Product Details

• Actors: Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Sunil Shetty, Sanjay Kapoor
• Directors: J.P. Dutta
• Writers: J.P. Dutta, O.P. Dutta
• Producers: Bindiya Goswami, Rajesh Bhatt
• Format: PAL
• Number of tapes: 1
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000171QUA

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars War...again, June 12, 2007

By 

Jeffrey S. Brunner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Loc Kargil (Line Of Control) (DVD)

I would have preferred to see more of Rani Mukherji and less of Sanjay Dutt in this one. If I were Indian perhaps I would have liked the film more as a result of patriotic attachment, but even though the film had a few exciting "action" scenes, most were predictable(if not inevitable). The strength of the film was in the interpersonal relationships, both between the soldiers themselves, and between the soldiers and their families. Like many Indian films, the tendency was toward representation rather than reality. I was disappointed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Could have been a great War Movie but sadly, it's not, November 15, 2010

By 

Kiwi (Mississauga, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Loc Kargil (Line Of Control) (DVD)

LOC Kargil is an Indian War Movie about the Kargil War with Pakistan. Back in 2003, it was billed as the most expensive Hindi movie ever made. And as well as the budget, it had great locations (the Himalayas) and a good collection of Indian "name" actors to work with. Sadly and disappointedly, it's a flop. And that was also the reaction of the Indian viewing public at the time. It could have been India's "Saving Private Ryan" or "Black Hawk Down" but alas, it's downright boring.

The basic storyline of this 4 hour film covers the Kargil sector near the LOC in 1999 when the Pakistani's crossed the LOC and penetrated deep into Indian territory (completely to the surprise of the Indian Govt and media at the time). It was an interesting and rather challenging war from the Indian perspective, especially given the logistics of fighting high in the Himalaya's, and one that the Indian Army responded to heroically. Pakistan initially denied any involvement, claiming the intruders were 'freedom fighters'. However it was very soon all to apparant that this was a lie and that the 'freedom fighters' were actually Pakistani Army soldiers that were deeply entrenched high up in the mountains on the Indian side of the demarcation line. I followed the war quite closely at the time and was interested in how this movie would portray it (obviously, I was hoping for an Indian version of "Saving Private Ryan" but alas.....). To read a bit of background on the war, I'd recommend starting with War at the Top of the World: The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet, Revised Edition for a general backgrounder, then diving in to Kargil 1999: Pakistan's Fourth War for Kashmir. Most of the other books available on the Kargil War are by Indian authors and strongly biased. These 2 are probably the best available for at least a general picture.

What's obvious from the books on the Kargil War is that the Indian Army, operating under an enormous disadvantages, in incredibly hostile terrain and against fanatical fighters displayed a level of committment, bravery, technical expertise and professionalism that resulted in a crushing defeat for the Pakistanis. So much so as to lead to Pakistan actually considering escalating the local, low-level conflict into an all out nuclear confrontation. And Bill Clinton then saved their sorry asses. Anyhow, there was the basis for an incredible film here.

So, there's the background. On to the Film. Overall, I think the main problem here is that while Bollywood is good at traditional Indian musicals, they just don't have any idea how to make a good war movie. I'd put it down to plain incompetence - after all, there's enough successful war movies out there that it should be possible for a professional director to figure it out.

Cons:
This is where we state, upfront, that the film sucks. The battle scenes are downright awful - corny, not just poorly done. There are long, pointless and (to the western ear anyhow) awful sounding songs. I know, I know, songs are traditional in Bollywood movies, but this is a WAR MOVIE. Do even Indian Soldiers do Bollywood musical routines in the middle of a war. I think Not! There's no apparant main storyline or even a good subplot or two that I could figure out (the subplots I could figure out were all cheesy romantic stuff) and the soldiers in the movie don't really achieve anything. For 4 hours, soldiers die over and over on the same mountain.
Basic synopsis of Plot: (1). Gather the troops and discuss the attack plan, (2) Flashbacks to the men's wives (3) The approach - troops marching in a long line (4) Soldiers running up Mountain and shooting, usually the first getting shot in the head then 3 other men rescuing him. (5) Defeat of the enemy and calling to base to tell of success (6) Flashback to wives and the singing of 10 minute songs. Repeat 4 or 5 times.
Apparantly the director worked without a script and it shows. There's no flow to the movie. There's no sense of progression from one battle to another. It's just one gunfight after the next with no connection to the overall scheme of the war. And the explanatory scenes are awful.

Pros:
There are LOTS of bullets and blood.
Many of the props including the uniforms, badges, weapons, artillery, helicopters etc etc were all authentic Indian Army equipment.
Thats about it for Pro's.

All in all, I really wanted to enjoy this movie. It's not as if there weren't all the ingredients for a good, if not great movie. Sadly, it sucked.