Sand Castle
April. 21,2017Set during the occupation of Iraq, a squad of U.S. soldiers try to protect a small village.
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Reviews
Purely Joyful Movie!
Just perfect...
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
My initial reaction to seeing this low-key but powerful film was along the lines of "wow, that's some intense stuff...and fairly well acted". I also liked the premise of it, the basic plot line. However, there are a number of issues with the film.\First off, since it is supposedly set in the very early phase of the Iraq occupation (2003), there would not yet have been this open Sunni-Shiia hostility and the well-organized guerilla resistance/terrorism by local malcontents. These incidents were only starting to crop up in 2004 and really came to the fore in 2005, 2006. Second detail is the low level of security that the US soldiers seem to deploy while trying to work with random locals. For example, there's no way that a suicide bomber with a cooler full of explosives would have smuggled himself into an actual construction site. I was also left wondering why the main protagonist was sent back to the States and effectively relieved of duty, as opposed to the other guys. It may have been left undefined for the artistic purposes but in a real army setting, there would have been a debrief. Is he seen as suffering from a kind of PTSD or as having gone a bit rogue, or is it a case of "mission not well handled"? The feeling it left was one that army cadres were feeling a bit sorry for this college kid and were shipping him to where he could do no harm or come in harm's way. There is this kind of a rush to wrap up the script and end the story, which rubbed me the wrong way.As an allegory or a stylized cautionary tale, though, this is powerful - and intimate - film because it does get inside the heads of some characters and because the characters are compelling. The difficulties of working with the Iraqis and generally in an alien cultural environment were portrayed in an interesting way.This is not a fast-paced, high body count war action flick. But some of the action sequences are intense. Lots of mixed feelings about this one.
ever wanted a movie that portrays the life of a platoon of soldiers? well here you go, one of the best war movies I've ever seen! 10/10 by far. this movie has so many incredible features, cast, vehicles and incredibly real explosions. in one scene, there is a big explosion and private ocre is thrown to the ground and you can actually hear the way his ears have gone partially deaf for a moment. over all; greatest movie of 2017!
Lots of war-type films have come out over the years, and most are OK to meh, but something about this one was done better than most. Aside from the exceptional directing by Fernando Coimbra, it's not like it had top actors in it, but his directing gave it a feel of a documentary/drama, and added interesting action and drama twist to it. Better than I expected, although slowly paced. It's a 7/10 from me
Great war film to watch. It doesn't just flood the film with meaningless action but shows a complex story about the difficult relations between the U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi community. You can really relate to the main character Pvt. Ocre (Nicholas Hoult) as he experiences the challenges and brutality of war. Some parts of the plot were a bit simple, but overall I would recommend it. Some parts can be a bit brutal though, so be prepared for that.