Attack on Darfur

This is my 4th Uwe Boll film review. I've slated the guy in the past - and rightly so - for some of the atrocious and bad films he's made. I gave up at one point watching his films hoping he'd get better....but, as my last review about 'Rampage' stated, Uwe had made something that wasn't complete rubbish and was actually entertaining. Whilst not converting me from a hater, this did give me an open mind to any future works. Which leads us to Darfur.

This film can't be called entertaining. It wasn't made to entertain but rather to raise awareness and send a message to people about the atrocities happening in Darfur. I for one had heard of Darfur in the news but knew nothing in detail until looking into to it thanks to this film.

This is simply Uwe's best film to date. This is a powerful, gritty, 'in your face' piece of cinema about the situation in Darfur. There is no happiness, no Hollywood ending. I've never found myself so angry and frustrated whilst watching a film. I don't want to watch it again - not because it's not good but because it's not nice to watch. You will feel uncomfortable and rightly so....and herein lies what makes this film very good - it will illicit emotion from you with it's non-sugar coated story telling.

My only complaint....and a common one when watching Boll films....is the hand held camera. I don't mind it's use but still Uwe overkills this method. Too much shaking makes little sense.

I thought the way this film was made - barely any scripting, the production values - was excellent. So, bravo to you Mr Boll. I think you should step away from video game adaptations and work on original projects as I think when you do this, you can actually show that you are a good film maker.

I would have never expected Uwe Boll to pull this off. This is an important movie that uses similar methods like Stoic to transport a dark subject into the viewers minds. I always considered Bolls takes on serious matters as a cash off (like the despicable PETA reference in Seed) but with Darfur I think the motivation came from the heart. I am all for showing things like they are and not sugarcoating reality... you really have to hit people with a sledgehammer to make them look at issues they'd rather not look at. Hats off to Uwe Boll for Darfur and the massively underrated Stoic. There is still too many haters around (and believe me I used to be one too) but with so many good movies lately (um... except the ridiculous Final Storm of course) I hope people start accepting Bolls output for what it is and not put a tag on it. This is a well done movie, so don't bitch about the shaky cam style... its in there for a reason and along with the improvised style adds to the realism of it. Both movies Darfur and Stoic managed taking extreme subjects and making people take decisions in these situations in a way that anyone can relate to, no matter how distant these situations are to his real life... and I think this is quite an achievement.

If a movie can raise awareness of any issue that should concern us, that is to be applauded. No matter who made the film and if you didn't like what he did previously (especially concerning the game to movie franchise overall). Familiar faces/actors who surely were driven to do this not just because of the money, but because they wanted to help in showing people what went on in Darfur.

The beginning makes you wonder though, because it could've been done as a documentary as well. You have survivors and real people being interviewed by our actors pretending to be journalists. But that question goes away once it goes into action territory, where it gets a bit fantastical. You may criticize that part, but that is what excuses this not being a documentary. So in trying to make people listen we go back to the action movie blueprint. I don't think it defies the purpose and all is shot well. You may argue about a couple of writing, editing and character decisions, but you could also say that it's nitpicking ... One of the better Boll movies, though still not the masterpiece he would like you to believe this is

I was quite surprised by what I saw when watching this film. It turns out to be pretty straightforward in educating the public of the possibilities of what is happening in the African area between the Sudanese and militia Janjaweed. The film opens with reporters going on an excursion with the assistance of the nation of Africa's captain as both a guide and chaperone. They run into a small village on their way to a place pretty far off and distant in the desert. The two easily identifiable stars in this film are Billy Zane and Edward furlong. The two heros are virtual unknowns. It turns out that the janja weed militiamen raid these villages for sex and acknowledgement of existence...they want to be feared and revered as very very important and are told to the viewer that they are a threat to any public villager closeby the Sudan country. For some reason it seems to explain that the main two differences between people of that region are African and Arab. so the heightened climax of the film happens after the Janjaweed encounter the Americans and the African captain at this small village in Darfur...not too far away from Sudan.The Janjaweed then wreak havoc and the Americans are frightened away Until two of the crewmembers decide that there will be unnecessary bloodshed and that they feel that they could at least assist in battle to protect some of the innocent lives that will be killed by the Janjaweed raiders. Its a very violent film.

With depressing regularity, the behavior of humans on this planet devolves into something so far removed from those qualities which are supposed to set us apart from the other species that it truly boggles the mind. This movie is an attempt to portray one of those instances of inexplicable behavior, the Darfur Genocide, and it does an excellent job of it.

The cover art on the Video release is deceiving, you will not see Billy Zane as an action hero, ala Bruce Willis in Tears of the Sun or Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond - there is more than enough "action" in the second half, however.

This is also not The Killing Fields or Hotel Rwanda; it is somewhat more creative and poignant than those classics because it relies on unscripted dialogue, many actual survivors as actors and because this occurrence in the Sudan is still underway at the present time, unlike the Cambodian and Rwandan instances which were brought to the screen 10 years afterwords.

What you have here instead is a somewhat raw microcosm of genocide and the confusion of the world to deal with it; brought to you in a manner which is both immersive and which raises many legitimate questions. You could close your eyes for some parts or leave it out of your DVD player altogether - but you'll be somewhat less of a human for having done so.