(From the website of the Film: Home — RESTREPO — A Film by Sebastian Junger & Tim Hetherington ) The story RESTREPO is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, "Restrepo," named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military. This is an entirely experiential film: the cameras never leave the valley; there are no interviews with generals or diplomats. The only goal is to make viewers feel as if they have just been through a 90-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you. Directors Note The war in Afghanistan has become highly politicized, but soldiers rarely take part in that discussion. Our intention was to capture the experience of combat, boredom and fear through the eyes of the soldiers themselves. Their lives were our lives: we did not sit down with their families, we did not interview Afghans, we did not explore geopolitical debates. Soldiers are living and fighting and dying at remote outposts in Afghanistan in conditions that few Americans back home can imagine. Their experiences are important to understand, regardless of one's political beliefs. Beliefs are a way to avoid looking at reality. This is reality. Background on Location Korangal Valley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Korangal Valley has been dub'd, By CNN, "The deadliest place on Earth." Personal Reaction I was browsing through my DVR recordings and saw Restrepo, I had no clue what it was or what it was about. I remembered my brother saying something about it, so I decided, "ehhh, what the hell, ill watch it". Little did I know the documentary would have me balling my eyes out. One of the best, amazing, truthful war documentaries I have seen to date. Its visually stunning, I was in awe. This documentary made me gain so much respect for our soldiers in Afghanistan. I really cant say much, but what I can say is, you need to watch this. This is a clip from 60 minutes of the same platoon. The Sal Giunta Story on Vimeo This is the trailer for the actual movie YouTube - Restrepo Trailer Bottom line, this is one of the best, quality, moving documentaries I have ever seen. Keep't me on the edge of my couch every gripping firefight... from the soldiers POV. It comes out on DVD either today or tomorrow. I believe it is also OnDemand for most cable providers. Definitely worth the money to watch.
Comes out on Netflix in two days :3 I can share it with you, so lets hope we can watch it as a party. AND, definitely not a waste of money, best documentary IMO.
I heard about this movie ages ago and intended on watching it on Netflix when it hit instant play. Another good war documentary (albeit slow) is Full Battle Rattle. It's about a huge army training facility in the middle of the desert that simulates weather and socio-economic conditions of the middle east. They hire a bunch of middle-eastern American actors to play completely-developed roles (as in, they play the role 24-7 if I remember correctly) and have various daily routines and special assignments. Really interesting that there's this huge fake community in the middle of nowhere. There's another one in Kentucky as well I think. I believe it's still in instant play as well.
Gonna have to watch this. My brother's over there right now and I lost my uncle when the war began. So anything like this naturally catches my attention. Thanks for posting, I probably would have missed it on Netflix. I especially like the ones who show the true nature of war. I don't care for them sugar coating or shielding the viewers poor eyes, if people feel sensitive to seeing hard stuff, they shouldn't be watching documentaries on war.. It almost seems disrespectful to kind of down-play what some people are going through over there.
Sound interesting, Ill check it out right now. I need something to watch. Couldn't agree more man. btw, my condolences toward your loss, your brothers a good man stepping up to the plate to carry out the duty of countless americans
Thank you. Yeah, he's a good guy. Takes some brass to join up for infantry and look forward to being in it. As much as I want to say I would do the same, I don't think I would. Thanks again for posting this. That was one of the better documentaries I've seen.