War Movie So Brutal, Viewers Can’t Stomach It!

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It’s not a requirement to have personally experienced war to create an outstanding war film. Directors like Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and Stanley Kubrick, who never fought in wars, still managed to create enduring films about the horrors of combat. However, it can be argued that a filmmaker’s perspective carries more weight when they’ve been through the trials of war themselves, as was the case with Sam Fuller. He used his own World War II diaries as inspiration for his powerful and grim 1951 Korean War film, “The Steel Helmet.” Those who have served in the military and survived combat often choose not to share their experiences. Thus, the stories of those who do, like Fuller, hold significant value.

Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza has collaborated with director Alex Garland, known for movies like “Civil War” and “Ex Machina”, on a new project titled “Warfare”. Both of them have co-written and co-directed this film. In November 2006, during a dangerous reconnaissance mission in Ramadi province, Iraq, Mendoza was part of a Navy SEAL team. A tragic incident occurred when al-Qaeda forces hurled a grenade into their midst, injuring two SEALs. One of the injured SEALs was sniper and medic Elliott Miller (portrayed in the film by Cosmo Jarvis). Miller sustained severe wounds, along with another SEAL (Joseph Quinn), when an IED detonated outside the building as they were being evacuated.

Warfare narrates a gripping account of their rescue in real-time, with the movie’s long, leisurely shots creating an atmosphere of constant tension and pauses. Viewers with sensitive constitutions should prepare themselves for the intense experience that is Warfare. Despite the camera work being relatively subtle, one’s imagination easily fills in any gruesome details that are left unseen by the eye.

If a film manages to be both refined and harsh simultaneously, this one certainly achieves that balance. The lingering smoke from an exploded grenade fills the scene with a soft, rosy haze; sunbeams, like polka dots, filter through holes in a battered door caused by gunfire. Mendoza and his comrades (portrayed by a talented ensemble of young actors such as D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Charles Melton, and Will Poulter) reconstruct the narrative based on their recollections of that fateful day. Miller claims to have no memory of the events, and Mendoza has stated that he intended the film to serve as a “living photograph” for him, a tribute to everything he experienced but cannot remember.

* War films often focus on developing distinct characters, but “Warfare” takes a unique approach. While we grow close to each young character’s face, their names and specific roles become less clear. The film aims to convey that if one of them falls, the others feel it deeply, bound together by an unbroken connection. For those who have gained insight into military life through films and TV, it can be disconcerting: as we age, these characters seem increasingly youthful. They are the men and women our nation sends to war, with a less-than-stellar history of post-war care. It’s heart-wrenching to contemplate the real soldiers portrayed by the young actors in “Warfare,” now middle-aged. In today’s climate that seems to favor reduced benefits for veterans and understaffed facilities, one wonders how well they will be cared for in the future. This is the reality of going through war – there’s no such thing as a hero’s welcome.

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2025-04-11 15:07