User Reviews

Sidney J. Furie ("Superman IV", "Iron Eagle") hasn't made a good movie in his nearly five decades in the director's chair, and he wasn't about to start with "American Soldiers."

It's not that this film had zero potential. The short-lived TV series "Over There" proved that a dramatized look at the ongoing Iraq conflict could be entertaining and real without crossing an uncomfortable line with men and women still dying on the frontlines. But stunningly clichéd dialog dogs "American Soldiers" from the opening sequence. There's the prisoner meet who is only too happy to share his evil plans for the future with his American enemies, reminiscent of something out of an old superhero cartoon. There's the forced "why are we here?" discussion. And who could forget the soldiers who offer some timely advice before dying, a crucial component of unimaginative movies.

The acting is no better. I can usually handle a sub-par performance here and there, but these guys are so bad it detracts from whatever enjoyment may have been possible. Instead of being sucked into the story, you find yourself wondering if this was the best Central Casting could do. The actors aren't helped by the aforementioned dialog; in fact, you really get the sense that they know how terrible their lines are as they reluctantly recite them.

The Furie staple of senseless violence (remember "Iron Eagle"?) is omnipresent here as well. The pattern is detectable within 10 minutes: clichéd dialog, horrible acting, big, fiery explosions, repeat. Of course things blowing up is a part of war, but Furie uses it as a misguided means to liven things up rather than portray the brutality of conflict and its impact on GIs. There are moments where you'll swear this film's target audience is violence-obsessed adolescent boys (again, remember "Iron Eagle"?).

But enough about the negative. No one expects a direct-to-DVD film from Sid Furie to be a masterpiece. The truth is, "American Soldiers" does not deserve to be in the IMDb's bottom 100, where sits as of this writing. Trust me, there have been much, much worse. "American Soldiers" even has a few decent moments once you're willing to forgive its shortcomings. But depending on your viewing habits, that's a big if.

look I'm an IRAQI, and i lived in Iraq during the worst years of the war 2003-2007 so i know more than most people here about the reality of the movie. it is completely unrealistic. insurgents almost never attack with more than 3 vehicles and if there was a street fight, the us military would definitely lose it. what counts for the us military in Iraq is the aerial support which didn't exist in this movie. As for the funny RPGs, IEDs and car bombs, they were just ridiculous. do you know if a car bomb explodes 100 meters away from you, the wave will probably fly you for at least 10 meters and shreds or whatever its called will kill you. OK, time to tell you why i kinda liked some parts. first the sites. almost all war movies about Iraq are just plain ignorant show Iraq as a big desert with evil looking people. this one was a lot more accurate in terms of people their accent (although some was Syrian not Iraqi) and also the geography. i liked the fact that one soldier mentioned that 9/11 and WMDs had nothing to do with Iraq. a lot of ignorants still believe the opposite despite the proofs. also i liked how the Iraqi prisoner told the story of how he turned into an insurgent. it was the case of many Iraqi fighters who have lost everything because of the us military. the movie in general is very unreal but you know the few good points that i mentioned make up for the fictional part.

Not the worst movie I have ever seen , writing needed work, acting overdone , but the message was clear and this message should be heard. I work in this industry and I am also he mother of a marine combat veteran. And If the American public would shake off the ambivalence that they drug them selves with they would understand what it is that we are sacrificing for Political and Economic gain for the few and privileged . And they themselves would be up in arms to stop this and maybe really focus on the problem of terrorism. We must know our enemy and understand them in order to destroy them. We should be holding Afghanistan and keeping the Taliban and the Al Queda at bay. Not creating another hold out for them by destabilizing another Arab country.

After spending 22 years in the Army, after serving in several different regions of the world in many different capacities, this is by FAR the worst and most UNREALISTIC war movie EVER. There is no plot, there is no acting. The dialogue insults the viewer and the actors. The equipment and tactics displayed by the "good guys" and "bad guys" whichever side you're on, aren't even as realistic as in fantasy films, like "Lord of the Rings" or cartoons like "Bambi." I have seen anti-war and pro-war movies and propaganda. I enjoy watching independent films, but this was utter tripe. The only redeeming feature of this wasted effort is that it was actually less than 90 minutes. It was only 87 minutes long, and I don't think I could have lasted the last three.

I love war movies. I watch them all and have probably covered 80% av all the war movies on IMDb.com no matter how they are rated because some people just have bad taste. I watch black and white war movies and foreign movies you name it.

But this movie is horrible. The acting is like watching bay watch but in Iraq.

they have all the gear and the environment but they cant perform at all. the plot is thin even for a war movie.

You cant connect to anyone in the movie at all.

Its also lacking realism they stand 2 meters from each other and fire rpgs and saw machine guns for like 5 minutes but don't hit anything.

I think this is the worst war movie i have ever seen.

After reading a few reviews, I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that the hummers and trucks seemed indestructible, unless the plot needed them on foot.

Also, any notice that this was sort of like a bad G.I. Joe episode, where no one hits anything with any weapon (RPGs included), but the bad guys retreat after one scrapes a knee? I couldn't give this movie an out-and-out 1 out of 10, because I at least saw that they were trying to give political open-minded discussion about whether being there was right or wrong (the Iraq prisoner's point of view, the fact that some in the squad knew at least why the Iraqis MIGHT be upset at the US for being there, etc.), but personally, these were completely overshadowed by how saintlike each solider was made out to be. Bad soldiers? Yup, because just emptying clips is a better solution then aiming each shot - let your MG be your sniper! Also, never SEEN a worse knife fight in my life. Bad shots? Definitely - unless they are using their side arm or their own RPG. But I could get over all these things, but what I couldn't was the bloody "buck up, little solider" speeches every 20 minutes. I swear, if I heard another "you guys are the best soldiers I've ever been with" or "we're here for each other and nothing else matters" speech again from anyone in the squad, I probably would have thrown something at the TV.

Want to see an actual modern war movie? See Black Hawk Down.

...it's also noteworthy that it's not simply, as is usually the case, of Americans good, non-Americans bad. However, EVERYTHING else is weak.

Cliché's abound in this would-be attempt at a dose of reality: the black soldier named Jackson, the Hispanic soldier from Miami, the anonymous Southern-drawled soldier, and the sarge who everyone would give their life for, who everybody calls, well, Sarge. The bad doesn't stop at characters: some bad wound makeup, soldiers looking like they're holding a gun for the first time, and bad guys who NEVER take cover and can't hit ANYTHING with an RPG all compound the ridiculous notion that all of these poignant moments are "typical" in ONE DAY.

Every single story element has been executed hundreds of times before and BETTER. Crappy writing coupled with horrific acting really blend together to create plenty of "did they really just say that" moments.

Bottom line: if this is supposed to be army propaganda, it's too silly to capture any sense of pride of the army. And if it's supposed to be entertainment, it's laughable. 1 out of 10

worst acting I have ever seen. These soldiers are the worst shots in the world. The only thing worse is their acting. These soldiers see more action in one day than most see in a lifetime. Good idea for a movie but the over acting kills me. the only good acting was from the enemy.

The props were toys too. Don't waste you time I did for you. Started out OK, but died quickly. Must have been a very small budget. I hope they didn't pay anyone.

don't waste your time.

So many goofs, I wondered if it was a spoof.

I can't believe this director is still making movies. I mean, look at the movies he's made, they're almost all rated less than 4 stars. I wish there was a negative rating here so I could give it at least a -5 for such a terrible movie. The acting is completely and extremely lame. The soldiers look like they have never seen and/or touched a gun before, and it scares me. Think about it, those guys are the people who are supposed to protect our country and they can't even shoot straight. My 5 year old cousin can even shoot better that (with a toy gun of course.) It makes me wonder why the hell I wasted 2 hour to watch this stupid movie. I guess I've lost some IQ after watching it.

I watched this last night with my 14 year old son. His ambition is to join the army. I have neither encouraged nor discouraged him, he must make up his own mind. This film contains terrifying scenes of mutilation.I was pleased about that. Not because I am a fan of gratuitous violence but because it's the closest I would like him to get to the horror and irrationality of war. Some of the scenes, especially the one towards the end where the kids are kicking heads around and the militia arrive and there is a gun fight, lack credibility. I don't believe that US soldiers would be so indisciplined as to engage an enemy in such a way. Artistic license I suppose! Anyway, a good film. Should probably be watched in conjunction with Black Hawk Down.

After spotting this in the Video Store, I thought I'd check this flick out. After 20 minutes, I had realised I had made a major mistake. This movie is extremely pathetic. I don't know what the makers were thinking, but it looked like a amateur home video with actors just plucked off the street. The acting was poor and the plot is just horrible. It seemed like that ideas were just made up as the movie went along. The director seemed like he had no clue on making this movie.

After half an hour of wasted time, I had to stop the movie. This atrocity was just too much for me.

Don't even look at the cover of the movie, don't even consider hiring it, just keep looking elsewhere for better entertainment.

1/10.

Compared to other movies discussing the Iraqi puzzle, this one employs a much more naked way of expression, and presents the paradox of the war's justice right in front of the audience. The plot may be too compact with lots of artificial coincidence happening in a single day. People should consider this as an epitome of the whole war. The dialogue is no longer equivocal. The sergeant mentioned the analogy of American soldiers in Iraq to Iraqi soldiers in Miami at the very beginning of the movie, 'No one like to be invaded'. The following conflicts in the hospital as well as with the domestic policemen illustrate the feeling of normal Iraqi people. Of course, most of the soldiers do not understand. The beliefs like 'Miami is different' or 'We build school and hospital here' are not wrong under the premise that American is the world police. It would be nice to have someone keep the order, however, a war started from the top instead of spontaneously from the people can not really succeed. This movie vividly conveys this idea. Although a little unacceptable for American citizen, it is really edifying for a world citizen from the perspect of globalization.

You know they finally show a movie that depicts what this illegal occupation is all about. No one knows why they are there. Its tragic since so many soldiers die and are harmed, and for what? Bush and Cheney should watch this every time they go to bed at night. Do i see war crimes in the future? Saddam Hessin did less than what these guys did and you no what happened to him! I found the acting not too bad. I mean, how do you act out when you are dying and being blown up? I believe this should be part of history or current events classes in school and not blocked by all the redirect that usually happens. lets be more honest with ourselves and not hypocritical.

One of the biggest Iraq war propaganda movies I have ever seen. It is a complete waste of time and it may damage your brain. Also acting sucks. The storyline sucks. The action scenes and reality suck as well - I never thought it was possible for trucks and hummers to withstand several direct RPG hits. The things you can learn... I have just felt my IQ drop for about 50 points. I believe everyone will agree (even the hard core USA patriots) that this movie is made for one purpose only - make American soldiers look noble in their service to the country. The have a lot of empathy and self-sacrifice for Iraqi people. I was impressed. I always thought that the reality is somewhat different.

Eclipsed only by RAISING CAIN for its lack of plot line. The acting was generally good but without any plot this was wasted effort. Some really corny dialogue must have given the actors stitches between takes. Blowed em up real good!

How the hell do you write 10 lines of copy about a movie that isn't worth two? Just another rah, rah blood boiler. They had, for a moment there, a chance for semi-redemption when the squad rescues the Iraqi prisoners from the CIA men. But NO, just another blood 'n'guts incident that leads the viewer nowhere.

Glad this was a loaner cuz I hate to think of wasting the money!

American Soldiers is totally inaccurate, and it is obvious that the producers and directors took total creative license, with little or no advice from any person who has served in Iraq, or the military.

The depiction of the downed helo was totally wrong.(when a helo or any other aircraft goes down, all other aircraft in the area is scrambled to protect any surviving crew) Also, the USA military has total air superiority in Iraq, yet no air support was shown.

This movie is preachy, and fake heroic, like a John Wayne WW2 movie. Also, it is totally idiotic to think that USA infantry soldiers would take over a CIA interrogation post(committing a act of treason), and free the insurgent prisoners there. NO soldiers in their right mind would do that.(although the movie is correct in saying that the whole weight of the CIA would come down on the soldiers, and also their families.) Overall, this movie is a complete fabrication, and a joke of a war movie.

A lot of people has stated that this has been the worst film they have ever seen in their lives. Geez! you should have seen just a few movies during your lifetime.

Kind of sad to hear this type of reactions on this film. But here we go...

I've just watched it on premium cable. Not by any chance the worst film. Though preachy and very flawed, I admire the film's courage, in a time when the U.S. government doesn't allow the fallen soldiers ¡caskets! to be photographed and when neither Hollywood mainstream or the news have the balls to talk about Irak, unlike their documentary director's counterparts who have bravely captured the horror and irrationality of this war.

I believe the acting was top notch. There were parts of it that really moved me, and certainly some scenes made me want to cry. Particularly because in very politicized wars, the common soldiers are the ones that take the worst part.

I'm not American but the film made me root for this guys. At least I wanted them to be safe and alive.

Maybe Hollywood can learn some lessons from Canadian cinema, which is not afraid to speak its mind.

A good one. Especially because of its simple and humble emotional truth. 7/10

I was a platoon sergeant serving my second tour of duty in Iraq when this p-i-s-s poor movie came out. My platoon operated in the worst district of Tall Afar, which was one of the most notoriously volatile cities in Iraq in 2005. Trust me when I say we saw urban combat almost daily. That is until we launched a massive offensive dubbed Operation Restoring Rights and retook the city. Anyway, my Soldiers and I got wind of this movie and had to check it out ourselves. I'll tell you right now, we didn't have a good laugh like that in a long time. Where do I begin? Should I start with how much the actors sucked? Should I start with how ridiculously unrealistic each situation they faced was handled and portrayed? I mean seriously. Any Soldier who has seen real combat action in Iraq will quickly dismiss this joke of a movie. It's great for a good laugh, but that's about it. If I start on what's wrong with this movie I'll never finish this review. If you're a clueless civilian, you might actually find this movie enjoyable. If you're a combat Soldier who has spent more than a few minutes outside the wire, you'll find this movie great to make fun of at best. The director, writer, executive producer, producer, and film distributor should all be ashamed for dishing out this trash. You want to see reality? Check out me and my guys in a Discovery Channel documentary airing in February 2007 called Combat Zone The Battle of Tal Afar (2005). THAT'S how it really goes down.

I watched "American Soldiers" last night and all I can say is that it is ONE OF THE BEST war films I have ever watched. Where most of the war films are over-dramatized and uses the most overrated war-is-hell clichés, American Soldiers shows almost every aspect of a soldier's life from the excitement of your first confirm kill to losing your comrade/best friend to just joking and Moshe-pitting around with your army buddies.

There are some things that could have improved in this film, such as the immense body count and seemingly non-stop attacks from the insurgents. The terrorists seem to know every step of the Americans, and I think that is a little over-exaggerated. But, that seems to be the only thing I would change about the film that I can think of at this moment.

The acting is good, based on the fact that all of these actors have not had much acting experience (the most experienced actor acted in only 4 movies). Some people might find them as amateurs, but this, in my opinion, really brings out the realism of the characteristics of the American soldiers. War films should be bring out everyday people shoved onto the battlefield with an M-16 in hand rather than Charlie Sheen or Josh Hartnet. This is the problem of most war films these days, more focus on quality rather than realism. The directing is also rather remarkable.

There is a well balanced compilation of emotions. Happy lightheartedness is well blended with anguish and sorrow to craft a gripping story about a group of 10 soldiers who's only wish is just to get through the day and make it back to base. In conclusion, American Soldiers is THE MOST underrated film released in 2005. Solid storyline, decent acting and directing, good visual effects, well funded, a fluent and believable depiction of the current situation in Iraq, and a well-spent 1 hour and 35 minutes. A must see for all war film fanatics (such as myself).

this is not the worst film i have seen, people might think my review is crazy, but this movie has accurate props, some good sets, crisp imaging, really good special effects (its not cheesy at all it look really good) i mean hey, this movie could have been one of those really crappy camera looking type of deals, with bad props (shotguns with clips on them, or undetachable carrying handle on the m4 or m16 makes them look like airsoft or some toy), i believe if this movie were to be a bit more realistic such as the squad actually dying from the rpg's or explosions, the thing that disappointed me the most is the acting.... it kills the movie, but the characters are decent and fit the film,another thing is the rambling on the positions and it annoys me, if only this film were to be more planned out and the plot were better this film would be LEGIT!!!!

This shocking statement (shocking because now, four years later, the war is still clearly not over) promisingly begins what turns out to be an astonishingly bad film about the ongoing Iraq war. I am always wary when I read extreme reviews of movies on the IMDb (This is the best movie ever made, This is the worst movie ever made, etc), but in this case they are all true. This movie is so unbelievably bad that it's amazing it ever got released.

Before I say anything else, I should admit that I bought the movie thinking it was some kind of documentary. I live in China so I bought a pirated copy that only had Chinese writing on it, so all I could read was American Soldiers: A Day in Iraq, which led me to believe that it was going to be something meant to inform the public about the reality of the situation on the ground, as they say. The reality of the movie, needless to say, was a tremendous disappointment.

First of all, nothing is even remotely realistic. You don't have to be a battle-weary veteran to understand that war is not about occasional gunfights punctuated with casual breaks perfect for cheesy, D-movie bravado and beat-box dance sessions (I almost fell off the sofa when I saw that scene), and don't even get me started on the "Iraqis" in the movie. The accents are so bad and the delivery so talentless that it is impossible not to laugh (My home...is...your...home. It is...not...much....but it.....is....ours."), even when you think of the dismayed families of the fallen soldiers on whom the film is based, who must be shocked and insulted to see that their loved ones are being remembered with this ridiculous mess of a film.

And by the way, did anyone else notice that all of the soldiers had backwards American flag patches on their shoulders? This is patriotic sacrilege and any real life soldier in Iraq with such a thing on his uniform would be viciously berated by his fellow soldiers and I imagine severely reprimanded by his superiors. Didn't anyone involved in making the movie think that such blatant defamation of the American flag might not be such a good idea in a war film, even as consistently bad as this one?

Nothing is taken seriously in the movie at all ("Nobody likes being occupied, it's like living with your parents!"). The men all take turns with this idiotic schoolboy bravery ("I would give my life for the sarge!" "No I'M giving my life for the sarge!" " No, ME!" "No we'll ALL give our lives for the sarge!" "YEAH!!"), meanwhile the sarge seems to have sustained a mortal injury that renders him sleepy and a little bit sweaty for the majority of the film, but seems to just kind of go away toward the end.

The "sets" are also ridiculous in the extreme. Iraq is re-created so badly and so unconvincingly that it may as well have been filmed in Canada (note: it was). There is some effort made to call attention to the fact that many soldiers joined the military because of September 11th and WMDs, but Iraq has nothing to do with either of them. This unjust inconsistency has cost thousand and thousands of lives and is even more disturbing when the film ends with this quote:

"The greatest treasure our nation has is our enlisted men and women. When we put them in harm's way, it had better count for something. Their loss is a national tragedy."

Sean Penn, in All the King's Men, said "Time brings all things to light." One can only hope this is also true about the reality of why we are in Iraq and who the real criminals are in the Bush administration. The only question is how high and how deep the corruption goes. In the meantime, let's stop making pathetic movies like this about the Iraq war. The news is depressing enough...