Search - Redacted on DVD

Do you hate the movie or the truth?

M. Himed | Oakland | 03/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Before I get into details about this movie, let me just ask the question; What would you want to do to someone who gang-raped your daughter or sister, shot her in the head and then burned her body?

About the director; He is the same guy who directed Scarface, one of the best movies of all time. He is also not someone who has an agenda like some of you have suggested.

About the acting; Its not an oscar worthy performances, but its real. If they were any better, the movie would be BS.

About the movie; If you cant stand this movie, maybe you cant stand the truth. It is based on a true story. One girl, Abeer Qassim, was gang raped, shot in the head, set on fire while her parents were in another room and were also shot and burned to death. This is one incident. Can anyone assure me that something like it did not happen somewhere else in Iraq. Can you guarantee me that no other 14 year old girl was gang raped and killed by US soldiers. I give so much credit to the director because he had the testicular fortitude to let the people get a taste of what our brave troops are doing. Dont get me wrong, not all our troops are rapists or killers. But how many get drunk and end up raping girls or women or go out to waste some ragheads? We need to understand one thing from this movie and it is that some people become terrorists because they have no other choice. With actions like Abu Grhaib, Haditha or other massacres of innocent people or the raping of little girls, there will always be new terrorists. 9-11 does not justify the raping of little girls in Iraq nor does it justify putting 85,000 Iraqi civilians in body bags according to Iraqbodycount. We need to reevaluate our policies toward the Middle East for the next 100 years if we really want to live in Peace. Invading Iraq, Syria, or whoever is on the US hit list will only create more terrorists. Occupying a nation of people will always result in the madness we see such as the recent murders in Jerusalem by Palestinian gunmen. There is no justification for murdering innocent people, but we cant be blind and not look at the whole picture. We need to be smart and we need to do what is right and get the hell out of Iraq no matter what happens there. I hear the excuse that their will be a civil war if the troops leave. The civil war was kicked off the minute US soldiers stepped on Iraqi soil. The bleeding has not stopped since.

The soldier in the last part of the movie when he was being interrogated said something I think is worth repeating.

"I didn't want to be a part of it, I didn't want to see it, Why dont you believe me!" This made me wonder about how many "its" get put under the rug to save face and keep our presence in Iraq justified.

Please google The Al-Mahmudiyah killings and see how accurate this movie is to what really happened in 2006."

Bad Actors Pretending to Be Soldiers

E. J. Smith | Bloomfield, MI USA | 03/09/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I rented this movie after reading a fairly animated op-ed piece in The Guardian regarding the dispute after the movie's release. Being one for truth and dissent, I thought I'd give this movie its fair shake.

To begin with, I am aware of the incident that the movie depicts. I understand the goal of this movie and what Brian De Palma intended to accomplish by releasing it. However, pontification aside, the movie must be reviewed on its cinematic merit and not simply because it is intended to be a message delivering vehicle no matter how noble the intentions of the director.

Several reviewers have already nailed it: if you're looking for an exposé of the Mahmoudiya incident or of the overall wisdom of George W. Bush's Iraq escapade, I respectfully suggest you look elsewhere. The very much underrated television series Over There (13 Episodes) or perhaps Thomas Ricks' book Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq or George Packer's book The Assassins' Gate : America in Iraq are better starting points.

While De Palma captures the feel of Iraq - the grittiness of the terrain, the harshness of the conditions, and the gulf that exists between the ideal of the American mission in Iraq and the reality of those who have been sent there to carry it out, sitting through the movie, I couldn't get past the agonizingly cartoonish portrayal of the American soldiers. Their comments and actions fall into every cliché and stereotype that one could imagine.

Beyond the cartoonish depictions of the soldiers, situations are presented that simply are not realistic. An Al Jazeera-type news crew embedded with an American platoon as it conducts a house-to-house search that sets the foundation for the later tragedy. Drunken soldiers conspiring to commit murder while being videotaped by a fellow soldier. This list goes on.

"Over-acting", "bad acting", "bad directing," call it what you will but the depiction of the American soldiers and the events surrounding the Mahmoudiyah incident are simply not believable.

The most ridiculous line from the movie, supposedly an off-the-cuff, extemporaneous remark made by the movie's protagonist unknowingly while on camera: "A Band of Brothers, losing their moral compass and trying to reap vengeance on a fifteen year-old girl." Despite the gravity moment I actually found myself laughing at the absurdity of this statement given the context within which it was made.

There's a message here, most definitely. The Mahmoudiya incident that the movie depicts was horrific. Iraq remains an American tragedy. Unfortunately, both the lesser and greater messages have been delivered credibly elsewhere. One star."

Flawed and biased, but relevant.

WiltDurkey | Vancouver, BC Canada | 05/12/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First, I object to the depiction of soldiers in the movie. Well, not the soldiers that are in the movie, but rather the ones offscreen. The vast majority of US soldiers are honorably doing a very dangerous job, with enemies who are constantly trying to provoke them to treat Iraqis badly. Those soldiers are NOT shown in Redacted and there is no reminder whatsoever that the psychopaths depicted are an aberration. That all said, the murders depicted did happen and there was no way to dress it up to make the US look good.

Most reviewers are focussed on the movie's primary subject - the rape and murders. This is Casualties of War v2.

To me, the more important point is made earlier on, as you watch the squad on checkpoint duty. It is a miserable position to be in, to be constantly at risk, at the hands of unseen enemies, in an alien country where you don't speak the language. The soldiers are shown to have lost most of their empathy for the Iraqis, and I am not sure you can blame them. You can't blame the non-insurgent Iraqis either, both are suffering. But what exactly is the visible difference between an insurgent and a civilian Iraqi? Darn hard to tell, from the point of view of the soldiers, that's the problem.

Re. the murders: out of 5 soldiers, 2 are psychos, 1 happily films them and the rest don't do a thing about it. Very nuanced, Mr. De Palma. The soldier who gets decapitated later is conveniently the cameraman. In the real incident in Iraq, an innocent soldier was kidnapped and decapitated, but he wasn't even in the same unit. Not a subtle difference, so why couldn't De Palma be honest about it?

So, why 3 stars? Well, 2 would be more to my taste, because of the anti-military bias. However, there have been way too many Iraqi civilian deaths, because of insufficient restraint on the use of deadly force (never mind that inter-ethnic violence kills more Iraqis, that's not what al Quaeda propaganda is going to focus on).

That seems to be changing, but movies like Redacted, despite its flaws, are a needed wakeup call nevertheless. Especially when a Vice President can condone Gestapo-era torture methods and keep his job. You can't win these wars without restraint but the troops are also constantly being put in a position where hesitation can get them killed. A very difficult problem. The price of getting it wrong? Vietnam, Chechnya, Algeria, etc...

To the troops: take care, be safe, be honorable. To Iraqis: may you find peace."

DePalma's Awesome Anti-War Statement...

R. A. Bean | knoxville, tn usa | 11/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you have read any of my other reviews, you'll see that I am a very huge fan of Brian DePalma's. I love every film he has ever made! But, don't let that distract from my opinion of this film. It's a film like this that makes me favor his work so much. Yes, there are some very scathing reviews of this film on here (and all over the web), but there are some really glowing one's as well; and, rightly so!
First off, this is NOT a 'war film', but an 'anti-war' film. Yes, Brian had the b*lls to make a statement declaring how awful this whole war mess in Iraq really is. And, the results are magnificent. This is possibly the most powerful piece of anti-war propaganda since Kubrick's "Paths of Glory", and/or DePalma's own "Hi, Mom!". Comparable in plot to his film "Casualties of War", DePalma used the 'raped-girl-murdered-family' theme here to symbolize the whole brutality and senselessness that is war. And, the whole 'raping of a nation' that it encompasses.
This is not just a film to make you feel proud to be an American, but to make you feel glad to celebrate the fact that there is some Human decency still left in some of us. Yes, there are criticisms about the acting in this...Wow, some people just don't have a clue! The acting in this is spot on perfect! It is not a 'Hollywood-piece-of-crap' saturated with such generic quality that makes me wanna barf. This is supposed to come across as reality, and it does!
Brian utilizes film techniques that he hasn't done since the radical days of the 1960's, when he was more of a guerrilla style filmmaker. Forget the 'Hitchcock borrower' style he so often utilizes. Yes, the film is glossy, beautiful to behold, and has magnificent cinematography, but the underlying theme is gritty and very ugly: The Truth!!! He incorporates so many techniques and styles in this, that it is pure dizzying, just like the chaotic world of the h*ll these guys are in. Using You-tube blogs, camcorders, documentary style footage, and straight out powerhouse filmmaking, DePalma has crafted possibly the best film in his entire career.
For all the 'Bill O'Reilley's' of the world, this is not a film for small minded people like you. No, this is a film for us that hate war, detest the violence and brutality and 'rape' that it induces on us, and desire to live in peace, harmony, and love between all of the nations; NOT just one. We are all under God, not just the U.S..
The final montage of photo's is so powerful, it would take a robot not to be moved by the very haunting images on the screen. And, don't even get me started on just how awesome the whole 'bar-coming-home' scene is! This is an emotionally charged film that will leave some people weeping unabashedly, and rightfully so. No shame in that!
One of my favorite scenes is of a girl posting a You-tube blog, stating just how morose and barbaric war and machosism is. Don't let small-minded Bush-loving idiotic people cloud your judgement of this film (for most of them haven't even seen it, and if they did, they just don't understand its wonderful message), for this is such a awesome piece of filmmaking that it received a 15 minute standing ovation at its Venice premiere. The Cannes festival gave it top honors as well. O'Reilley called DePalma "The Devil" (ha-ha-ha) for making this, some have even gone as far as to call him anti-American, but most intelligent critics are declaring (like I am) this to be one of the best anti-war statements in the history of film.
This is not Hollywood, baby...This is a reflection of real life!
Hope this review is helpful to whoever reads it, and hope you enjoy the film! In the meantime, let's just hope that we don't all end up getting 'redacted' on what we want to voice as our opinion, especailly when it comes to this atrocious war (Vietnam Part 2).
Thank you & Peace out! ;-)"