Recent (say in the last ten years) Fiction films about war, BLACK HAWKDOWN for example, have taken the same approach this films takes. Themen are men doing a "job" and earn our respect on that level. The factthey do "the job" is what earns our respect. The fact that War isn'tyour usual job is not questioned, not by the filmmakers or by the mendoing the job.

Part of the job is not to question the job and you don't do a lot ofdebating while you're either hiding or shooting to save your own life.That's more of a Hollywood idea of war than reality anyway it wouldseem.

This keeps the film from being political, so doesn't alienate peoplewho are pro or con to the specific war the movie might be about.

So this fits into our modern war film approach comfortably on thatlevel. Does it need more than a slice of life approach to befascinating and tension filled? Not really, if it's done well enoughand this film is very well done. The men interviewed talk about beingdisturbed but they way they talk is real, one guy who can't reallysleep at all since actually smiles through his this part of hisinterview, hiding his horror behind telling something he findsembarrassing. This is so different than the "acted" stories of war weget in movies traditionally and such.

Could the film have let us know some history to the valley the men arestuck in or try to let us in tactically a little more from a distance.Probably could have, though bits of this are filled in by the troops asthey are the new group in the area and some past mistakes haunt themand they repeat some of those same mistakes. War isn't really a cleanjob after all or a nice one.

The central battle has very little footage, obviously the cameramenwere hiding for their lives so that section is a series of very veryclose up talking heads, the professionally detached talking heads ofthose involved and their armor does crack as they get into it, thelittle actual footage of the battle shows the real raw reactions.

This is making the best of a bad situation for the filmmakers, but itdoes rob us the horrid experience of the initial attack.

No enemy dead are shown at all in the film, only some collateral damagevictims. This, it could be argued, is slanted a bit from the filmmakerspoint of view, or of course is just a limitation of their "embedded"status with their troops. Perhaps, the film suggests, they rarely seethe enemy up close in this particular valley fight. Perhaps, but theyaren't shown for whatever reason. Likewise there is scant footage ofsome of those U.S. troops who die when they are alive. This does alsotake away some emotional connection. And frankly when everyone wearsthe same uniform and has the same haircut it does get confusing at afew points as to who is who.

Some of the footage is very crudely recorded, shaky/grainy to adistracting degree--to be expected, but don't sit too close in thetheater. It's edited and assembled very well, if there is/are movietricks, and certainly there are, in terms of "faking" reaction shots orre-ordering events to make it more dramatic---it's seamlessly done. Itall feels honest.

It's a very very good slice of life and puts you there with the men.And though very young they do mostly come off as men. That's all itdoes and it does it perfectly. There is no "ulimate" film on this warbecause, of course it's still going on. This film would seem to suggestthat it's not going to end with us, "on top" but it doesn't say one wayor the other. If you want to see our volunteer army in action in onespecific area for one year, there hasn't been anything better previousto this film or in any of the Iraq movies, docu and fiction, done sofar.

This was an excellent film! One of the best documentaries of what ishappening in Afghanistan today. It is produced in the true nature of adocumentary as it makes no apologies for the negatives and mistakesparticularly when it comes to some of the collateral damage. It showsthe soldiers experience as it is and is extremely captivating. Somescenes are definitely not for younger audiences or anyone who is notprepared o see what war is, as close to the eye of a soldier as you canbe.

and to the two morons who have an agenda when they watched this andbrought their politics to this review, you missed a good movie.

truecrimsondeath - "none of which is shown, BTW" Are yo kidding?Showing the collateral damage they inflicted onto a village showing theinnocent dead? Children permanently disabled in their parent's grievingarms? And then the commander fully assuming responsibility andacknowledging the horrible loss? It even shows him having the ballz toface the village elders in the wake of the mess. Did you even watch themovie? Well I guess they let anyone review these things. That is thetrue crime.

alexbrasiler - I am pretty sure you are free to leave the country anytime you like, the door is open. This country was founded by greatAmericans like these. I am proud of them and their ability to facedeath on a daily basis for what they believe in let alone be part ofthis film. In sharp contrast to someone hiding behind a computer andtaking anonymous shots at them because they are enjoying playing avideo game or laughing in the few moments in their deployment thatsomeone is not trying to kill them.

The Perfect Storm (book) was a remarkably fact-filled account whichcaptured a bit of fishing culture, a bit of fishing-industrymicroeconomics, a few personal stories, and a huge dose of naturalscience. The presentation of the huge dose of science in an interestingand readable style distinguished the book from the never-ending supplyof best-selling drivel. The scientific anomaly of the perfect stormseemed also to survive the making of the movie, but perhaps that viewis biased for those who first read the book. Restrepo (movie) has nosuch feature. The stupidity of wasting treasury dollars and lives tofight over a meaningless spot on the globe is nothing new. The youthfulnaiveté and the devastating emotional effect on those who experienceany real-life OP Restrepo have been popular in fact and fiction fordecades. Yes, it's tragic. Yes, we know. The cultural chasm between theold local Afghans (where were the young men - hiding in the woods withguns, perhaps?) and the self- righteous American soldiers might havebeen interesting had it been developed. But it wasn't - apparently notby the Army, so Junger had no chance. So let's take stock: the UnitedStates Army went over to a remote spot in a remote country, spentGod-knows how much money on destroying things, alienated the localpopulation, emotionally warped a few young men, killed a few people onboth sides, and left. Is that about it?

Halfway through this movie I had to take a step back and tell myselfthat I am not actually there. I was on the edge of my seat the entiretime. And it's just a documentary, not a Hollywood film. At one point Iwondered if it could be possible that it was staged like Blair Witch,Paranormal Activity or the Fourth Kind. I personally don't like thosekind of movies and this is not one of them. This film also helped meunderstand better what we are doing in Afganistan and why. Thank you toall our troops who step up and put themselves in harms way and to theones who make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms and the Americanway of life. I salute you all!

Normally, I don't rate or rank documentaries with regular films but I'mgoing to make an exception in this case. This is a well structured andpowerful film delivering incredible insight and feeling about theground war in Afghanistan. There's no political agenda at all. What thefilm does deliver is the actual feeling of being deployed with theseincredibly brave and heroic soldiers. You can feel the frustration,heartache and fear they experience right through the camera. We knowthe harshness of war and have seen the terrain they have to deal withon the news but it's tough to comprehend how difficult a task they faceuntil you've seen it documented in this manner. They are more noble andtolerant then I would be in their situation. Civilian Afghan casualtieswould be my very last concern if I were in their shoes. Anyway, oneline stood out for me and that was delivered by a soldier that wastalking about the recent memory of losing a friend in battle. He said,"I don't want to forget because it makes me appreciate what I have." Wecan all take a cue from that quote. We should never forget what theseguys are doing for us and appreciate life and the freedoms they andothers like them have earned for us all.

These are the men that John Wayne pretended to be.

The cameraman put himself in harm's way to make this documentary. TheKorengal Valley where these men spent 15 months was ground zero for theAfghani theater at the time this was filmed.

The men were in half a dozen fire fights every day. The name of thefilm comes from a soldier who was dearly beloved by his comrades inarms. He died in combat during the filming, and, in his honor, hisfellows named a god-forsaken lump of rock after him. The making of theoutpost Restrepo cost the United States 50 soldiers, and, in the end,we left that spot behind.

The power of this film comes from the portraits of these real soldiers,just kids, who are fighting and dying for the United States on a cold,barren, hostile jut of rock far from home. They serve withoutcomplaining, without pity, without much venom toward anyone. They aretough guys who do the job. No politics, no doctrine. It's a job they doprofessionally, and you have to admire them for it.

They pay a high price to serve the rest of the country which has zeroappreciation for their sacrifice, but they do so with high spirits andan intense bond between them.

This film is one of the five documentaries nominated for the 2010Oscar. It is a moving, exceptional film.