Valley of Tears

Really well told drama about the Yom Kippur War on the Syrian front. A lot of the narrative elements were gossip among veterans after the war and good to see on the screen. Action filled while the plot is strong. Easy to see how Israel's leaders were heavily criticized for lack of preparation, when Israel fought for her life in yet another war.

Can't wait to see more episodes, especially about Egyptian front on the Sinai, where my dad served!

Do NOT watch the dubbed version, it's terribly done.

Watch it in the original hebrew with english subtitles.

Yes, some characters are initially whiny and crybabies but what people fail to understand is that they are intelligence soldiers who didn't have a minute of combat training and were caught in that situation.

The acting and script were on point.

The only downside for me was the political correctness: No girl was in a combat zone in the north but somehow they stuck that in the script because they just "had to", that was a pity.

Insane emphasis was put on realism when creating the series and the detailing and the realism goes down to the most minute details.

Real masterpiece

Let's get the negatives out of the way first.

Yes, the geek kid is extremely annoying. But his character does experience growth. So there's that. Also, the guy playing Caspi over acts as well.

As to people moaning about bad dubbing, why are you watching a dubbed version? NEVER watch dubbed versions of anything. On Netflix, in particular, every show that is dubbed is awful. Great shows like "Money Heist" and "Babylon Berlin" sound like high school productions if you watch them dubbed. And, yes, there is both a dubbed version and an original language version available of "Valley of Tears" on HBO Max. So, stop complaining if you're not watching with subtitles.

But, all that aside, this is a pretty mesmerizing show. It really sucks you into the moment in time. Many of the details are accurate depictions of the chaos and noise, fear and horror of war. No, not everyone marches into battle like John Wayne or leads troops expertly like George Patton. I appreciate the reality of it all. Together with "1917," these are two of the best anti-war films in a long time. And, yes, pretty much all war films are anti-war films.

So grateful to have something decent again to watch, even if most of us know the plot is well documented. There are one or two details to which they could have paid more attention, but these should not really bother you. This was meant to be the trap that would push the state of Israel into the Sea, but it just goes to show that when people are fighting for their cilivization how much they can pull together, bury common differences and use the gifts and special circumstances prescribed to them to overturn the odds. If you insist on poking the bear, be prepared for the consequences.

For me as a citizen of Ukraine - a state that is fighting against aggression of Russia right now - it's very impressive story. As well as a good illustration of the words of Golda Meir (who was born in Kyiv): "They say we must be dead. And we say we want to be alive. Between life and death, I don't know of a compromise".

Also a realistic view on the chaos of war where you can see an ordinary peaceful life with music and relaxing people in towns while there are tanks fighting just several kilometers away.