Above the Best

After watching Above The Best, directed by David Salzberg, I felt a strong sense of renewed patriotism and understanding for the courageousness of our American soldiers. Salzberg and Tureaud placed a strong emphasis on the selfless acts of heroism portrayed by warriors such as Chris Ambro and Bill Cook. The heartfelt retelling of the traumatic and strenuous events of combat provided me with an eye-opening grasp on the reality that these are real people who are out risking their lives for our country. The display of valor and selflessness by the soldiers in this film left me feeling utterly grateful and indebted to not only those featured in Above The Best, but American soldiers universally. This inspiring film awakened me to the idea of new perspectives while providing me with a refreshed esteem for our country!

In order to avoid spoilers, I may be a bit vague here. The overarching story of the bravery of Army air support crews is a good one. It is something I am interested in and it should have been easy for this film to engage me and make me happy I watched it. But sadly, it failed to do that. I say sadly because I was interested and wanted to know more and to understand. Instead I just ended up confused. The film begins with one tale in Afghanistan. A sad and terrible tale. Switches to a stateside tale in Maryland. Then returns to Afghanistan but never effectively ties them all together. The first story gets lost entirely. I still have no idea how it relates to the main thrust of the film. The second and third tales are related but there are huge unanswered questions about how they became connected. I was very interested in this film but ended up disappointed.

Of all the attributes that make Above the Best an astounding war documentary, I think the unique editing style really sets it apart. The film features archival footage from the war in Afghanistan paired with interviews of the soldiers who recorded and lived through the battles depicted in the footage. During the interviews, they cut the footage to create a glitching effect when the veterans discuss their panic and anxiety attacks from the war. This gave me a visual representation of the disorientation they felt as they lived through the battle that was being shown throughout the film. There was also a vignette effect used during these anxiety attacks that portrayed the feeling of claustrophobia the soldier was experiencing. These editing tactics only made the emotions and feelings expressed throughout this documentary more powerful and moving. Above the Best is definitely a strong, emotionally driven film that is important for people to see.

Above The Best was an exceptionally inspirational documentary that presented a story about US soldiers who fought in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. The film was presented through the unique lens of actual raw footage that was captured by the soldiers themselves. An element in the film that I found particularly moving was seeing how the American soldiers teamed together with Afghan troops, which really emphasized the tone of togetherness and selflessness. One of the Afghans, Naser Ahmadi, showed a great deal of heroism while risking his life for his brothers in battle and presented a unique perspective of what occurred during the war. With that being said, Above The Best was a film that guided me to feel a great sense of empathy for these heroes and I really want to encourage you to give it a watch too.

Above the Best shows us a soldier's most perilous fear: the fear of failing to protect those you are there to support. The quick decisions demonstrated by the featured soldiers held such a high importance in "Above the Best." Refueling and reloading firepower or staying and waiting could mean life or death for the infantry soldiers below the US Army Apache Pilots. Above the Best demonstrates the very real fears/regrets that pilots like Daniel Flores have to live with and strongly persevere through. I have the greatest respect for those military personnel that have to act quick and risk their lives everyday. Above the Best really showcases their bold sacrifices and is a great watch.