Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding work, required viewing for military officers, April 15, 2006
Mike Shiley's film is a rich account made by a corageous US citizen, posing some of the best questions to date about the utility of lethal force and how to achieve the strategic aims in Iraq. This film puts most of US network war reporting to shame, and beats all of it hands down.
This should be required viewing in military academies and colleges.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful film, true to life and not biased., August 29, 2006
Mike Shiley is an adventure traveler and all around life enthusiast that has turned his passion into his life's work and mission - and that is obvious from the moment this film starts.
In Sept 2003 he got a flack jacket, faked a press pass, and against the advise of just about everyone he knew, hopped a plane to Iraq. From the moment he arrives he's in danger. Yet alone with only his camera and the essentials, he prevails and makes friends everywhere he goes.
He spent many months making his way through the country, talking with people, hearing their stories, and filming it all. He spent time with civilians, the Iraqi military and the US Military. Everywhere he went, he got gripping footage, opinions, and a slice of life as people saw it. It was extremely real and very sad. The outcome is AMAZING.
Places and people are shown as they are - it is the first footage I've seen where I could actually begin to comprehend how life has changed since the war began and see what impact its had on the people.
Above all, this film is about people. He did not politicize or show a skewed version of things. Just the facts - and in many ways these facts speak volumes that no mainstream media, military personnel, local Iraqi or political analyst could ever match alone.
I recommend it VERY HIGHLY. Buy it now if you want to see what is really happening in Iraq.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Media Reviews of Inside Iraq, December 20, 2005
Below are media and university reviews for Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories.
MEDIA REVIEWS
Those who are strongly for or against the Iraq war won't find their positions unequivocally supported by this film. Which is what makes it worth seeing.
The Portland Tribune
Shiley's film is an incredible guided tour of the Iraq that has yet to be adequately portrayed in mainstream American media. The result is an emotionally complex film that provides perspective on a complex reality that the government has worked to simplify, and the media has done little to clarify.
Willamette Week (Portland, OR)-Movie Review
It's a journey worth taking, but better him than you. He poked into things that journalists and others don't usually stop to examine, and he emerged with a highly personal travelogue that sheds a light on a complex and volatile situation.
The Oregonian Living Section
Shiley deserves credit for going to Iraq twice by himself (both times for a month) and trying to get stories he believes are worth showing.
San Francisco Chronicle
Shiley captures quite a lot of intriguing footage - and makes an important point about just how out of control the situation in Iraq has gotten..."
San Francisco Bay Guardian
What an amazing, powerful film and presentation. In essence, you provided us with a comprehensive behind the scenes tour, no snap-shot news reports, no "approved" footage, no political speak press conferences, just the simple and unfortunate reality that for everyone involved war is hell..
University of Wisconsin
Shiley's footage presented stories of survival amidst extreme strife, the human stories that are not seen for the very most part on the nightly news.
"...well attended and compelling..."
Purdue University
I think the questions you raised last night are part of the conversation we should all be having, and I think it is really admirable that you did the work to help us to have it. Keep it up!
Harvard Alumni Association
I applaud you for undertaking this difficult and creative work. I think this film has a future as an important source of information for citizens who are confused about the US 'project' in Iraq.
Reed College, Portland, OR
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