American Soldiers

After reading a few reviews, I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that the hummers and trucks seemed indestructible, unless the plot needed them on foot.

Also, any notice that this was sort of like a bad G.I. Joe episode, where no one hits anything with any weapon (RPGs included), but the bad guys retreat after one scrapes a knee? I couldn't give this movie an out-and-out 1 out of 10, because I at least saw that they were trying to give political open-minded discussion about whether being there was right or wrong (the Iraq prisoner's point of view, the fact that some in the squad knew at least why the Iraqis MIGHT be upset at the US for being there, etc.), but personally, these were completely overshadowed by how saintlike each solider was made out to be. Bad soldiers? Yup, because just emptying clips is a better solution then aiming each shot - let your MG be your sniper! Also, never SEEN a worse knife fight in my life. Bad shots? Definitely - unless they are using their side arm or their own RPG. But I could get over all these things, but what I couldn't was the bloody "buck up, little solider" speeches every 20 minutes. I swear, if I heard another "you guys are the best soldiers I've ever been with" or "we're here for each other and nothing else matters" speech again from anyone in the squad, I probably would have thrown something at the TV.

Want to see an actual modern war movie? See Black Hawk Down.

After spotting this in the Video Store, I thought I'd check this flick out. After 20 minutes, I had realised I had made a major mistake. This movie is extremely pathetic. I don't know what the makers were thinking, but it looked like a amateur home video with actors just plucked off the street. The acting was poor and the plot is just horrible. It seemed like that ideas were just made up as the movie went along. The director seemed like he had no clue on making this movie.

After half an hour of wasted time, I had to stop the movie. This atrocity was just too much for me.

Don't even look at the cover of the movie, don't even consider hiring it, just keep looking elsewhere for better entertainment.

1/10.

look I'm an IRAQI, and i lived in Iraq during the worst years of the war 2003-2007 so i know more than most people here about the reality of the movie. it is completely unrealistic. insurgents almost never attack with more than 3 vehicles and if there was a street fight, the us military would definitely lose it. what counts for the us military in Iraq is the aerial support which didn't exist in this movie. As for the funny RPGs, IEDs and car bombs, they were just ridiculous. do you know if a car bomb explodes 100 meters away from you, the wave will probably fly you for at least 10 meters and shreds or whatever its called will kill you. OK, time to tell you why i kinda liked some parts. first the sites. almost all war movies about Iraq are just plain ignorant show Iraq as a big desert with evil looking people. this one was a lot more accurate in terms of people their accent (although some was Syrian not Iraqi) and also the geography. i liked the fact that one soldier mentioned that 9/11 and WMDs had nothing to do with Iraq. a lot of ignorants still believe the opposite despite the proofs. also i liked how the Iraqi prisoner told the story of how he turned into an insurgent. it was the case of many Iraqi fighters who have lost everything because of the us military. the movie in general is very unreal but you know the few good points that i mentioned make up for the fictional part.

After spending 22 years in the Army, after serving in several different regions of the world in many different capacities, this is by FAR the worst and most UNREALISTIC war movie EVER. There is no plot, there is no acting. The dialogue insults the viewer and the actors. The equipment and tactics displayed by the "good guys" and "bad guys" whichever side you're on, aren't even as realistic as in fantasy films, like "Lord of the Rings" or cartoons like "Bambi." I have seen anti-war and pro-war movies and propaganda. I enjoy watching independent films, but this was utter tripe. The only redeeming feature of this wasted effort is that it was actually less than 90 minutes. It was only 87 minutes long, and I don't think I could have lasted the last three.

Sidney J. Furie ("Superman IV", "Iron Eagle") hasn't made a good movie in his nearly five decades in the director's chair, and he wasn't about to start with "American Soldiers."

It's not that this film had zero potential. The short-lived TV series "Over There" proved that a dramatized look at the ongoing Iraq conflict could be entertaining and real without crossing an uncomfortable line with men and women still dying on the frontlines. But stunningly clichéd dialog dogs "American Soldiers" from the opening sequence. There's the prisoner meet who is only too happy to share his evil plans for the future with his American enemies, reminiscent of something out of an old superhero cartoon. There's the forced "why are we here?" discussion. And who could forget the soldiers who offer some timely advice before dying, a crucial component of unimaginative movies.

The acting is no better. I can usually handle a sub-par performance here and there, but these guys are so bad it detracts from whatever enjoyment may have been possible. Instead of being sucked into the story, you find yourself wondering if this was the best Central Casting could do. The actors aren't helped by the aforementioned dialog; in fact, you really get the sense that they know how terrible their lines are as they reluctantly recite them.

The Furie staple of senseless violence (remember "Iron Eagle"?) is omnipresent here as well. The pattern is detectable within 10 minutes: clichéd dialog, horrible acting, big, fiery explosions, repeat. Of course things blowing up is a part of war, but Furie uses it as a misguided means to liven things up rather than portray the brutality of conflict and its impact on GIs. There are moments where you'll swear this film's target audience is violence-obsessed adolescent boys (again, remember "Iron Eagle"?).

But enough about the negative. No one expects a direct-to-DVD film from Sid Furie to be a masterpiece. The truth is, "American Soldiers" does not deserve to be in the IMDb's bottom 100, where sits as of this writing. Trust me, there have been much, much worse. "American Soldiers" even has a few decent moments once you're willing to forgive its shortcomings. But depending on your viewing habits, that's a big if.