The Patrol

This is a triumph of British cinema, giving an account of a war which has come to embody the West's reaction to terrorism. An army patrol with no understanding of their mission, overcome by the futility of their orders and betrayed by their politicians - an embodiment not just of our forces' presence in Afghanistan but of the nation as a whole. An ever constant threat, an enemy never seen, and the boredom of military life - this is a tough act to pull off in cinema and retain the audience, but The Patrol succeeds by virtue of its honest approach. We empathise with the individual cast members and this makes the conclusion all the more gut wrenching. Any war film which doesn't follow the "gung ho" line will have its detractors, especially when depicting current conflicts with such brutal honesty. The Patrol deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible.

I could rant for ages about the bad reviews but to name a few. Firstly if your not British how can you say what its like as a british soldier in afghanistan, secondly the muppet who said it was more nam than stan and that hos mates had a great time in afghanistan well i ask you this , losing a mate infront of you, what is great about that? What a muppet. Clearly all the bad reviews are from people who have never served a day in the forces or they sat in an office all day and pretend to friends and family they were Rambo and The closest they probably ever got was call of duty or the cadets. 1 review even says that the sa80 is brilliant. Not so when this film was set. Nor was the soldiers equipment. I served 21 Years before a medical discharge 3 tours of Afghan, Bosnia, Kosovo and NI. For the low budget it was made on i found it good. A refreshing change from seeing some hollywood star looking pretty with a rifle that never jams and has everlasting rounds. The sound is pretty damn good. The acting pretty good and they do pass as soldiers., but give me this over Hollywood any day. The scenery is realistic and beautifully shot I think they done a great job and should get together for another. Oh and for the record a happy soldier is a moaning soldier. In all I say give this film a chance and don't listen to idiots who think call of duty is what war is about.

As I just said on Allo Ciné French website a few minutes ago, when you choose to watch a war movie, you also have to choose between realism and spectacular pop corn entertainment. Both don't fit together. Because realism - reality connection - may be more boring, more atrocious and more crazy and unbelievable than the usual large audiences movies schemes, with the good guys vs the bad guys, the love story and the "they remained happy ever after " crap. Here in this film, you have nothing of this. The soldiers who fight in Afghanistan are not TRANSFORMERS or RAMBO characters every day. Please, watch this film as a documentary like movie, so close to reality that it will deceive many silly viewers who expected a Michael Bay like flick with one hundred million dollars budget. The main problem with film critics, is that the people confound objectivity with subjectivity. Because if a movie doesn't square with the idea they had of this feature before seeing it, if that doesn't fit, they will say the film is a crap. And this jeopardizes the idea that the film may have on large potential audiences who read those prick critics as if it was the Bible. So, yes, that's a very good movie, so far it's the first picture from the director, an ex soldier himself, with a tiny budget and unknown actors.

I saw this film at the Raindance Film Festival in London and was literally blown away: The sheer simplicity of the story layered with as convincingly portrayed combat scenes you are likely to see anywhere in the movies, with a strong underlying message that underscores the futility of armed combat. By the end of the movie you see half a dozen British soldier trudging through the sand and you wonder what act of political madness sent these good men on a mission of futility.

The fact that a Brit has launched his feature film career with a movie of this ambition is, quite frankly, awesome.

Also of note: Was Nominated for a British Independent Film Award

Tom Petch's gripping and intelligent 2013 British war action drama film The Patrol is set in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2006, and looks at the Afghan conflict through the eyes of dazed and scared British soldiers.

It is highly recommended, though right now it has an unfairly low vote on the IMDb.

It won the jury prize for Film of the Festival - Feature at the Raindance Film Festival 2013.

The cast are Owain Arthur as Taff, Nicholas Beveney as Sergeant 'Sol' Campbell, Daniel Fraser as Lieutenant Jonathan Bradshaw, Alex McNally as Ginge, Oliver Mott as Stab, Ben Righton as Captain William Richardson, and Nav Sidhu as Smudge.