MovieChat Forums > Battle for Haditha (2008) Discussion > Watch the film, then comment

Watch the film, then comment

posted 17 years ago by natlat
10 replies | jump to latest

I was reading the comments about the fim and how everyone thinks he's putting the blame on the soldiers. You are all hypocrites.

Comments like "Not fair to make a movie like this before any trials are done" and "Nick Broomfield Should be Sued for Defamation" is hypocrytical seeing none of you have seen the movie yet.

I've just seen the movie at the Toronto International Film Festival... TWICE!!!

Heres a little tip, watch the movie before yoy make any comments, it will save you from looking like a complete idiot.

[–] nonplussed 16 years ago

Watched it on Channel 4. Very powerful, it makes you face the reality of the situation whereas before you might have been thinking "people die, that's what happens in war." I think it can affect everyone on a human level, it's excruciatingly uncomfortable to watch people suffering like that.

[–] kino_vamp 15 years ago

The frightening thing is some of those commenters technically let the film run in front of their eyes, but 'watched' it? No. They went into it with hatred & prejudice and saw nothing else. Several angry posters on these boards are ranting about an apparently completely different film they believe they saw, one that was 'anti-American' and 'pro-terrorism', ignoring the fact that the film is adamantly neither of those things.

I'm disgusted by the ignorance and rampant hatred on these boards. People who are not only blindly unaware of their own history (one commenter was screaming in a post that the US never practiced eugenics- check out what was happening at immigration ports for the first half of the 20th century!), but so brainwashed with propaganda that they can't even begin to consider the bigger picture. I'm not talking bashing the USA or anything equally extremist, just opening one's eyes to see other points of view, to understand COMPLEXITIES in the world.

Very discouraging to see just how much volatile ignorance is marching out into the world.

[–] delcielo 15 years ago

Agreed. If anything the movie goes out of its way to show the difficult environment the Marines were working in, and the uncertainty in their jobs.

It also shows the difficulties and uncertainties in the average Iraqi's life.

If you watch this movie without either understanding how it could happen, or without being disgusted that it did happen, you're not paying enough attention.

The movie is about the incident at Haditha. It was always going to be difficult and negative from an American standpoint. I suspect some people saw it not as a recounting of Haditha, but as a statement either for or against their beliefs. They've watched it not to learn or understand anything; but to confirm their already held beliefs, whatever those beliefs are.

[–] detroit-velvet-smooth 15 years ago

People who comment usually pull out the tired old 'only haters of america/soldiers/marines who are obviously liberal/european/terrorist lovers would make/like/enjoy this kind of movie'. The fact is that the movie is showing the impossible situation everyone involved is in. The way everyone is pressured by the ones at the top to do things and in the moment they believe, they are thrown into the mix of it and are trained and compelled to act a certain way. Then they have to live with the consequences, the lies, the deceit.

Its about how this war or all wars are impossible situations for the people on the ground and that those with no connection to it, those who are far away and are really orchestrating it, are the ones who are responsible but direct the mess. Take the situation of the families not being able to go anywhere for fear that nowhere is safe, or not being able to warn the Americans because the Insurgents will kill them. Then take the Marine who asks to see a doctor and is denied this. They have no choices, they have no options, they are thrown into a situation that is begging for a mess.

One important thing is that we should all ditch the ego, forget the labels. Americans and Iraqis are the subject here, but really this is just a truth about pretty much every war. Young men who don't really know whats happening being told to do things and lots of innocents with no real power in the world caught in the middle. Does this happen every day? No. Is every 'incident' a large scale massacre? No. But notice how the movie showed you this truth as well. Fully HALF of the movie was dedicated to setting it up. The marines didn't do anything really awful til about an hour in. They conducted themselves 'professionally' before that. They even had sympathy and the sober awareness to be able to differentiate between combatants and those who are simply victims or innocents (recall the man who displays pictures of his torture to the same marine who begins the massacre later).

The point is that when men in suits send boys with guns into some strange country to kill things and tell them that its all about killing and direct the action over a phone... you're going to end up with this stuff. The myth of the righteous war is what this movie is trying to kill. The idea that marines are noble knights seeking to quell injustice and restore balance to the chaotic world, that crap that is pounded out by the propaganda sources who convince the happy suburban American (or any other nationality really in any war) that it is a righteous just war is all BS and thats what this movie is about.

Its not a slam against the men who fight. Its about the people and the powers that throw them into it. The ones who abandon them to impossible situations repeatedly and then abandon them again when they discharge or are called up on the charges.

Not such an easy black and white movie for the average patriot to digest, and thats why most commentary is cliche fox news drivel.

[–] SDsZ28 15 years ago

I've watched it.

And it is a flat out lie from start to finish. It's the Rape fantasy of an Iraq War critic where every stereotype is true, and every horrible situation is the worst possible incarnation.

It misrepresents American tactics, rules of engagement, and sensationalizes at every turn things from treatment of prisoners to denial of mental health treatment to service members. It would be hard for this film to be any more dishonest.

I'm no supporter of the war in Iraq, but the proper way to criticize it is not to lie about it. The film is disgustingly bad.

[–] Trajanc 15 years ago

SDsZ28, in regards to this movie you've gone from saying in an earlier post "I will say I was pleased to an extent how they were even-handed in the making of this film" to the above. What prompted the change in opinion? Just curious.

[–] SDsZ28 15 years ago

To be honest, the more that has come to light about how this incident really occurred, the more this movie when from disturbingly disingenuous to disgustingly offensive.

Better than Redacted. Still garbage.

[–] Trajanc 15 years ago

Really? After watching Wuterich's interview on 60 Minutes I'm thinking the movie is not so far off the mark but frankly I saw the movie a while ago and it's getting hard to remember it exactly.

The given version of events that is most favorable to the Marines says that the guys from the white taxi were all unarmed and were shot as they tried to run away.
There was no threat in the 2 houses where the families were killed and the marines likely saw the dead family in the first house before they assaulted the second. None of these people have been id'd as insurgents.

And that's the most favorable story the accused have come up with.

After studying this case for a few years now I think at this point it's impossible to tell what actually happened. No Iraqi's have testified at any official inquiry or hearing in the US. The collection of physical evidence was hopelessly compromised by time and circumstances. Many persons involved have good reason to lie.

My best guess is the men from the white taxi were killed while in a posture of surrender. This matches the account of at least one marine. I don't believe the group of them suddenly tried to run away in broad daylight with no cover from the armed marines who were right there.
I completely do not believe that the Marines tossed grenades and sprayed gunfire into the back of 'house 2,' where the first family was huddled, because as the Marines claim they heard an AK being racked in that room. Wuterich has essentially admitted that in retrospect they were chasing a threat that did not exist. The idea that they heard this sound that likely no enemy was there to make but did not hear the kids in the room crying is hard to believe.
The fact that they killed this family, saw them and then repeated their action next door is unforgivable.

But that's just my estimate and like I said, at this stage and in this place knowing for sure what happened is almost impossible.

[–] Noir-82 14 years ago

Am I the only one who caught the notion that this film is suggesting that it's both the Americans and Iraqi's that are victims in this film? In retrospect, I find it also interesting that the film was also able to depict insurgents in the light of a victim (Jafar & dad).

By the end of the movie, what I got out of it was, nobody's the bad guy. Everyone was just pawns by individuals with agendas.

Anyways, one of the best war movies I've ever seen to date. Totally in a different style of "real-world-realism" than my other favs: Black Hawk Down & Saving Private Ryan.

[–] nikongal 14 years ago

Noir-82 wrote Am I the only one who caught the notion that this film is suggesting that it's both the Americans and Iraqi's that are victims in this film? In retrospect, I find it also interesting that the film was also able to depict insurgents in the light of a victim (Jafar & dad).

No, you're not the only one. There was cause to be sympathetic to all three sides at various points in the film. Even the father who helped plant the IED clearly stated near the beginning of the film that he didn't like or support Al Qaeda, talked about his own military service, and was frustrated that the country was getting worse, not better. He was also remorseful about the aftermath of the IED, even though he stayed with the Sheik and his followers. There are no winners in this situation.

Tho it is dark . . . know our flag . . . is still there.

ABC = Already Been Canceled.