Customer Reviews

Battle for Haditha

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This movie had a good location, the supporting cast was spot on, the feel was close to accurate, The Marines beside from the tactics, speech, execution of orders, and demeanor, was pretty close to accurate. The director did a good job of completely disrespecting , dishonoring and stereotyping the Marine corps These young men who raised their hand, swore an oath, took their bodies and minds to the breaking point, trained, studied and sacrificed everything without expectation of return are shown as ignorant mindless drones who know one thing to kill. If you believe that you are way off. These Marines mostly enlisted straight out of high school are intelligent, precise, highly skilled and dedicated, show a maturity and will very few will achieve in their entire life. These men take great responsibility and excel at any task dropped in their lap. It's easy to sit at a desk completely free of danger and pick apart a report of what happens in combat, I'm not condoning the actions of a few I'm saying when you take men and put them in a oven with poor living conditions, the threat of death, emotional and physical extremes, stress beyond the ability to relax for very long periods of time and forced to make decisions that have consequences for not only you but the brothers you love and would die for. Your emotions shut down, you desensitize to horrific events, and you dehumanize an enemy that is not clearly defined or distinguishable from civilians. Rest all of these things on very young men and then a comrade, your brothers, your family, your closest friend. The men you trust your life to is killed right in front of you... Unless you have been there saw these things and did these things you have no right to judge, condemn or even shake your head at these men. I'm not a marine but I am an OIF veteran who owes his life to a unit of Marines. God bless you

Based on a true story, The Battle For Haditha follows the events that transpired in Al Anbar province on the 19th November 2005. An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb.
From the opening scene it is clear that this is going to be a very ambiguous movie. We join the Marines in what appears to be a home movie, where they describe their feelings for war. The first stating that he is not sure why they are there and that his only goal is to get back home to his family. Contrast that with another Marines tale of being excited about being the `Ultimate hunting experience' and you may very well be looking at this generations version of Apocalypse Now.
The line that separate the traditional sense of good and evil continue to blur throughout the movie and you see how, as an Iraqi citizen, how speaking up can end with your life and that of your families in danger. This point is not lost on me with an early scene showing a dead body in the middle of the road that transpires to be the local English teacher. The man that would later lay the IED shows here he has no love for the insurgents either as Broomfield continues to smudge the lines.
In contrast the Marines are clear on their objectives but even the best trained and best equipped are still only men when everything is stripped down and after the roadside bomb is detonated Cpl Ramirez makes instant miscalls that results in what we now know was to happen.
Nick Broomfield adds to the confusion and destruction by dulling the background noise at various points after the explosion and during the resulting firefight. With this Nick manages to make a film which is not anti Muslim nor is it anti marines. It is just a story of two very different cultures, with two very different sets of procedures, prejudices and misconceptions that set them into those tragic few minutes. Preceding the events conditions in Haditha itself were known to have been deteriorating under militant rule, and attacks on U.S. troops as well as executions of suspected informants were common so the fact, as I said before, that the Iraqis were afraid to inform the Americans of the bomb as well as the Americans being more likely to shoot first and ask questions later are equally understandable.
The Battle For Haditha is a great movie and certainly up there with the other great war movies.

Clearly no subject matter expert was consulted in the making of this piece of garbage. Broomfield has NO CLUE about Marine Corps policy or protocol in combat operations. I am truly disgusted with this unreal portrayal of US Marines. Broomfield seems to think that any group of cussing aggressive young men can adequately portray Marines. Reality aside, the direction and dialogue are weak. This malicious propaganda is criminal.

Sure there are some bad stuff going on in war. FOr instance the taliban cuts the heads of it's captives. It's a death sentence to get captured by the insurgents in iraq too. Although the u.s. isn't a active combatant. But what's gross about this movie is that the idiots who made it made up a fictional massacre. We have real incidents that happened with a few soldiers for sure. Like the few that were killing afgan civilians for fun, but that was three men and this tries to sell that the situation is forgone conclusion for anyone in combat. Not so, bad apples happen but to come up with this movie during a war and make up a even worse slaughter than ever happened over there is criminal during wartime. They could have done abu grab which was sick although noone died, or the few cases of actual slaughtering that has happened but nope they made this up and it's wrong.
because like 'the generals daughter' they claim it's true. at least other antiwar movies usually don't claim this and that's ok. this was just wrong.

The fact that some veteran marines rate this film very highly and others rate it badly reminds me that in wartime each soldier and each marine experiences a different war. It depends on where you are and when you were there and how you saw things at the time. In war it's usually not so easy to say these are the good guys and those are the bad guys. It's a lot more complicated than that. What happened in Haditha is well documented. Not all soldiers and marines in Iraq have experienced the same thing. It's unfair to blame the film maker for showing us what happened in one place at one time in Iraq. If you want to blame someone, blame the Bush Administration for putting these marines and soldier in harm's way in the first place. If the military is going to tried these men for murder, George Bush should also be tried as an accessory before the fact.

I can't believe some of the reviews in here stating how unfair this film was in relation to the United States Marines. The film documents a real incident where many innocent lives were taken in apparent reprisal for the roadside bombing death/injury of several soldiers. The civilians, insurgents and marines are all given fair screentime to explain their actions and are presented in a very down to earth and realistic manner. I don't believe i have ever seen a war film take such an impartial stance before which is where the real power of this story lies. Because sides aren't taken we can make up our own minds as to the guilt of the characters involved. The real perpetrator however is war itself where motives and human nature become darkened to such a degree that this type of thing occurs. This film really highlights how different cultures and attitudes towards life and war itself clash and can cause such despair for the people caught up amongst it.

Note: Real Ex Marines portray the american characters here and give some very interesting insights into how they approached the storyline and acting process in a behind the scenes feature also contained on the disc. In relation to the people saying how disrespectful and unrealistic this film is i really don't understand this considering people who were actually there participated and assisted in the making of this film and give it their approval.

I'm going to stress the positives. The film comes as close to being a "you are there" experience as I've had in viewing war films. The pseudo-documentary approach, while not original in such matters, is done with expertise. And there is no film I'm aware of that penetrates the reality of the other side, be it civilians or insurgents, any better than this one. The incident itself was a tragedy, but certainly not one that besmirches the Marine Corps nor one that should just be ignored as another incident of war. But it is a reality of Iraq, like it or not.

Not being a former Marine (I was in the Navy), I won't take up the discussion about how real they are in the film. However, this is
a wonderfully constructed and technically excellent film. Which moves forward inexorably towards the tragedy without diminishing the humanity at play, be it in the Marines or in the civilians. Anyway, this is a very good war film, among the best at actually treating
its subject matter.