Restrepo 2010

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: At this point in all our Middle Eastern conflicts, we need more from a documentary than just a grunts-eye-view of the frustrating nature of the war. Read more

Michael Phillips, At the Movies: It's the best thing I've seen in a long time. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Restrepo is, on its own terms, a stunning piece of work, but to get even more from it you should buy Junger's book, WAR, which expands on the footage we see. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: This movie will stir your heart and open your mind. It's a group portrait of practicing patriots. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: Try as it might to keep its distance from opinion and focus on the facts, Restrepo can't help leaving you with a sense of despair about the situation in Afghanistan. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: The combat footage Junger and Hetherington got for Restrepo is unlike anything ever seen in a documentary; it's raw, relentless, and made all the more unsettling because neither the soldiers nor the audience can see who's doing the shooting. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The reaction of a soldier to the death of another - unvarnished, disbelieving grief so raw it's difficult to watch - is among the most moving footage of war and its cost imaginable. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: It's an essential record not only of the Afghanistan conflict but of men in battle Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The relative formlessness of Restrepo is, in itself, a kind of dramatic structure. It reflects the stop-start waywardness of war in general, and of this war in particular. Read more

Preston Jones, Dallas Morning News: By keeping the focus solely upon the outpost and the soldiers who lived and fought there, the co-directors effectively seal the film off from any external influence. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: In hewing closely to the rhythms of war, Junger and Hetherington forgo different considerations about war. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A look at both the tragic folly of war and the camaraderie of men under pressure, the documentary Restrepo holds both hope and horror. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: It's doubtful you'll ever see a combat documentary that channels the chaos of war as thoroughly as this one. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Just how close the filmmakers were to the action, and the risks they took with the project, filter into virtually every scene. We hear the bullets whizzing past, breaking branches in nearby trees. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Restrepo avoids political discussion. It just revels in the heroism of these impossibly young, brave soldiers who follow orders that at times seem pointless because following them is what their country has asked them to do. Read more

New York Daily News: Places audiences into the same groggy but frazzled rhythm as its combatants. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A gut-wrenching, politically neutral documentary that spends more than a year with a platoon of American GIs in a valley that's been called the most dangerous spot on Earth. Read more

Sara Vilkomerson, New York Observer: A documentary so real and unflinching (and at times deeply frightening) that it's hard to watch, but it is one of those film experiences that you'll feel glad about getting through. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: In their just-the-facts approach, the filmmakers neither pass judgment on the platoon's mission nor comment on U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. In the filmmakers' eyes, the men came, they saw, they didn't conquer; they do reflect. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This is hard, hard duty. A 15-month tour. Our admiration for these men grows. Their jobs seem beyond conceiving. I cannot imagine a civilian thinking he could perform them. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: What we see is explosive, deeply moving and impossible to shake. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: A riveting, you-are-there, deployment to a godforsaken place where United States troops are pinned down by enemy fire almost every day... Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The filmmakers call Restrepo an experimental film; and in this case, the experiment wasn't entirely successful, but it was definitely worth making. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: After the recent avalanche of pundit-filled advocacy documentaries about health care, failing schools and environmental collapse, it's a bracing experience to be trusted to think for oneself. Read more

Joe Holleman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The directors were satisfied with telling us about a group of courageous, honorable young soldiers -- a salute these men richly deserve. Read more

Jason Anderson, Toronto Star: Though Hetherington and Junger's film doesn't ultimately have anything new to say about the nature of war, it will nonetheless have a strong impact on those of us fortunate enough to have experienced combat only in its motion-picture form. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: The camera lingers on the soldiers' smiles and tears and shows the human face of military tactics which reduce people to chess pieces. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Getting to the end of this battalion's tour is a tense, unnerving experience, divorced from a conventional arc and immune from even the most cliched comments: A soldier calls being under fire "like crack," and you nod vigorously. Read more

John Anderson, Variety: Despite its remarkably intimate footage of war and loss, Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's documentary suffers from the same problem as the ongoing U.S. drama in Afghanistan: a lack of narrative coherence. Read more

Ella Taylor, Village Voice: The warrior drama unfolds organically, without artificial suspense. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Read more