Product Details

• Actors: Reymond Amsalem, Ashraf Barhom
• Directors: Samuel Maoz
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
• DVD Release Date: January 18, 2011
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003Y5H5II
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,137 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Lebanon" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Israeli-born director and writer Samuel Maoz brings his own experience as a bewildered young soldier in the war in Lebanon in 1982 front and center in his unforgettable drama Lebanon. Maoz's visceral, deeply personal view of war is limited to the inside of a single tank, sent by Israel as part of the offensive against Lebanon. The entire view of the battle and the war experience is seen through the eyes of four young soldiers--superbly acted by Yoav Donat, Itay Tiran, Oshri Cohen, and Michael Moshonov--who are confined to the tank's tiny interior. Their vision of war is limited to what they can see through the tank's small periscope--which means that at times, their "battlefield" might be a yard of chickens, or a group of young children playing with laundry flapping in the background, or, suddenly and randomly, an ambush of Lebanese soldiers. The tension is palpable in Lebanon, and its intensity, and raw honesty, help it deliver an extremely personal view of war in its chaotic brutality. Lebanon is reminiscent of superior war films like The Story of G.I. Joe or Ran--but with the intimacy and persistent anxiety of films that also take place in small, confined places, like Apollo 13 or Das Boot. Yet Maoz and his brilliant cast deliver the deep ambivalence of war and human combat in a human, relatable way. And the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East make the messages and "sides" of the battles of Lebanon as fresh for modern viewers as for those who recall this particular war. Maoz's great skill is to take a subject as vast as war and scale it down to the most human--and therefore the most affecting--level possible. The tragedy, and gallows humor, of war are so effectively captured, that for the viewer it's almost like holding up a mirror to the human race--and mourning what is seen there. --A.T. Hurley

Product Description

In 1982, during the First Lebanon War, a tank manned by a novice crew of Israeli soldiers are led into a town previously bombed by the air force. Young men who have never fought before are now placed inside of a killing machine and thrown into a situation that quickly spins out of control, testing the mental toughness of the men inside of a confined space, with only the lens of a periscopic gun sight to see the madness outside. In Lebanon, writer-director Samuel Maoz has created a compelling, visceral drama in the tradition of Das Boot. Based on his personal experiences in the Israeli army, the film is as much a personal work of filmmaking as a triumph of powerful storytelling.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A descent into darkness January 20, 2011

By H. Franco

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Lebanon" is the last of a small crop of acclaimed Israeli war films that addresses the First Lebanese War of 1982. The first was "Beaufort", released in 2007, followed by "Waltz with Bashir" in 2008. Curiously the first of these movies, Beaufort, depicts the last chapter of the war that involves the precipitous Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon. Waltz with Bashir is an animated film mostly centered around the massacre of Palestinian refugees in the camp of Sabra and Shatila. Beaufort was honest, sad and difficult to watch due to the slow motion prevailing in the film. Waltz with Bashir is enthralling but morally murky for eventually placing almost the entirety of the culpability of the massacre on the actions of the Lebanese Phalanges. Lebanon, I feel, is by far the best of the three. It has a unique form of presenting its story. The movie alternates scenes of the inside of a tank with views through the gunsight of the gun turret. The four Israeli soldiers inside the combat vehicle experience the events of the first 24 hours of the war in a progressively deteriorating atmosphere, suffused with broken equipment, stench, filth and smoke. Through the gunsight, the audience can visualize the war in its total depravity. The movie does not preach, take sides or sanitize the insanity of combat. The horrific scenes of destruction of property, dead and dying civilians, and unending pain and suffering are only matched by the quick psychological deterioration of the soldiers. The tank crew is not in control of their fate or environment, and there is no attempt to create false heroism or glorify their actions. Samuel Maoz, the director, delivers an astonishing cinematic experience. It is difficult to make comments about this movie that will not involve spoilers. Lebanon certainly more than deserved the Golden Lion Award it received at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. So far, Hollywood has still to match the boldness and calculated delivery of this movie. One may need to understand the context of the never ending conflict between Israel and Lebanon to better appreciate Mr. Maoz's work. Lebanese movies about the Second Lebanese War such as "Beirut Diaries & 33 Days" and "Under the Bombs" are a good complement to "Lebanon" for those interested in this tragic confrontation. Lebanon is not a movie for those who believe that war provides acceptable solutions for political disputes. I wish without much hope that one day the leaders of these two creative nations will attain the insight, compassion and sensibility of their movie directors and bring an end to the hatred and destruction that still go on.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars The Worst War Film Ever Made December 18, 2012

By R. A Forczyk TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Despite what his bio says, it is clear that Israeli director Samuel Maoz has either never been inside a tank (it is claimed that he was a gunner in the June 1982 War) or has forgotten everything he ever saw inside one. The 2009 Israeli film Lebanon, about an Israeli tank crew on the first few days of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, is easily the worst war film ever made. It is multiple sins: it is completely unrealistic in important details, the characters are ridiculous and unsympathetic and is essentially built around a gimmick, rather than a story. The director's idea was clearly to capture the claustrophobia of tank warfare and the intensity of frontline action through a "gunner's eye" view of events. This is not a bad idea in itself, just horribly executed here. For starters, I have never seen a tanker (having been one myself) suffer from claustrophobia; exact opposite - "man, oh man, am I glad to have all this armor wrapped around me instead of being outside like the bloody infantry." Tankers love their tanks (exact when they are broken down), and do not treat them like garbage piles as depicted here. The film is also very anti-Israeli at its core, which explains why it was both blocked by the Government of Israel and given an award - for political reasons - in the Venice Film Festival. It was an awful choice.

To begin with, none of the film is actually filmed inside a real tank and the only hint as to what kind of vehicle it is supposed to represent appears in the last few seconds of the film - a brief exterior shot of a Centurion tank amidst a field of sunflowers. It is clear that the Israeli military provided no help in making this film (why would it? - it makes them look like thugs). It's hard to believe that this is the same country where the best tanker movie ever made - the Beast (1988) - was filmed. It is clear that the director made a tank interior set, which is about three times too large inside. In one scene of the drivers compartment, one can see that the "radio" is actually just a plate with dials attached to a wall. The director also seems to have forgotten from his military service that Israeli tankers wear CVC helmets and talk via intercoms - there is no way that the tank commander could direct the driver without it. The water and trash on the floor, the water dripping on the hull inside (from where?), ammunition lying on the floor of the turret basket - these are all horrible mistakes.

The film is essentially built around the gimmick of the "gunner's eye view," except the view doesn't look anything like a real gunner's primary sight (or 105-D secondary sight). The reticule has no numbers on it, so how would the gunner determine range. Most of the "sight pictures" are zoomed in to 100x mag, looking right at people's faces and even showing the hairs on their face. This is ridiculous. The gunner never scans for targets, but instead focuses on a picture, on a dead chicken, on a Seven-Up can. Folks, this is NOTHING like what a real tank gunner does or sees. It is pure fantasy. At times, the director seems to forget how "big" his tank is and we see it moving under low overhangs and other times he seems to forget that there is a main gun attached to his sight and that it can traverse so quickly or easily in a city street. The crew never gets out of the "tank" - again ridiculous - but other people are constantly coming inside as if it were a bus station. Israeli tank commanders are known for fighting "unbuttoned" so they have better situational awareness and can use their .50 cal machinegun against infantry. Operating buttoned up as in this film, would be suicidal. However, it is clear that the gimmick became essential when the Israeli Army refused to loan Maoz a real tank for his anti-war film.

As for the characters, the director chose the "small unit drama" format and employed the hackneyed formula of internal strife. Rather than a crew, the four men are portrayed as inmates in a small prison, constantly at each other's throats. The gunner - obviously a self portrait of Maoz himself - is a hysterical jerk who sees everything with wide-eyed astonishment. The anti-war sentiment of the film is ham-fisted and presents the hardly-unique notion that war is hell. I believe William T. Sherman said that already. Folks, this is not how a tank crew talks or functions - it is an anti-military caricature. In real combat, these guys would be dead very quickly. All in all, this film is an insult to the Israeli Army and tankers everywhere.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic and Stark March 28, 2011

By Thomas P. Noland

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This film offers a very graphic look at what war looks like close up. We view this reality through the eyes of an Israeli tank crew in Lebanon in 1982.

This shows the horrific violence that war wroughts upon people unfortunate enough to be a part of it. Very sad viewing.