Filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington pay a visit to Afghanistan's Korengal Valley to spend a year with the Second Platoon, a besieged squadron who dubbed their stronghold Outpost Restrepo in honor of their fallen comrade PFC Juan Restrepo. An al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold, Korengal Valley sees some of the fiercest fighting in the War on Terror. At Outpost Restrepo, every shot fired is personal, and every target hit a gift to a fallen friend. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
The reaction of a soldier to the death of another - unvarnished, disbelieving grief so raw it's difficult to watch - is among the most moving footage of war and its cost imaginable.
After the recent avalanche of pundit-filled advocacy documentaries about health care, failing schools and environmental collapse, it's a bracing experience to be trusted to think for oneself.
The relative formlessness of Restrepo is, in itself, a kind of dramatic structure. It reflects the stop-start waywardness of war in general, and of this war in particular.
Restrepo captures the physical trauma and psychological torment that forms the essence of the 'War is Hell' mantra, regardless of which flag you fight under.
Restrepo avoids political discussion. It just revels in the heroism of these impossibly young, brave soldiers who follow orders that at times seem pointless because following them is what their country has asked them to do.
A superb presentation of a film that illustrates the futility of war not in the grand gestures, but in the minute details that gradually grow to mass devastation.
Despite disclaimers by the directors that this is not a "political" movie, "Restrepo" is one damned good reason to get the hell out of Afghanistan NOW.
Anyone who wants to get a feel for life and death in one of the deadliest valleys in Afghanistan need look no further than filmmakers Tim Hetherington's and Sebastian Junger's chronicle of 173rd Airborne Brigade's 14-month deployment.
With daredevil camera work and a real empathy for soldiers, this documentary film makes you feel like you are inside a G.I.'s uniform in Afghanistan's Korangal Valley.
[Achieves] level of visceral intensity that rivals the jacked-up, heart-in-mouth tension that was previously the preserve of the best fiction film-makers.
A film that effectively captures the camaraderie, chaos and complexity of soldiers doing their best to win the "hearts and minds" of the local population.
This was an excellent documentary that gives an inside look at the war in Iraq.
This documentary has everything including the firefights of war, losing teammates, being away from family, etc. It gives a lot of good insight about what the soldiers do there, why they are there, and how dangerous it really is to be over
in Iraq. This documentary was really scary and heartbreaking. The fallen teammates' stories were really sad and depressing. The fact that the soldiers saw their teammates die/get injured then were able to keep fighting really shows how strong they are. This documentary is a good tribute to Restrepo and I literally almost cried at the end. It was so sad. This documentary is by far the best I have ever seen. It's all true and it's right there in the action- in the most dangerous post in Afghanistan. This documentary does a fantastic job at showing the other side of the Iraqi war.
December 16, 2011
J P
Super Reviewer
Restrepo is a well made documentary about the last military outpost in the Korengal Valley. This outpost is surrounded by enemy Taliban Insurgents. The Korengal Valley was dubbed the dangerous posting of U.S Military. Restrepo is a very good insight into the combat environment of what these men go through. Throughout
the course of the documentary, we see two of their own get KIA, and the cost on some soldiers. The documentary is well done, this is as close to combat as any civilian would like to get the film manages to capture the real essence of combat, and the camaraderie that develops between soldiers throughout the course of their deployment. The film manages to give the viewer the taste of a combat environment. You experience the hardships that the troops undergo as they fight in the most dangerous region of Afghanistan. This almost a perfect documentary film, but in the end it felt like watching any other documentary or TV show on the Military Channel or History Channel. For what its worth, Restrepo give you an in depth taste of combat. I thought that the filmmakers did a great job at capturing the feel of battle, but where the film failed slightly was showing the real toll on the soldiers' state of mind. Most of them didn't seem that distraught. Only a few showed emotion talking about their experience. Restrepo is still an interesting film that shows the chaos of warfare, but its nothing groundbreaking. I've seen similar stuff before.
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