Not perfect. Not bad. And rather emotionless.

Rating: 8/10 (16 June 2002)

(Spoilers?)
I'm a believer in online rentals. And the timing was right for this movie. They shipped it a day before it came out. Course I got it on the 14th. About 3 days after it came out. So this thing was brand new.
I didn't know what to expect from this movie. Heck, I own Gladiator but have not watched it all yet. So here sits this movie. It's a little too modern I think. But it's okay I guess. I do think though that it's a little too military for some folks. I've never been in the military so some of the lingo is beyond my reach. Rules of Engagement is better than this.

I think Ridley was more interested in showing the utter gore of battle than anything with emotion in this movie. With a guy known for Gladiator ( a movie that'll have you tearing up in no time) this movie is a disappointment as far as showing any kind of real emotion in this movie. I found the actors to be nothing more than cold rocks. It was rather hard for me to care about anyone dying in this movie. Ewan Mcgregors piece was useless. I'm not totally certain that filming a movie with a bunch of unknowns was the best idea. There's one thing with Tom Hanks dies in Saving Private Ryan and quite a different thing when an unknown does. With all the body parts falling in this movie... I actually don't remember anyone who actually died in the movie. The dvd is also rather skimpy on extra's. There is a 25 min making of though that should suffice. I also was disheartened that they did not include Country in Sam Shephards list of credits. That's a great movie that's slowly slipping into the past :(
The good things in this movie. I think this movie was very well shot. It seemed rather realistic. I gave this movie an 8 simply because I did feel they accomplished a great deal. Although I thought the ending was rather sub par. It is rather hard to read the text at the end of the movie. I'd say anyone with a tv under 32 in, might not be able to read it. If you don't... you'll never find out what happened to Michael Durant.

I do feel that this is a little bit of a fad movie. There is alot of patriotism going on now. But patriotism can sour really fast. So I'm not sure how long it'll be before we see anti war movies again.
8/10
Quality: 7/10 Entertainment: 10/10 Replayable: depends 5/10