Warriors

Well, I just finished watching the movie and I'm feeling pretty down. You see, I've spent the whole war in Sarajevo and I had the good luck needed to survive through the whole thing. This brings us to the fact that I'm not so objective since I'm emotionally involved in this matter. The war ended four years ago but this movie made me feel like it was still going on. I could not sit calmly while I was watching it. It was so disturbingly realistic that the whole time I was watching it I could not choose between crying and laughing and at the end I caught myself sitting and staring at a non-existing dot on the wall. I can tell you one thing: If this film was intended to send the message of peace and tolerance it failed. Once again it filled me with emotions of pain and hate that I was trying to leave behind. Yet, it does not make it less significant. I just noticed that my whole comment was about my emotions and not about the movie so I world like to state that this is a great film with good cast but for a second I wished that I hadn't seen it in the first place. I hope that people from outside of Bosnia will see it and will not accept it as a piece of fiction; they should be aware of the fact that these things still really happen at the and of 20th century. Shameful.

Warriors is a drama, but every incident you see in it is factual. The makers interviewed Infantry soldiers from UNPROFOR1 (The Cheshire Regiment) and UNPROFOR2 (The Prince Of Wales Own Yorkshire Regiment).

The MoD gave the makers permission to approach soldiers who had been involved in incidents so that they could replicate them for the screen, along with what the soldier's were actually thinking and feeling at the time.

A lot of incidents were rejected on the grounds that they would not be believed by the viewing public or were just to 'bloody'.

In addition, soldiers helped the actors wear their equipment properly, act properly etc.

How do I know this? Two of the incidents depicted I was involved in. I was in the Cheshire Regiment. I have since testified in 2 war crimes trials at the Hague.

No matter what you think, believe me it was far worse than what you see. You only see it, you don't smell it.

To this day (2007) most of us that were their in that first year still have a feeling that somehow we failed those poor people and our politicians were weak.

It is very, very well made and very, very realistic as to what it was like.

This film, about a group of British soldiers helping out for the UN in Bosnia in the early 90s, is a disturbing, powerful and superb piece of film making.

Despite its long length, this film depicts the frustration and personal pain British troops faced while in Bosnia, witnessing mass deaths of civilians and being unable to give proper assistance because of war 'restrictions'. The atmosphere is bleak and often tense, with the audience sympathising with the frustrated troops after 'clearing' up human body remains.

The aftermath and the pain the soldiers continue to feel after they get back to Britian is unsympathetic and superbly acted, especially from 'Band Of Brothers' star Damian Lewis and Matthew MacFadyen, and the scene when a soldier befriends a Bosnian civilian wearing a Manchester United shirt and has to hand him over to officials to be shot is one of the most powerful humanitarian war scenes in any film I have ever witnessed, with the Liverpool born soldier sinking to breaking point and bursting into tears.

It is easy to see why people may not like this. The pace is slow from time to time. Perhaps it is a touchy subject, but its a shame more people in America will not have the chance to see it. They should. It is compulsive viewing.

Harrowing and brilliant, Warriors will stay with you.

8.5 out of 10

...and the rest of America will realize it if it is ever seen on American television. Where is PBS when you need them most? BBC America has shown this several times, without their usual commercial interruption (which should give some indication of the respect they hold for this drama), but unfortunately not many cable systems offer BBC America. PBS is dropping the ball by not picking this up for the rest of the United States to view. The writing, acting, and production values are all excellent. If only people knew what they were missing.

This two-part series which was shown on TV is a description of how a majority of British UN soldiers experienced the war in former Yougoslavia.Their task was mainly a humanitarian mission based on a policy of non-intervention.This policy may have worked in the minds of well-intentioned theoreticians but was impossible to execute in the real environment of war-torn Bosnia.These soldiers were subjected to constant stress resulting from their orders not to intervene, the hostility they experienced as foreign intruders,the language barriers and the bestiality they encountered without being able to offer any significant help.The traumas that these men experienced definitely had a devastating and lasting effect on their further lives "Warriors" draws the viewer into the ongoing drama in such a convincing way that one fully grasps the frustration these soldiers must have experienced. Excellent production: a top-class cinematographic document performed by outstanding actors.