I thought it was interesting seeing both the intense combat scenes and the soldiers blowing off steam afterword. It's not really an all-encompassing film about the war, but it's a fascinating look into how the mostly very young soldiers deal with extreme stress.

Quite impressive and dramatic in terms of true emotions and sincere feelings. The most important question is left unanswered: what exactly are Americans doing in Afghanistan?

it's a great effort by the filmmakers, and the some parts of the result is impressive. But still it lacks of originality.

Their unsentimental portraits of platoon life match harsh deployment to fast, gentle camaraderie.

Surprisingly non preachy and it doesn't hit us over the head with absurd patriotic imagery either. Accurately reflects life in the infantry and the difficulties in conducting a war fought with insurgents. The documentary deserved another hour to its running time. It's unfortunate that the focus was only on a few soldiers giving the interviews. It seems that there were many interesting personalities in that platoon especially if you've read the book by Junger.

An excellent film following one platoon serving in Afghanistan. The film offers a good picture of the camaraderie built out of mutual uncertainty and dependence. It also reveals the raw truths about what life on the front lines looks like. There's a certain sense of futility to the whole mission--we never get a good look at the enemy--that raises questions in my mind about the mission overall. That said, the real strength of the film is its ability to capture a human portrait of these men.

88.000

I love direct cinema, and Restrepo is well and fairly made. I cannot say I connected with the characters or really felt educated, but if you have any interest in the ground level of our current conflicts and want a personal introduction, this is a good choice.

Am in the process of rewatching 'Carrier' and wanted to see another type of documentary about the armed forces and I picked the right one. Good doc.

Interesting photography but not very interesting as a film. Much of it is centred around the loss and remembrance of one soldier, but we never get to know the soldier beyond a bit early on that in retrospect seems forced in. In terms of emotional impact and thrills, Restrepo fails in comparison to something like Armadillo. That said, at it's worst, it's a film crew following people on an incredibly interesting job.

Whatever this film lacks in narrative focus it makes up for in incredibly haunting and chaotic imagery. Simply put, this kind of on-the-ground first person perspective of the war in Afghanistan is absolutely necessary to see. Not to sound preachy, but we should have some clue of what we're asking our nation's bravest to do. What does it seem like they're doing? Not sure, but it looks like they're taking taking enemy fire on a daily basis while the overall Afghan situation stays much the same.

An excellent military documentary. If you've never served in the military, this will give you a good idea of the tedium and stress and fear and courage that every day demands of you.

Harrowing Afghan War doc provides You Are There footage that steadily reveals the mad life of the solider --tedium interspersed with intense adrenaline inejections in the form of fire fights. Soldiering is almost like heroin.

Considering the amount of documentaries and films on this subject, this one stands out as one of the best. Excluding one or two differences and the occasional use of talking heads, the creators seemed to have taken a page out of Frederick Wiseman's work, no voiceover, no non-diegetic music and other tools of documentaries, and let the subject talk for itself, creating a film where showing the complexities of the conflict is far more important than whether the war was right or not.

Really great documentary about the Afghan war that isn't skewed by political views.

What a nightmare place, but you do see that it's not ALL depressing and that people can still have a laugh in a shitty situation. Still this doc lacked something, but I don't know what

Undoubtedly the best war movie of this generation (so far.) It is by far the best exhibit that I've ever seen of the kind of small scale diplomacy soldiers in Afghanistan (and Iraq) are forced to perform. We get the impression that maybe the Americans are being taken advantage of by the locals, (the cow incident,) but we can't know for sure. We get the Americans trying their best to explain why civilians are dying, but the Afghans clearly aren't buying it. God, such a good movie.

Damn this is one hell of a good documentary

The greatest irony is that this is a documentary that actually portrays US servicemen overseas in a more flattering light than "Generation Kill". The second greatest irony is that this is a movie that has all the virtues of a "real" war movie, and has more of them than most of the fiction films do. There's humor, brutally honest observations about the nature of men at war, and lots of exciting you- are-there combat footage of our soldiers giving the what-for to the Taliban

Frustrating as all hell in ways that I can't really blame the filmmakers for, because even its myopic scope seems intentional. I wonder if this is a documentary that will actually change some minds about this shit or is just preaching to the choirs on both sides.

While conventional and predictable in its shape -- the interviews are unnecessary --, this is still a fierce and quite well-documented report bravely shot from the dangerous Korengal Valley. Despite its many light and funny moments -- there is a nervous tone in all of them, though --, this is actually a both exciting and painful take on war at its grimmest.

Lacks something that makes it stand from the pack. The circumstance isn't all that hard hitting either. Just okay.

"Despite being a moving reminder to support our troops, Restrepo cannot help but be "Exhibit A" in the case against the unwinnable 'War on Terror.'"

Tedious, unfocused and absolutely brilliant. Like war itself, you cannot maintain expectations, danger could be lurking anywhere, and the only thing keeping you together is whoever is beside you at that moment.

These last few years almost every nation that is in some kind of conflict made a film about 'brave soldiers stationed in one of the most dangerous outposts in the world'. Of course this is different because it is real. I still feel the urge to complain about poorly written, flat characters. Then again, it only shows that intelligent people find a way not to kill or die for stupid or vague reasons. Props to filmmakers for putting themselves into harms way, but it wasn't worthy.

Unreal. Tim Hetherington & Sebastian Junger have some big ass balls. Was refreshing to see a doc about this subject that wasn't skewed to make you think one way or the other, just showed you what was happening and let you make your own decisions. The worst part about everything is that what they are doing is basically pointless and my god Afghanis are some stupid backwards idiots, no wonder your country is an armpit.

I don't know what the aim of this doc was, but if making the soldiers involved look shambolic and immature was on the remit it works a treat. Some real drama in flashes, but it's never taken by the scruff of the neck by the director or editor. Yeah it's a horrible job and rather them in that situation than me, but the guys just got on my nerves. They might not be bad people but they're stupid, mouthy and unprofessional: if anyone has to get shot at for a living I'm glad it's blokes like this.

A close up look at a group of soldiers fighting for the intangible. Still feels a little detached for having such access.

Another great doc about the war in Afghanistan. Similar to the danish Armadillo, this one solely focus on the soldiers stationed there and doesnt intercut with news stories or information about the general war. There is a huge difference in the area where the two films take place and that reflects on the outcome. Armadillo raises debate on how stationed soldiers kill Talibans, while this one is a more action packed doc about hard working soldiers in a somewhat meaningless war! Recommendable!

While some of the this documentary's content is interesting its lack of editorial commentary leads to a surprisingly sterile experience. The film can only really be interpreted in the context of its viewers existing understanding of the conflict in Afghanistan, as it studiously avoids conclusions. While I appreciate being invited to think for myself I would have preferred the film take a position and passionately connect the events that it is depicting to the larger conflict.

"Hetherington and Junger's fair-minded chronicling of military experience remains a valuable piece of filmmaking, perhaps essential in reminding us of what warfare extracts from those who fight it." - Matthew Connolly

Offers some interesting moments you'd never catch on a news report, but at the same time sort of just drifts along without really offering the viewer any useful or unique insights. I would have liked to see more interaction with the local population, as painful and frustrating as it was to watch at times.

Heretofore unseen view of war in Afghanistan, Restrepo takes us into the minds of the average soldier without restriction. The reality of it all is engrossing and incredibly interesting. This film leaves the viewer wondering about the lives of other soldiers in the middle east and the simple monotony of their daily lives. Definitely the top on my list of modern war films.

A solid, no bullshit, non-judgemental visit to the front-lines, that won't tell you anything you don't already know.

With such amazing access, the most surprising thing about this documentary is how uninteresting a lot of it is. There are some powerful moments and a few intriguing observations about the lives of soldiers. But many times I wondered "why am I being shown this?". It often felt like random bits of not-very-relevant footage. The hands-off attitude with regard to political commentary is refreshing, and lets the viewer decide if these fellas are doing a good job, and if it's a job worth doing.

This isn't objective - it definitely represents the views of its subjects. However, I think that this viewpoint is exactly what this documentary called for. It examines a subject, presents its outlook on its situation, and invites the viewers to draw their own conclusions. Simple in practice, but executed at great personal risk of both subject and cinematographer. Very well done.

Lots of respect for the soldiers in this doc, they've got big balls. This doc shows exactly there's absolutely no reason why they should be there in the first place. Taliban pays local's kids to work for them and shoot Americans. Americans wants locals to stop their kids doing this. America's solution: start building a road and employ local's kids. Locals don't want road. Taliban don't want Americans. 1+1=Logic fail.