Great Story

Rating: 8/10 (27 May 2012)

I love this take on a war story. I like explosions and action as much as the next guy, but it was refreshing to get a look at soldiers when they aren't running away from exploding tanks in slow motion. The relationships between the characters were not only well-acted, but also realistic. This film also did a great job of showing, in the very few actual confrontations, that war is between humans who all think they're right, not denizens of pure good and pure evil fighting to eliminate the other. I also liked the subtle details that showed that the director paid attention SPOILER(at first I agreed with my friend that it was unrealistic for the medic to use a gun, but then I realized that he missed every shot, like a real person who had never fired a gun in war would have). If you're really into weapons and war history, you'll notice inaccuracies with the props and such, and it sometimes got hard to keep track of who was who. Another thing I didn't like is the sound balance. It was very hard to hear the characters at some points, especially crucial lines that, if missed, make the viewer wonder what their reasoning was for a certain action. All in all, this is an excellent movie about "human-ness" in war and a refreshing take on the war movie genre, but it does have its flaws.