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Reviews Counted:64
Fresh:63
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.9/10
Consensus: Candid, eye-opening footage gives viewers a close-up -- and educational -- look at the experiences of American soldiers in Iraq, a viewpoint not normally seen.
Theatrical Release:Jun 2, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: Straight from the front lines in Iraq, THE WAR TAPES is the first war movie filmed by soldiers themselves. Funnier, spicier, and more gut wrenching than news reports, this is Operation Iraqi... [More]
Director: Deborah Scranton
The scenes could be straight out of "The Deer Hunter." What's sobering is that there's nothing fictional or even exaggerated about "The War Tapes." And this likely won't be the last documentary we see about lives changed by the conflict.
A remarkable film, a you-are-there document that allows us to worry about the soldier who's risking his life even as we ponder the rights and wrongs of this military engagement.
Top CriticAs raw and disturbing as it is wry and satirical, the resulting portrait is a powerfully unique film that goes beyond commenting on Operation Iraqi Freedom to become a provocative meditation on war itself.
For The War Tapes, Scranton supplied mini-DV cameras to several soldiers and asked them to record as much as they could of their year in Iraq, even if it meant attaching the equipment to helmets and gun-sights and just letting the tape roll.
When it's over, you're not any closer to understanding the war. What stays with you are three sobering and complicated examples of its effect on the troops.
Top CriticClick to read the article
What's here speaks for itself, and what it says is often surprising and deeply unsettling, regardless of one's political leanings.
You'll leave the theater shaken, moved, and certain of just one thing: you don't know nearly as much about Iraq as you think you do, or need to.
Moriarty, Pink and Bazzi sent back tape loaded with visual and audio detail, but the most moving moments of The War Tapes are their attempts to make sense of Operation Iraqi Freedom II.
A fascinating chronicle of wartime, told by several distinct and vivid narrators.
Top CriticThis eye-opening documentary about the Iraq war was filmed primarily by National Guardsman during their tour of duty.
The director has managed to shape real people's lives into a drama, without imposing ideological filters, and without sacrificing what makes them real.
Intentionally or not, the movie locates a strain of ignorance to go along with the bravery
It's definitely a bipartisan film, one that may open the eyes of those that have chosen one side or another.
More powerful and effective than any Hollywood war movie could ever hope to be.
A true original, the first look at the U.S.-Iraq war from cameras embedded with the soldiers in the field.
Repeatedly hits us in the gut with the realities of war and might even make us re-evaluate our perceptions about the men who fight it.
Director Deborah Scranton, co-producer and editor Steve James and co-producer Robert May managed to assemble the immense footage into a taut, often searing 97 minutes.
Top CriticThe film is one of the most urgent and immediate nonfiction works we may ever see.
Top CriticA powerfully distressing film.
Top Critic
July 24, 2007:
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June 01, 2006:
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