Overlooked

Rating: 7/10 (29 November 2009)

I have not read the book, though I will now consider it. It's bitterly ironic that a new film dealing with a seldom told piece of recent history will be so under-appreciated. I purchased this on DVD along with three other war movies that not an awful lot of people know, and this was one of the two of them that I had never heard of before. Apart from Joy Ride, which is a reasonable enough horror flick, I haven't watched anything else by this director, but he's clearly talented. This is engaging and interesting from start to finish. The editing and cinematography are excellent. This has intense and exciting sequences, and it's certainly not boring for a second. It's well-paced throughout. The plot develops nicely throughout. Acting is great, ignore the fact that there are next to no "names" in this. It is also very notable that this is fair to both sides, and without toning down the atrocities(...any more than most things coming out of Hollywood do). No one is demonized, and the facts are presented almost without exception. The production values leave nothing to be desired. On the DVD is an informative commentary track by several important crew members, as well as a handful of trailers. There is gruesome, bloody violence, disturbing content and infrequent moderate to strong language in this. I recommend this to anyone who is old and mature enough to handle it. 7/10