick up some injured toy soldiers. Running out of his room and around the house with the chopper in hand he runs into the living room where a picture of his father rests on the table. He stops to look at the picture picking it up and smiling. Admiring his father in his formal military uniform smiling at the camera. The son takes it and runs to his mother asking her when his father will be home again. The mother takes the framed photo and smiles almost in tears as she looks at her husband. She begins to talk to her son but like the song her voice fades away and you don't hear what she says. The camera zooms out of the house, out of the neighborhood into the sky and eventually out of earth back to the satellite ending where the story began.