I must start off mentioning that this review is a consolidation of thoughts from me and my husband who is a Soldier who has served over 20 years (dang that makes us sound old).
While many would probably tell me to ignore the little details, I happen to be a details person because I often find that those who don’t bother with the “little” things often miss the bigger, most important things. I had a notebook with me as I watched to capture some of the thoughts that crossed my mind.
Let me start off by saying that my husband acknowledged that they did a good job putting you on the streets of Iraq. The atmosphere was almost spot on. The way the children acted both loving and with hatred and the leering of the adults on the sides of the street. Very realistic. I also want to say I quite enjoyed the moments when you could feel the Soldiers and their sense of camaraderie and the need to take care of one another. That’s about where the realistic points of this movie ended for me.
Right from the beginning I noticed that they were all wearing ACUs. Since the story was supposed to have taken place in 2004, this is not realistic as ACUs were not being issued to all troops at that time. In fact, few had them, so the fact that everyone in the movie was wearing ACUs shows me that someone did not do a lot of research there. Oh and the sleeves don’t get rolled up on the ACUs the way the Soldiers had them. They don’t get folded/rolled up at all.
Something else that caught my eye almost immediately was the fact that SGT Sanborn was wearing a Combat Infantry Badge (CIB). I thought that a little odd as an EOD tech but gave the benefit of the doubt that maybe he had reclassed (how is that for imagination!). Well later in the movie while he was chatting with SFC James, he mentioned that before becoming an EOD tech he had served for 7 years in the Military Intelligence field. He was not authorized a CIB. A detail like that is very important to me.
I thought it was ridiculous that 3 Soldiers were running around the streets of Baghdad alone. That is not logical or realistic. Throw in when SFC James goes to try and find out about the young Iraqi boy who was killed and he is running through the streets alone. I had a good chuckle over that.
I greatly dislike that they had the drinking scene. I’ll be real, it has happened over there but to that extreme, not likely. Along with that, the SGT punching his superior, stupid. The ego on that SFC, in a job like EOD, confidence is a must but there isn’t much room for cockiness, it’s a good way to get yourself killed.
I have to admit I had high expectations for this movie, after hearing from so many people that it was the best war movie to date and so real. I have heard that from both military personal and civilians alike. Unfortunately I was disappointed and my husband was disappointed. It’s a good action flick, for those who care not about the little details in regards to the military aspect, it’s worth your money. For those hoping that someone would finally get “it” right, wait until you get a code for a free rental at one of those Redbox machines.
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"As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord and our Country"
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