Customer Reviews

Hell and Back Again [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There have been a number of films made about men in combat and/or men returning home from conflict. Any documentary feature about our involvement in recent military events may have the tendency to turn the primary topic to political debate. That's fine as subject matter, but sometimes a more simplistic and candid approach can speak volumes louder than any pointed analysis or commentary. Danfung Dennis' intimate chronicle of one Marine unit's presence in Afghanistan places the focus exactly where it should be--on the soldiers. This is about as realistic a glimpse as you're likely to get at the realities of day to day existence in modern warfare. Photojournalist Danfung was embedded with Echo Company in a 2009 assault on Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan. As such, he was privy to film the everyday struggles pursuing the enemy faction while interacting with the locals. As you might expect, he documents a number of firefights, injuries and even casualties. But he also films many interaction with town elders about how to navigate a peaceful and respectful coexistence. Danfung's presence is never intrusive and his viewpoint really makes you understand the social climate the soldiers dealt with.

But far more than just an in-country document, Danfung crosscuts and juxtaposes the Afghanistan footage with the personal story of Sergeant Nathan Harris as he readjusts to home life after returning from Echo Company with a rather traumatic injury. For the most part, Harris is the voice of the piece. Danfung doesn't conduct typical interviews, the men in Afghanistan aren't explored in depth, and what we're left with is Harris. He represents the every man persona, or every soldier in this case. He is the consummate soldier, seeing nothing outside of being able to return to his duties. But seeing him work toward recuperation and deal with the aftermath of being in battle is a sometimes harrowing, sometimes uncomfortable portrait. Harris is both a noble figure and one permanently affected by his experiences and injuries. This psychological examination is all the more potent in that it has no particular agenda. It just puts a camera in front of Harris, and the film lets Harris speak for himself.

I really admired this piece and its extremely personal focus. There is no moralizing or political grandstanding or posturing. This is about every day life for soldiers at war and at home. Different viewers will likely take different things out of the movie. But it successfully conveys a reality and intimacy that distinguish it from the pack. It's a quiet film, a subtle one really, but in this apprach--it really gets under your skin in an affecting way. Not only is it a fantastic picture of the modern soldier, it is also terrific filmmaking. And that should also be noted and appreciated. I know this Sundance Award winner is on the shortlist for Oscar consideration as Best Documentary feature--I certainly hope it makes the cut. KGHarris, 12/11.

I never leave reviews on anything, But this time I had too. To Hell and Back Again gives you an inside look of what it is Like at War in Combat and the Hardships of Coming Home. I served as a Grunt in the Iraq War and am 27 Years Old. Watching this Documentary was like Watching myself, All Over Again. PTSD and Substance abuse is a Serious Matter and this Video Shows how Real It Is.

I saw this movie when it played at the Cincinnati Film Festival some 2-3 months ago and to say that this movie is haunting and stays with you long after the lights have come back on, is an understatement of the first order.

"Hell and Back Again" (88 min.) brngs a complicated and stark look at the life of 25 yr. old Sargent Nathan Harris. The movie shifts back and forth between footage that embedded director Danfung Dennis shot while Harris was in Afghanistan, and then back to Harris' life after the war in his home town in North Carolina. I am not spoiling much of the "plot" when I say that Harris suffers a serious (ok, devastating) injury during his time in Afghanistan. This movie is intimate yet tough as nails at the same time. Apart from the emotional effect one goes through from watching this footage, one of the other things that really struck me while watching some of the scenes in Afghanistan is the utter absurdity of it all. When trying to explain for the umpteenth time something to the farmers and villagers in Afghanistan, the exasperated response more often than not from them was "You're all the same! Please leave us alone! I wish the Taliban would also leave us alone! Why can't we simply live our lives?"

In all, this is quite the movie. Certainly one of the better documentaries I saw last year, and also one of the better Afghan/Iraqi war-related documentaries out there. Beware: this ain't a "happy" movie, and there is no "happy ending". Highly recommended!

I'm a big fan of documentary films and those that seem to deal with personal stories are usually my favorites. This story takes on the parallel journey of a man going from war back to home. It becomes apparent early on that each side of the story would play out side by side with the other. Just as each segment begins to build we are taken over to the other, showing the similarities. The journey of a soldier does not end when he returns home, as my grandfather could tell me. Instead the journey goes from a physical struggle to a mental struggle. What we see in this movie is that transition and how difficult it must be to try to adjust to war, then in turn try to adjust to home. I was really emotionally spent after watching this and anyone that has any interest in stories dealing with veterans (young or old) should give this a shot. I do recommend that you realize certain parts will be difficult to watch for some, but worthy of watching none the less.

This film was recently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, so I had high hopes for it. I was not disappointed. The film primarily follows one soldier, and it cuts between his time in Afghanistan and his return home after he sustains an injury in combat. Remarkably, even after his injury, this young man indicates that if possible he would love to return to the field and fight for his country again.

This documentary shows both the reality of war and the reality of a soldier's post-war life. There are some clever editing and sound techniques used by the filmmakers to suggest what the young man is thinking at various points during the documentary, and these moments are very effective. I would say that the film does not take sides politically, but that it presents an accurate depiction of war and allows the viewers to come to their conclusions - but the strong violence and disturbing imagery within the film obviously would lead most people to draw the conclusion that war should only be a last resort and should be avoided if at all possible.

As someone who is not very familiar with the military, I think it is important to see these types of documentaries from time to time. It reminds us of the sacrifice that our troops make in the name of freedom. It also gives us a more in-depth look at the situation, and goes far beyond what the traditional news media reports. Watching the soldiers interact with the local people was one of the most fascinating aspects of the documentary. These men face the difficult challenge of communicating with a population which does not speak English, and in most cases the locals do not want soldiers in their village.

I would recommend that you rent it first - for most, one viewing will be enough. But you should definitely watch this film, it is a great experience. If you do buy this blu-ray set, you also get a standard DVD of the film included as well.

Sergeant Nathan Harris's unit, Echo Company, is deployed behind enemy lines to secure the area. Danfung Dennis, a very skilled photojournalist, captures the essence of this deployment.

Brown sand, brown dust, brown clothing, nothing but dry barren brown. Add to that the people of Afghanistan whose village is being secured who do nothing but complain about Echo Company's attempt to help them and you have a bleak depressing understanding of what our soldiers are experiencing. At every turn the Afghan people seek to hinder the soldiers:

"Where did that man carrying a bag of explosives just now go?" "I did not see."

"Where did those three men who were armed just now head?" "I did not see."

The soldiers apologize for any damage done to the Afghan homes and crops and promise to make it right. Even that is met with simply, "Leave."

And then Sergeant Harris is suddenly back home to the screaming lights of WalMart, Walgreens, the hospital.

This is his story, the story of being in the midst of constant danger, camaraderie and respect from his men to get a job done; then severely wounded he is instantly just a young man in rehab trying to walk, trying to deal with pain, trying to get back to everyday American life. It is very tough.

Ashley, his wife, is a brave woman; day in and day out caring for Nathan, helping dress him, driving him to his medical appointments, being his mental support. It is a rough job.

This movie gives you the reality of the fact that regular people end up fighting this war in Afghanistan for a people who are not thankful. It made me think we should just bring our men home and save them from this hell. It is a thankless job and they deserve our respect.

(though not rated, this film has two scenes that are gruesome, the death of one of our men and the mutilated body of an Afghan man.)

Now this is a reality show: the real thing, the tedium of war, the tedium of slow recovery at home. I understand that these are life-and-death situations; but accustomed to the usual Hollywood attention span, I find this movie moves a tad too slowly as entertainment, and even too slowly to convey the relatively small amount of information it contains: war is hell and soldiers return home with PTSD--not exactly new news to spread over an hour-and-a-half view of the life of a not too terribly interesting Marine.

The film helps me, however, to get a deeper appreciation of war and of the men who fight and suffer, and the immediacy of the footage in both Afghanistan and North Carolina delivers these realities in a way that a quick recitation of the facts could never do. I am not convinced that getting this taste of tedium makes for a good movie, or even an excellent documentary; but those who have the patience to sit through these ninety minutes will be forever changed, even if only in a small way.

The film's strength certainly does not lie in its story, which is weak; however, there is a message, intended or not, which is that war should not be entered into lightly--hardly original, but worth repeating. The context here is Afghanistan, and throughout the movie the official reasoning for the conflict is repeated several times, as Marines explain to the Afghanis why the U. S. is there and why the villagers have to endure the suffering of being in a war zone. The latter acknowledge that they do not want the Taliban to take over, but they clearly aren't too happy about our being there either. The film presents these arguments sincerely, without taking sides, but it was hard for me not to feel that the justification rang a bit hollow--even though I have for the most part been in favor of this particular war--it still causes me to ask the question, "Is it worth it?"

The Blu-ray format contributed strongly to this viewer's appreciation of the film because this documentary's strong suit is how close it brings one into the life of this Marine; and the clarity of the video erases any fuzziness that might separate the viewer from the subject. I found it interesting that some of the segments, including battlefield footage, appear to have been transferred completely digitally to the Blu-ray. In order to be shown in most movie houses, the video would have had to have been transferred first to film; and I would have expected the completed film then to have been converted back to digital for the Blu-ray. Either the transfer to film and back again was extraordinarily transparent, or the producers took the trouble to re-edit the Blu-ray so as to eliminate film as an intermediate step (except for those segments in which film was probably the original source); and the result pays off in the immediacy to which I referred earlier.

I am glad that the videographer/producer included a bonus feature on how he used a DSLR camera/HD camcorder and very compact motion stabilization to provide such a close and clear look, even under fire, at the battlefield, where portability was an absolute requirement. He opted for manual focus and explains how that ended up being his main technical concern. As an amateur photographer and videographer myself, I enjoyed the bonus almost as much as the movie.

I see that this documentary has a lot of critical acclaim. To be frank, I don't think it deserves it, looking at it purely in terms of results. I have seen many a documentary, some of which one might expect to be as dull as dirt based on the subject or their academic origins, but which managed to tell a good story while educating and informing. Ideally, this film, dealing with inherently compelling material (the war in Afghanistan), should have done better; so I originally gave it only two stars; but I have been feeling guilty about that. The creator and director, Danfung Dennis, did, after all, risk his life making this; and it is certainly not a bad movie. Unfortunately, there is not an engaging story line, and it seemed very long, though only an hour and a half. It needed tighter editing, possibly cutting out as much as two-thirds. On the other hand, I am sure that the filmmaker and his editor cut a lot as it was, and who can blame him for wanting to retain such hard-won footage? In spite of its major faults, it provides a unique view of war and its effects, and is thus worth having.

'Hell and Back Again' will affect each viewer on an individual, very personal level. It's not a film that one would consider to be enjoyable or entertaining in the traditional sense, but it will be a film that you will be glad you watched. The story line is at times fascinating and educational, other times mundane and boring and still other times surprisingly insightful. Oddly enough what segments of the film you would designate to each of these three categories will vary largely dependent upon what you're looking for in a war story. Because the film moves back and forth from the Afghan battlefield to life back home in the USA the audiences personal preferences between these two aspects of the story will determine the rise and fall of ones interest level.

However what ties the film together is the interior processes operating within the soldier the film focuses on. His psychological journey is at the heart of 'Hell and Back Again'. It's not an easy journey and it's not always comfortable to watch. But it's an important journey and that's what ultimately holds the viewer to the end.

Lets start with the fact it is a hard film to watch, but well worth watching. That is the trouble with documentaries that focus on disturbing content, but this film hits it home with quality, dedication, and engrossing story.

Being a micro budget filmmaker I always look at films with a different perspective and this one is any back yard filmmakers dream in how to make a movie. While watching it amazed me of how the camera was right in the thick of it all. It really felt like you were there, within the war footage and the war he went through after he came home.

The Blu-ray quality was top notch in sound and visual, the commentary track is well worth a listen giving details of what he went through to get the footage. The extra on the DVD of Technical Gear Demo was a really nice feature showing how he modified the Cannon 5D to get the shots he got.

The story is tragic displaying actual war footage and the following of one soldiers return home and the healing and and suffering he is put through. Some of the scenes are very jarring. One taking place in battle and a fallen soldier is a very emotional moment in the film.

I would suggest to any gamers out there to eject their copy of Call Of Duty and gives this film a spin and see what was really going on.

Danfung Dennis has touchingly documented the high price our young Americans are paying in yet another war against us and the Western world- the fight against the Taliban- in his film Hell And Back Again. The film focuses on U.S. Marine Company Echo and what they had to face in southern Afghanistan in 2009. The main character is 25 year old Sergeant Nathan Harris, whose unit Echo Company is attacked from all sides, leaving him injured to return home.

We follow Sergeant Harris literally to hell and back again as the story moves us back and forth from the past in Afghanistan back to now in North Carolina. Harris' wife, Ashley seems to try and live what ever life they have here as normal as possible, coping the best she can with his injury. You will also see the Afghan farmers in the middle of this war, also trying to live a normal life, as bombs and gunfire are all around their homes and family. This film is extremely touching as you can see that those who survive the war, maybe didn't lose their life, but lost something else, perhaps physical, mental, emotional, spiritual or all four.

There are scenes that are so sad, as when Sergeant Harris is in WalMart and relates to an elderly person in a wheelchair- seeing a 25 year old and a senior citizen sharing a similar old life, is just heartbreaking. I saw all our young men drafted to Viet Nam in the sixties, and those lucky enough to came back home were just a shell of themselves. Some, like Sergeant Harris had a disability and a simple thing like putting on a sock was like climbing Mount Everest. There is something so wrong with man, that he chooses to aggress on others, after thousands of years, only to put innocent men in harms way leaving them either dead, disabled, or mentally or spiritually damaged.

I lost my 19 year old Uncle in WWII- he was trapped in a B-17 ball turret that crashed on a mission to Berlin. The B-17 landed on a German farm where the farmers stripped him of everything except for his dog tag and buried him in a wooded area. War has no respect for the living or the dead. Hell And Back Again makes me think of all the boys who didn't come home from Viet Nam and of my precious 19 year old Uncle, whose not returning home damaged my grandparents completely and left every one of our family members so sad that we never got to meet him. Hell And Back Again is a heart breaking film that makes me wish, that mankind could get it together, so we would never have any new war movies. But until that happens, Danfung Dennis helps us to remember what our young soldiers are going through today to protect our freedom through the eyes of America's finest and bravest who put themselves in harm's way for all of us.