Soldiers in wartime are people with a job. Albeit a far more dangerous job that most of us will have. The movie unfortunately dips into a few moments of pathos, but the central point remains clear - these are not monsters, nor either are they heroes. Instead they are something we only find in the real world but yearn to tell about with narrative tools accostumed to fiction. These are people, and they are never treated as anything else.

En fantastisk ærlig skildring af de danske soldaters indsats i Afghanistan, og deres refleksioner heraf.

An incredible look into the life as a soldier today - extremely atmospheric and moving, with incredible photography, quiet moments and restrained direction throughout.

Fears and strengths of these young danish men, dealing with both violent action missions and villager's contact, receive a powerful approach from Metz. But the most interesting thing here is the quality of the footage: instead of the expected hand-held, fragmented doc -- something close to news coverage --, the director films the war zone with real talent, giving us not just a register, but a ravishing real life drama.

So this is what modern warfare looks like in reality. A lot of waiting in uncertainty, watching porn and walking around Helmand doing pretty much nothing. Plus the occational infight with the invisible enemy. 'Armadillo' is raw, intense and bold filmmaking, but never truly shocking nor surprising. War is cruel and utterly meaningless - well, I didn't really expect anything less.

I feel this documentary perfectly encapsulates the Afghanistan war. From the experiences of the soldiers to dealing with villagers to distinguishing between good guys and bad guys all the way to judgment in the heat of battle. It runs the gamut on topics, and makes you ponder your own opinions on these soldiers and their mission.

Definitely worth a visit to the movie theatre, like so many Danes have done during these first 3-4 weeks in distribution, where it's been a clear national #1. It's well deserved that this is the doc to break fiction's dominans, because it's honest and neutral, allthough it's describing things that you cannot NOT have an opinion about. Should be school material as well, to show kids how fucked up modern warfare is and spare our future generations from this meaningless throwing away of human life.

This documentary needs balls. Having balls in filmmaking is today confused with not taking a stand.

Amazing peek into the world of war.

Really interesting movie. I think this in a lot of ways is a great companion piece to Restrepo because they focus on the same thing using different perspectives and I feel, have a drastically varied tone.

"Janus Metz's project is certain to prove far more revelatory to his fellow countrymen than it will when it makes its stateside debut." - Andrew Schenker

Nothing really surprising or shocking, but well-made and evenhanded portrait of the war and the soldiers. Very good.

Fantastic - wish that all documentary filmmakers would treat their subjects with same care, sympathy/antipathy as Janus Metz..

It has the gloss of a "Hollywood" productions, credit to the high quality of portable film making equipment, but its not make-believe. But for the uniforms and language these guys could pass for Canadians. Patrols interrupted by an IED, bullets whip overhead, frightened silence from a soldier shot through the shoulder. It's as interesting as Restrepo but shows just as much the apparent pointlessness of the whole mess in Afghanistan. Worth a view if you want to see what our troops are up to.

More propaganda than a real look at the war in Afghanistan, kids who dont have a clue what side thier breads buttered, sent off to war. You see the bright young innocent faces at the start turn to tired confused and disturbed shells when they arrive home. Yet at the end it announces that most are going to return. I also couldnt help but notice that the camera was kept away from the scene of the blantant execution of the injured taliban. Number 1 rule of the documentary, show the truth.

Well-made doc with revealing footage, shedding some light about life as a soldier. Engaging.