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The Men of Battle Company 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team | ... |
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Juan 'Doc Restrepo | ... |
Himself
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Dan Kearney | ... |
Himself
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LaMonta Caldwell | ... |
Himself
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Aron Hijar | ... |
Himself
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Misha Pemble-Belkin | ... |
Himself
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Miguel Cortez | ... |
Himself
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Sterling Jones | ... |
Himself
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Brendan O'Byrne | ... |
Himself
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Joshua McDonough | ... |
Himself
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Kyle Steiner | ... |
Himself
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Angel Toves | ... |
Himself
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Mark Patterson | ... |
Himself
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Stephen Gillespie | ... |
Himself
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Marc Solowski | ... |
Himself
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Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's year dug in with the Second Platoon in one of Afghanistan's most strategically crucial valleys reveals extraordinary insight into the surreal combination of back breaking labor, deadly firefights, and camaraderie as the soldiers painfully push back the Taliban. Written by Sundance Film Festival
It wasn't boring, but this just wasn't a movie I could get inspired or awed by. For the most part, I found the demeanor of the soldiers a lot like inner city toughs playing out their regular lives with an exotic backdrop.
I actually think this movie LACKED violence, which it needed more of to get its "shock value" across. Lots of gunfire scenes but only brief, sanitized glimpses of war carnage, which would have really shocked the audience. I don't recall seeing any incoming fire except for an explosion on the road near the beginning. For all the "heavy fire" they took daily, there wasn't a whole lot of footage.
Then there were the macro-pore closeup interviews with the usual "it was bad over there, man...really bad" dialog. I'm not making light of their pain but none of it seemed like new territory in a documentary.
I wasn't impressed by crude references to a ranch where all you really do is shoot wildlife, a kid calling his mother a (bleep'n) hippie, and similar low-brow stuff. I'm not knocking the bravery of the volunteer army, but it makes these foreign conflicts seem not much different than turf wars in American ghettos. The Taliban are probably the equivalent of U.S. gangsters over there. Dull-eyed people creating trouble out of thin air for the most part, over greed and ego. "It's been going on for ten thousand years" says an old song.
"Restrepo" reminded me of what's wrong with the whole human race; the lack of foresight and thoughtfulness, with a shoot first, ask questions later mentality. I am weary of those who say "we're just doing our job" without seriously (as nations) questioning the futility of warfare and all the lives that end up being wasted just so similar conflicts can arise again somewhere else.