Drones

This modern military drama reminded me of By Dawn's Early Light and Lebanon. In all three, we watch a military crew in charge of a combat vehicle who have some serious decisions to make based on limited evidence. The consequences for not using deadly force could be just as disastrous as using it, to potential casualties and also to the careers and even the freedom of the actors involved. In all 3 films, we are limited to only seeing and knowing what the people in the bomber, the tank, or in this case the drone control shed can see and hear. The atmosphere becomes ever more intense as the consequences of their choices become less and less possible to avoid. There are some technical shortcomings to the film, such as background music that often overpowers the actors' voices. I was still quite impressed with the plausibility of the situation, even if the exact circumstances of the setting are an extreme example of brinkmanship and interpersonal conflict that could most likely only appear in a script. The dialog is authentic enough to pass muster. There are no obvious plot holes, and both characters seem to be trying their very best to do the right thing ethically while considering the awful, irreversibly life altering consequences of being wrong. Worth seeing and worth thinking about, because war is always messy and soldiers will always have to make life and death decisions based on disturbingly incomplete knowledge.

Overall I enjoyed this film. It's got a good feel to it in terms of suspense.

Unfortunately, it's also a load of crap. There are no shortage of movies out there that were created for the sole purpose of making a political point. Some of them are even pretty good. But in order to make a good point, it's important to argue from a standpoint of reality.

This movie steps aside from reality to make the assertion that the U.S. military cares not a lick for civilian casualties. They quite literally state it in plain English, they even go as far as saying that the rules of engagement support the execution of positively identified non-combatants.

Do I really need to explain that this assertion is really just ridiculous in the extreme? I'm sure many here will defend this movie by saying we've done our share of civilian killing. While this is unhappily true, I will retort back to you that it did not happen like this. This particular example is really a stretch.

Aside from their open disdain for the U.S. military, the writers make use of just about every philosophical and ethical argument for and against the use of drones. Is it really fair to wage war by pushing buttons? Is any sort of collateral civilian damage acceptable? Especially if we know about it ahead of time? Are we making asses of ourselves by using drones? Just how much obeisance are our soldiers required to give? Is there any heroism or shame left in our way of combat? And if so, is there any glory left in being a soldier? These are important questions that our new way of combat is forcing us to come to grips with. This movie would be a good one for class discussion, or to list the concerns involving drones for research and investigation.

I applaud the makers for artfully and seamlessly making use of each ethical dilemma in their story.

I also applaud the actors. In a movie like this, which can only be described as a psychological thriller, acting is the most important quality of the film. A range of emotions and believable characterizations are required, and both of our lead actors played the parts very well in my opinion.

Despite that, I'm giving the film a score of only 7. I feel that the writers could have come up with a more believable reaction to the scenario. The reaction of the upper brass in particular just seemed unreal. Also, as I said before, this film reeks of open disdain for the military. It's OK to hate the military, but don't expect that your movie will be good if you let those feelings pour into your work. If you want to promote philosophical discussion, you need to remain objective. Otherwise, your work becomes propaganda instead.

i watched this movie thinking o itll get better but no it does not get better 2 people sit in a trailer the ENTIRE MOVIE the cover is not anything similar to what actually happens got this from redbox and no doubt out of the tons of movies I've seen its the worst anybody could have made this movie in their bedroom it was 45 of my life that ill never get back what a waste of money and time i went out of my way to make an account just to give u guys a headsup that this movieis a hysterical failure when this movie suddenly ended and went to credits i turned to my brother and we bothed laughed in shock of how bad the movie was

There might be admittedly a deeper message in this movie - but the way it is presented (cover etc) one might wait for an action/war movie.

Instead your getting a discussion between two very dull characters sitting in a container, watching a video screen - in feature length. Under pretense of coolness the actors try (and fail) to transport any kind of feeling/reaction.

No action whatsoever, this seems to be some kind of no-budget movie which isn't even very ambitious. The storyline is so predictable that one could stop watching after 10 minutes without missing anything.

If I had watched this in cinema, I would have left after half an hour.

First - Never judge a book by it's cover.. how true.. Cover show combat soldier with drones above his head.. no combat, no ground soldiers, no drones shown... just two Air Force Soldiers in a Box...

This was suspenseful if one is to believe that even the low standards of some recruiters, that two people with no military fiber, discipline to even common sense would be place in a position requiring quick action and understanding of mission.

The only thing I can think of is that this story was written by someone with no military history in his life. This made the scenario, hopefully, very unrealistic. Saying that; the suspense was fairly good if these two idiots would carry out the mission...

NOT AN ACTION MOVIE as the DVD/Blu-Ray cover shows... just a suspense drama... as such, about half marks 4.5 to 5 stars..