In 2006, a company of American soldiers finds themselves pinned down against unsurmountable odds while serving in Iraq. While moving through occupied territory, all hell breaks loose with an attack pinning down our heroes, forcing them to take matters into their own hands as they await backup and a potential evacuation from a battle-torn war zone.
It seems like modern warfare movies are a dime a dozen, with several coming out each year. It seems like many of these are by-the-book approaches with the same generic Hollywood approach we see each and every time one gets made. This film, simply entitled WARFARE, was something I was ready to pass of as yet another “War in the Middle East” movie, but I became fascinated upon learning that it was written entirely from firsthand experiences from soldiers who served, with one of the actual soldiers even serving as co-director. Stripped down to the bare basics with no unnecessary padding or subplots, WARFARE shattered expectations and certainly won over this moviegoer. It’s one of the best modern warfare films I’ve ever seen.
WARFARE is like no other war film I’ve ever seen because it never, at any point, feels like an overplotted, overwritten, and overdone Hollywood production. There are no scenes of solders away from the battlefield spending time with spouses and kids. No phone calls, letters, or video chats home. No unnecessary side characters or tertiary subplots that add nothing to the final product. Put simply, if the movie didn’t need it, WARFARE ditches it. The movie only clocks in at 96 minutes, yet tells a full and involving story, stripping things down to the battlefield actions of a platoon of troops in Iraq. This film clearly lacks any unnecessary Hollywood interference or treatment, and bless the production crew for that.
Where WARFARE most succeeds is giving audiences one of the most realistic depictions of Middle Eastern battlefield conditions that American soldiers have to face. The film is not a mindless bloodbath, and there are even many quieter portions of the movie to build suspense, which do feature some banter between the soldiers to the point you’d believe these guys really served with each other and built a camaraderie. So that when the inevitable conflict arrives, there’s a stark contrast between the “loud and quiet” parts of the movie. Nothing here is sugar coated. When the war arrives, it’s dirty, it’s violent, and it’s disorienting. WARFARE is a master class in war filmmaking, largely because the movie is the product of the men who lived it. And the actors recruited to play them from an extensive ensemble cast all do a superb job.
If you want a war story with romanticized conflicts, stories of soldiers’ love and family lives, and a story that has a definitive happy ending, WARFARE isn’t for you. On the other hand, if you want one of the most realistic and gritty war films that puts you right on the front lines with no compromises or unnecessary Hollywood elements, WARFARE is top tier. Easily one of the best modern war films I’ve ever seen, this one gets my highest recommendation. But be warned, it earns its R rating for violence, so this one’s definitely not for the squeamish.