I stumbled across this film one night, and I honestly couldn't take my eyes off it long enough to even grab a beer. I may be from California, but I am not ra-ra "American war movies are the BEST." This movie was stunning, and possibly one of the best low-budget war movies I have ever seen.
It was so real, and it is an example of how good filmmakers can still get everything in the camera and make movies look real instead of actors acting to a stick with orange tape on it or standing in front of a green screen for three months.
As a former Ranger, I can attest that the weapons, vehicles and helicopters were all real. (And, by the way, to reviewers who thought they were American-made, they were actually ALL made in Turkey, under licence from the original designers.) I especially loved how they used blanks for many of the scenes, and how their equipment was not just correct for the period and the country, but were also in the correct place. (VERY rare, even today.) They even had custom-made dummy cartridges for this movie, just to show the detail. (You can recognize them by the plain head of the cartridges in the close-ups, with no fake primers.)
In fact, the only thing I could fault was the translation from Turkish that described the enemy pickup trucks as "tactical" vehicles, when the correct term is "technical" vehicle. (Plus, maybe a scene with an Abrams but I don't want to give anything away.)
Outstanding movie, and everyone from the cast, crew, producers, director, writers, technical advisors and military trainers should be proud.
It was so real, and it is an example of how good filmmakers can still get everything in the camera and make movies look real instead of actors acting to a stick with orange tape on it or standing in front of a green screen for three months.
As a former Ranger, I can attest that the weapons, vehicles and helicopters were all real. (And, by the way, to reviewers who thought they were American-made, they were actually ALL made in Turkey, under licence from the original designers.) I especially loved how they used blanks for many of the scenes, and how their equipment was not just correct for the period and the country, but were also in the correct place. (VERY rare, even today.) They even had custom-made dummy cartridges for this movie, just to show the detail. (You can recognize them by the plain head of the cartridges in the close-ups, with no fake primers.)
In fact, the only thing I could fault was the translation from Turkish that described the enemy pickup trucks as "tactical" vehicles, when the correct term is "technical" vehicle. (Plus, maybe a scene with an Abrams but I don't want to give anything away.)
Outstanding movie, and everyone from the cast, crew, producers, director, writers, technical advisors and military trainers should be proud.
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