Customer Reviews

Peacekeepers [VHS]

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

 

 

I saw this program on Canadian public television 5 years ago and have been trying to find a North American region DVD of this ever since. This is a top quality BBC production that follows a regiment of British soldiers serving as United Nations Peacekeeper during the Bosnian Civil War. Staring three actors who are now stars in the USA, Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers) Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic 4, Forsyth Saga) and Matthew Macfadyen (Pride and Prejudice, MI-5) this TV Drama not only explores the complexity of the mission, but also the soldiers frustration with being bystanders to a ugly and protracted mess. The War is captured for what it was, grim and horrific. But this program never stoops to cliché. It is raw and passionate in its portrayal of the grim reality the soldier had to endure and the worse grim reality that the Bosnian civilians endured as well. But the dramatic payoff happens when the soldiers return home to confused parents, unsympathetic wives, ignorant civilians and their own torment at leaving people to die. This program is not for the faint at heart and this is probably why it has never been released in North America. It is all too real. A scene at a UN supervised prisoner exchange in which a British soldier climbs into a dump truck full of corpses looking for one person that the Serb soldiers claim is alive is heart breaking and hard to watch. And the soldier's reaction to it is far more realistic and long lasting then you can imagine. The programs final moments remind us that those who you thought were bearing the pain the best, were in fact not. There silence and calmness were hiding a tremendous amount of doubt and sorrow. It is an ending that you will never forget. This program is a good bookend to the movie "Welcome to Sarajevo". I served in Bosnia at the same time as this program portrays. I can assure you that what you see in this program is all too realistic.
Please release this program in North America. It deserves to be seen.

There isn't much I can add to the reviews already posted. This film cries out for a cinematic release and a wider audience. I can understand why it hasn't been released in the USA. There are no happy endings here, only stark and unrelieved horror. This is not a film for the squeamish; I watched it first in 2000 when it was shown on the ABC here in Australia and some of the images have stayed with me to this day. The cast are brilliant, no lesser praise would do them justice. In some ways this film needs to be endured rather than watched. It is shocking and heartbreaking and a marvellous example of British Drama at its very best. No one else seems to do this like the BBC. Quite brilliant.

This is a very powerful film indeed. Not recommended for the faint of heart. But for those of you who are not afraid to have your eyes opened, I highly recommend it.
After reading Brian Cooke's review (a very accurate review,and I can't do any better), I made the effort to track down a copy of this. It's a little hard to get, so I ended up with a Netherlands(region 2)copy. Some of the dialogue is a bit hard to catch, since subtitles are in Dutch. There are parts where you get no English dialogue and only subtitles. A bit of a drawback, but nothing that can't be coped with. Perseverence brings great rewards. I wondered at the emotional state of the actors after turning out such superb performances. Not having seen a movie of this kind before, I was highly moved, and very impressed. I feel that I have been provided with an important and educating experience. Why oh why do human beings do this to one another? And the toll extends much further than we know. Stories like these must be told. If you are wavering on your decision to source a copy of this, decide in the affirmative right now. You won't regret it. Let your heart break a little. You will be changed by the experience.

I, too, saw this excellent two-part series on PBS in San Francisco, years ago. War dramas do not get any better than this. Please release it on DVD in the USA/Canada.

An outstanding telemovie about British peacekeepers trying to rescue victims of ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. Not only a deeply moving story about the impact of war on soldier-peacekeepers, but startlingly prescient in its casting -- some of the biggest British stars of cinema were featured here long before they were household names. Definitely deserving of its DVD release.

This is top notch drama that is disturbingly close to reality. It is not for the faint-hearted, but if you want something that captures what it was like to be there you should watch this. Having worked with the UN (and closely with British soldiers) in the former Yugoslavia in 1993, I can say that I was transported back there. It was like having a flashback. Excellent production all round.

This is a movie about what was going on in 1992 in Bosnia. It is about a couple of british UN soldiers, send over there to "keep the peace", and thinking that they will be "there and back" in no time.

Soon, they find out that they are "locked", unable to "do" anything, regardless of all the injustice and carnage around them, because they are with the UN - just to "keep the peace - and don't get involved".

This movie will stay with you for a long time. You just HAVE TO WATCH IT ! GREAT performances by Matthew Macfadyen, Ioan Gruffudd and Damian Lewis.

I purchased this DVD from the Netherland and I wish that Amazon in the US would offer it !