I have NEVER seen one like Warfare, and I've seen a lot of the best war movies ever made.
In fact, I’m actually quite shocked that it was even made. I mean, it’s not that Warfare makes America look bad (In fact, it’s still strangely a patriotic film), but it just makes warfare look so…AWFUL that I’m surprised it even came out.
I know “war is hell” is a popular sentiment, but this is such an unvarnished and brutally realistic war film that it just shocks me that it got a theatrical release (and has since found an audience with an HBO Max subscription). So, here’s why I’m so shocked (and awed) about this film.
It Is Somehow Both An Anti-Enlistment Film, And Also One Of True Valor
Anybody who’s watched the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan will tell you that it’s anxiety-inducing and sickening. Watching people get torn apart by gunfire and missing limbs is about as far from glamorous as you can possibly get, and Spielberg did an excellent job of showcasing the effects of combat.
However, it has NOTHING on Warfare, which is probably the greatest anti-enlistment film I think I’ve ever seen. In this movie, which details the true encounter after the Battle of Ramadi, Navy SEALs are pinned down in a two-story house and need to fight to get out alive. During the battle, several SEALs get their limbs blown off, and it’s so awful and harrowing that I can’t see why ANYBODY would want to enlist in the military after watching this.
And yet…the camaraderie of these men shows true valor and heart. Even with the scenario seeming as dire as it is, the men don’t leave each other behind, even if it means that they might be mowed down. Warfare wasn’t nominated for an Oscar, but when it comes to a war movie that truly captures what warfare is actually like, then you probably won’t get any more realistic than this.
There Is No Actual Victor
Wars are typically judged by the “winners” and the “losers”. It’s why World War II almost feels mythic in nature since there was a definite side that won, and a definite side that lost. However, with many wars, there really is no victor - only the remnants of what survived, and what changed for everyone else. That’s reality.
When it comes to movies, you typically want to see some sort of outcome, whether it be a victory or a defeat. In Warfare, we get neither, which is another reason why I’m shocked that this film was made. The Navy SEALs who escaped the confrontation didn’t win anything. The insurgents don’t so much as win and survive one more battle.
It’s odd to see so much loss of life and limb only for there to be no catharsis. You just end up feeling empty when it’s all over, which is an uncomfortable feeling to say the very least.
You Also Rarely Get To See A War Film Sympathize With The Civilians Like This
To get a better vantage point, the SEALs take over a civilian home and basically change the house's inhabitants forever by getting them in the middle of this conflict.
The film does a good job of getting us to sympathize with the civilian lives caught in warfare, because this isn’t just a story about the brave soldiers and their enemies. It’s also a story about the people who get caught in the middle with no way out. These are families that were sleeping one night, and then had their living quarters invaded by the U.S. military, and they just had to accept it.
It’s hard to watch such fear in their eyes when bullets fly through their windows and walls. Though the U.S. military had interpreters who tried to assuage the families’ fears, how could they do anything of the sort when the civilians might die by no fault of their own? It’s really powerful stuff, and little wonder why we initially gave this film such a high review.
