Product Details

• Actors: Matthew Knoll, Elliot Ruiz, Eric Mehalacopoulos, Nathan De La Cruz, Andrew McLaren
• Directors: Nick Broomfield
• Writers: Nick Broomfield, Anna Telford, Marc Hoeferlin
• Producers: Anna Telford, Barney Broomfield, Charles Finch, Donall McCusker
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: December 30, 2008
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001FRNB9Y
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,702 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Battle for Haditha" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

BATTLE FOR HADITHA - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A powerful film, October 30, 2008

By 

Justin (Quantico, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle for Haditha (DVD)

Before I begin my review I'm going to give you all my biases up front - I'm a Marine and I served one tour in Anbar Province in 2007 with a rifle company. Many of my seniors served in the Haditha area and told many-a-tale about that awful place. Having gotten that out of the way, I really wanted to like this movie from the get-go. It obviously draws its inspiration from one of my favorite films, the Gillo Pontecorvo classic "The Battle of Algiers - Criterion Collection", where many of the characters (including the screenwriter) were insurgents in the conflict rather than professional actors. I've been pretty disgusted with the Iraq films and TV shows that have come out over the past few years. Shooting in the California desert with a bunch of Mexicans dressed up like Arabs is never going to cut the mustard. Iraq has its own look and feel, and the Iraqis have their own style, even compared to the rest of the Arab world.

So I was really excited when I read that "The Battle of Haditha" was shot in Jordan, which is about as close to Anbar as you can get without crossing the border, and used real Iraqis and former-US military personnel. I also liked that Broomfield let them ad-lib most of their lines, giving them a feel of authenticity that no scriptwriter ever can. Broomfield definitely sets standards that every subsequent Iraq film is going to have to live up to. I also liked the controversial topic - there's a reason counterinsurgencies are called "dirty wars" and the Iraqis definitely do a great job portraying the mixed loyalties and emotions of many Iraqis as they seek to make some sense out of what was - for many Sunnis - an occupation.

Unfortunately, the movie's portrayal of the Marine Corps runs into a brick wall that nearly sinks the whole picture. While I enjoyed Elliot Ruiz's haunted squad leader, none of the other characters looked or sounded like real Marines. In fact, many of them seemed to be acting out popular stereotypes of Marines based on recruiting commercials and "Full Metal Jacket" or "Jarhead", which is almost nothing like what they really are. With the exception of Ruiz, there was almost no character development among the Marines, no explanation of how an infantry unit operates (which is crucial to understanding why the Haditha killings played out the way they did). Broomfield also falls into the trap of using actors in their mid-to-late twenties to portray a bunch of kids fresh out of high school. One of the guys I went to Iraq with was born in 1989 and was 12 years old when 9/11 happened.

Speaking from my experience, the Marines in "The Battle of Haditha" look like a third-rate Iraqi Army unit fresh out of boot camp. They do not know how to: hold their weapons, conduct mounted or dismounted patrols, clear a room, tactically question Iraqis, maintain cover and concealment, return fire, or conduct a squad attack on the enemy. If such things don't concern you, then disregard what I've said, but this is a point of professional pride for me and I really wish Broomfield had been able to get a bunch of real grunts for his actors. When I tried to get my company to watch this as a training film, the other Marines honed right in on this problem and were worried that some of our new-joins would get the wrong impression of how to behave in a combat zone.

Maybe I'm the last person who should be reviewing this - maybe this film was made to explain what Iraq is like to people who have never been there. If that's your opinion, go see it. But it was not made for Iraq veterans. If that's what you want to see, I recommend the HBO "Generation Kill" series, which gets more of the technical details right.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The only Iraq movie worth a damn, August 15, 2008

By 

John A. Rehfeld "Don't Ask Me, I'm Just the M... - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battle for Haditha [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ] (DVD)

I am an Army combat veteran of the Iraq War, and this is the only movie about the war that I've been able to stomach for more than thirty minutes. As a veteran, it is tough to watch simply for the closeness of the situation. The actors do a phenomonal job of portraying American troops in a tough situation, and the direction is fantastic. It is a poignant reminder of what we've gone through in Iraq. For me, the most difficult part to watch is the IED strike. Having survived more than one, I will vouch for the frightening realism of it. The sound of the blast, the dust cloud, the lack of a dramatic hollywood fireball. It gave me chills. I could almost feel the concussion from the blast.

If you are interested in watching a movie about the war, this is the only one I would recommend. The way the marines in the film act is a little over the top sometimes (although most marines I've met are a little over-enthusiastic), but overall it is a good representation of our thoughts, feelings, and fears. I would wholeheartedly recommend this film for any civilian who wants to gain a better insight into what the Iraq War actually looks like.

5.0 out of 5 stars There are no winners in war., January 11, 2012

By 

California Couple - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle for Haditha (DVD)

One of the best war movies I have ever seen. And you're going to hate it.

You are going to hate it because it's so real. You don't even realize you are watching a movie. It's like you are watching a documentary. The actors are so believable, especially the Iraqi's, that you are just pulled in to what is going to happen. And you know it isn't going to be good.

This is the My Lai of a new generation. None of this would have happened if the civilians had told the Americans what was going on. But they did not, because they were scared.

There are no winners in war.

Oh sure it was good back in Napoleons day, when men were braver than they were smart, and you knew the enemy was the guy across the field from you, and he deserved to die before he killed you.

But now days, gorilla warfare is for cowards. Cowards and those smart enough to stay alive. The line between enemy and innocent is no longer known. And Innocent people pay the price with their life. Soldiers doing their job, whether right or wrong, are caught up in a clusterpuck beyond their ability to make good. Murder in war, it's a fine line, since war is just government approved murder.

Several reviewers are acting like this is just an anti-American movie. It's not. The Marines were shown as no worse than the insurgents who ran away leaving women and children to die in their place. As they said, they would have killed those families themselves if they had told the Americans about the bomb. Nobody's perfect. Certainly not twenty year old men sent halfway around the world who are trainned to kill and then put into a no win situation. Deal with it. This event happened.

What this movie really shows is that war sucks, and it's never going to get any better.