'Restrepo' is one of the most powerful movies I've ever seen

A few days ago, I watched one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen, the 2010 documentary movie, “Restrepo.”

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this film, it chronicles the 15-month deployment of the U.S. Army’s Second Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, who were assigned to the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, aka, “The Deadliest Place on Earth,” in 2007.

This 93-minute movie, which was filmed, directed and produced by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, was released in U.S. theatres on June 25, 2010. Junger, who is best known as the author of “The Perfect Storm,” and Hetherington filmed the movie while embedded with the Army during an assignment for Vanity Fair magazine.

The bulk of the film details events at a desolate outpost, which was named “Restrepo” in honor of a medic who was killed in action early in the unit’s deployment to the Korengal Valley. The entire movie takes place in the valley, and the vast bulk of the movie focuses on the 15 soldiers charged with manning this dangerous, isolated outpost. The movie is rated R for language and graphic depictions of true-life combat violence.

Before you know it, you get sucked into this movie. You naturally begin to pull for the soldiers in Second Platoon because they’re American. They’re on our side. They're fighting for us. You look at their faces and see a cross-section of our nation’s young men. Any one of them could be your neighbor’s kid, the kid who quarterbacked the high school football team two years ago, the kid that used to deliver your morning newspaper, your brother, maybe your son.

The footage was especially gritty, and you only catch glimpses of the enemy. They’re the nameless, faceless foot soldiers of the insurgency, the same sort of nameless, faceless operators who flew planes into the twin towers on Sept. 11. Along with all this, comes plenty of action and gunplay, and unlike “Platoon” and “Full Metal Jacket,” this movie isn’t make believe. It’s real, and should give you reason to take pause and remember that U.S. soldiers are over there right now, continuing to fight the same fight against the same enemy.

Not surprisingly, “Restrepo” has met with critical acclaim. It has been nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary and was named one of the top documentary films of 2010 by the National Board of Review. At the Sundance Film Festival, it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary.

Another side effect of having watched this movie, for me anyway, has been the desire to go out and read all of Sebastian Junger’s books. He’s been called “our modern day Hemingway,” and it’s hard to argue with that description. You may find yourself feeling the same way after having watched “Restrepo.”

In the end, how many of you have had a chance to see “Restrepo”? What did you think about it? Did you like it? Dislike it? Let us know in the comments section below.