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Shadow Company (2007)

tomatometer

88

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

audience

86

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 1,123

My Rating

Movie Info

Thousands of private soldiers operate in Iraq alone... and many more around the world. These individuals, known as private security contractors, are changing the face of modern warfare everyday while their world has remained mystery to those at home. Shadow Company is the groundbreaking investigative feature-length documentary that seeks out and reveals the origins and destinations of these modern-day mercenaries. Who are these security contractors ? What do they do ? Why do they do it ? THE

Unrated, 1 hr. 26 min.

Documentary

,

Oct 28, 2008

All Critics (14) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (3) | DVD (1)

Shadow Company provides a pretty thorough examination of the unknown soldiers doing a lot of the heavy lifting there, outside the conventional rules of warfare.

October 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | Comment
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Drawing a line between official and unofficial forces is irrelevant since both are paid with our taxes, Shadow Company throws light on that bottom line in the war on terror.

October 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
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Though it offers interesting stories, Shadow Company does feel a little scattered.

September 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
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Shadow Company is a lesson in how to get audiences who know little and care even less about the Iraq War to sit up and pay attention.

September 13, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
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There isn't as much exposé as you might expect in Shadow Company, but there's considerably more thoughtfulness.

July 6, 2007 Comment
New York Times
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Shadow Company attempts to provide a balanced view of a potentially polarizing issue, interviewing historians, security firm heads, war journalists, and former contractors themselves (the Army declined).

July 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Village Voice | Comment
Village Voice
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This documentary touching on both the historical evolution and contemporary phenomenon of mercenaries feels uncomfortably like a promotional campaign for private security firms, as they're more euphemistically termed.

September 27, 2007 Full Review | Comment
WBAI Web Radio

Should be seen by anyone who still romanticizes war, the troops, or the stated motives behind any sort of military conflict.

September 19, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

[A] fascinating, evenhanded documentary.

September 13, 2007 Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | Comment
L.A. Weekly

Contrary to the popular image of the gung-ho cowboy contractors, they can and do take into account ethical frameworks.

August 16, 2007 Full Review Source: PopMatters | Comment
PopMatters

If the film is engaged in some sort of screen spin regarding the dubious history of mercenaries, or a whitewashing of their activity in Iraq, the ongoing deplorable destruction and death visited upon that nation, on the contrary, speaks for itself.

July 19, 2007 Full Review | Comment
WBAI Web Radio

Beneficiado por entrevistados com vasta experiência em uma indústria pouco conhecida do público em geral, o documentário traça um retrato alarmante e informativo sobre a atividade de mercenários no Iraque e em outras regiões do planeta.

December 1, 2006 Comment
Cinema em Cena

A fascinating documentary, shining some needed light on the individuals who are called upon more and more to take fill in the gaps left by a diminished standing military.

March 21, 2006 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Shadow Company

"Shadow Company" is an eye-opening documentary about the history and current state of military contractors(or mercenaries, if you like) with a special emphasis on the Iraq War. For a start, this is nothing new which is how countries did business until the rise of the nation state in the 19th century, when soldiers

March 17, 2011
Harlequin68
Walter M.

Super Reviewer

A very well made documentary about the huge place private soldier are taking in modern warfare especially in Iraq.A good watch if you are interesting in what is happening in middle east.

December 17, 2011
jaremaiya
pierre yesaya keddy

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