Posted on 04/05/2011 9:19:50 AM PDT by MrInvisible
Last night I watched the movie 9th Company on Netflix. This is an outstanding war movie that in my opinion is not to be missed by war movie aficionados. It's a riveting, true account of a group of young enlisted Soviet paratroopers. In the beginning, you follow this group of young men through the rigors of bootcamp where they eventually develop a close camaraderie. They're mentored by a tough, stomach-punching drill sergeant who's the lone survivor of his unit from the Afghan conflict. Even though he's tough as nails, he cares about his soldiers he mentors and wishes he could go with them, but his request for transfer is denied. As soon as these young Russian men set foot in Afghanistan they're immediately shocked by the harsh realities of what being in a war zone is really like. And they soon take a liking to their new officers who at times off harsh lessons on what it really takes to survive. These young paratroopers are tasked with protecting a convoy and take up position on top of a hill. They're confronted with swarms of Muj and much of the movie is filled with intense fire fights and brutally-realistic action scenes. If you've seen documentaries on the current US war in Afghanistan you'll quickly see how the Russian and American experience are similar and you can't help but compare the two. The cinematography is outstanding and this is a well produced war movie that obviously had a handsome budget. This movie ends on an interesting twist with a lesson that many American vets can probably identify with. I believe this is a war movie you'll remember. 9th Company.
bflr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nlEB_lACqs&feature=related
History that must be remembered, lest it be repeted.
Thanks for posting. Was unaware of this one.
Thanks. Just added it to my queue.
Thank you for serving. Very much.
I don’t have a problem with someone in your situation feeling that way, not at all. I just think it is odd that someone who has never experienced combat would have trouble viewing it.
If I watch something like that, I don’t accept the point of view they offer, but use that to get an idea of what people in Japan or Germany might see as the point of view.
I personally knew one man whose job it was to coordinate the removal of Japanese forces from Korea upon the end of hostilities in WWII. He was in his eighties when I met him. I noticed a significant behavior change whenever the subject of Japan came up, and I asked one of his friends why he showed so much hostility, and he told me that his friend had confided in him some of the things he had seen the Japanese were responsible for (first hand) and could not reconcile them. He would not even talk to me about it, but he didn’t have to. Whatever he had seen still showed clearly on his face fifty years after the fact (this was in the nineties)
I can understand that.
There was something on the History Channel, I think, and interviews were done with some of the witnesses who were there when men, women, and children were being shot at point blank range. Our own courageous film makers don't dare tell all the truth about Nazism, Communism, the Jihadists, and the Mexican drug cartels. If they are not openly against the atrocities, then they must be in approval of them.
I have to admit, the Japanese have always fascinated me. I lived there for several years when I was a kid, and I loved it. It was like living on another planet. I have heard it said somewhere else by someone else, that they could never quite reconcile their incredible capacity to appreciate sensitivity and beauty with their seemingly bottomless capacity for cruelty.
That always kind of summed up how I felt. Complex people.
True!
One of the best war movies ever.
This one is better :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJCUNZbQvjY
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