Warfare
The best part of Civil War was the military sequences, and that made me really intrigued that Alex Garland was going to turn around a military movie a year later, and wow, the man did not disappoint. Warfare depicts the true story of Garland’s co-director Ray Mendoza’s Iraq unit during one particular assault on them in 2006. One particular member of the unit, Elliott Miller, had no memory of the incident, due to injuries sustained from the event, and that was the impetus for Mendoza creating the movie in the first place, so as to give his fellow soldier a feel for the events of that day. And I think that’s really important context for the movie. As Jord says, it’s not propaganda. Nor is it trying to say anything explicitly. It’s just a memory. And it’s a harrowing, intense, and emotional one. I won’t watch it again, but if you can stomach some gore, I think it’s an important watch, and will definitely be one of the best movies produced this year.
-Z
I did not expect this film to be so closely focused on one true event, which helps this stand out from other war movies. The most impressive piece for me was the film’s ability to demonstrate the logistics of battle in real-time without any of the characters overexplaining their actions. It all felt incredibly real! Devoid of any score, but excellent sound design. I hope this sees some award nominations come next Oscars season.
-E
I had no intention of a 9. Even after the film, I thought it may be close but it won't be a 9. Now that I am sitting here having to put my thoughts down, we got 9. I have not stopped thinking about this film, and I traditionally really dislike war movies. Something about this is very different and is leaving a lasting impression on me. This has no propaganda feel towards war and the military, which I kind of thought was impossible to do for a film like this. It is just an intense realtime story that had me fully engaged. How they did this with the only back story being a group of guys watching a workout film for 3 minutes to start the movie and ended with me having actual feelings for the characters is just crazy to me. As Z said to me, that he will never watch it again andmost likely I won't either, but it did really leave a stamp on me. Hopefully this is in the Oscar run for audio and I hope anyone who can handle a grim and intense story gets a chance to watch it themselves. (also, I could watch a show of force 100 times and still love it)
-J
