Restrepo

[JGlass]

If you have Netflix, you need to go to Watch Instantly and check out Restrepo. I saw this documentary at last year's Sundance Film Festival, and it was probably the best documentary I've ever seen.

The movie follows one group of soldiers whom are stationed in the Korengal Valley, the area of Afghanistan that sees the most and bloodiest fighting. Towards the beginning of the movie they give a statistic saying that 90% of all the bombs dropped during the war in Afghanistan are dropped in the Korengal Valley.

After one of their most beloved squad member dies, the soldiers manage to erect a fairly massive fort on top of a large hill over night, and name it Restrepo in his honor. The rest of the movie depicts the group's struggles to hold the fort, locate and eliminate the bad guy's, and convince the locals to help them rather than the Taliban.

The film gives great insight to what day-to-day life is like for the soldiers in Afghanistan, showing us what and how they eat, how they relax, and how they transition from having a dance party one minute to shooting at ghosts the next. The film also manages to remain fairly objective in its portrayal of the war; I would say this is not a movie about the war on terror, it's a movie about soldiers.

So once again, if you have Netflix, this is a MUST WATCH documentary. Go check it out, and let me know what you think.

 

[X]

I watched this film a few days ago and was equally impressed with it, I fully expect this to win the Oscar for best documentary this year. Very well made film that doesn't attempt to go into any political or ideological reasons for fighting, but rather just showing these soldiers in Afghanistan for what they really are, normal young men put in a hellish situation. The topic really hit close to home because I lost a close friend in that war only a few months ago.

It's only 90 minutes or so, so there's no excuse for someone not to give it a chance. It's a brilliant look into the minds of the young men that are currently fighting and dying in Afghanistan.

I'd also recommend the documentary Armadillo to anyone that enjoyed this, which also came out this year and deals with Danish troops stationed in Afghanistan. Another gripping film.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I finally got a chance to watch this film last night. Restrepo was an amazing documentary, and this film really did blow me away. You really get to see the struggles soldiers go through. There are so many gut wrenching moments throughout this documentary, because these men are forced to deal with many terrors and tragedies. It was so unreal having to watch them try and survive an attack, and it was hard to watch these soldiers deal with a tragic death during this battle. This is a very emotional and raw documentary, and I wouldn't be surprised if Restrepo won the Academy Award for Best Documentary.