This must have been the first war movie I have seen that is solely focused on the life of soldiers in an outpost placed in a very hostile and dangerous country. The first thing I noticed when seeing the location of the outpost is that it had a very basic strategic disadvantage because it was located in a small valley surrounded by mountains. I am no expert in these topics but common sense would indicate that giving your enemies the high ground isn't the best for you.
The reasons why the US military decided to place an outpost in that place aren't mentioned in the movie. Since they were surrounded by mountains, it was easy for the talibans to spy on them from afar and plan a proper attack. In the movie, it is mentioned by a local elder how the British and the Russians invaded the country in the past, and they were both defeated eventually. Implying the Americans will end up suffering the same fate.
We will see at times some camaraderie between the soldiers as well as how they try to develop a productive relationship with the local people. A lot of drama will obviously also be included throughout the film.
The acting from the cast was all right, although their job wasn't really that hard, mainly doing some yelling, running, and shooting. There are at least 2 characters that do make an effort in displaying emotional turmoil and intense stress as a result of their situation and they did a good job with that. There were no iconic performances though, these were just acceptable.
The battle didn't have awesome takes neither, the angles where they placed the cameras were very basic and it felt like the entire thing could have been much more exciting. However, the movie does show the human factor.
If you are looking for a decent war movie, this is a good choice. The film is more about surviving the taliban's attack and not much about the mission or the reason for their presence in that place. We can see how the dynamics were between both the soldiers with each other and the local people. It is not a super epic movie but if you like the genre it will certainly entertain you.
The best
- It was good to know about the crazy things that happened in Afghanistan.
The worst
- The big fight was filmed in a very messy way.
- The scriptwriter tried to create dialogues that sounded authentic and spontaneous but sometimes these felt amateurish.
More information: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3833480/ Review: AAA In numbers: 7/10
