Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Aspen Orson There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

coadavid 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.

Michael DeZubiria 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...

ReelCheese 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.

subbway Although I agree this movie was preachy and had no shortage of plot holes, I think most of these comments were way to harsh. Sure the acting was bad and it did look like they pulled most of these guys out of the local high school, but isn't that how the military finds most of their young men and women. Also if it looked like most of these soldiers had never held a gun before that's probably because they never have, they are just actors after all. And to all those service men who have left comments remember not everyone is in the army and thats who this movie was made for: civilians. Sure the Humvees took dozens of RPGs, but this would be a very short movie if everyone died in the first 15 minutes.(I did think the part in the police station was the biggest loophole. When the RPG took out the side of the building and blew everyone away but when the guys were in a Humvee they wouldn't even be phased by an RPG.) Also if if it seemed like they got into way to many firefights in one day, thats because they had to make the movie interesting. If the movie was just them fighting one truck load of Iraqis for 15 minutes then doing nothing but driving for the other 75 minutes what would be the point. If you wanna watch a high budget Hollywood block buster of people doing nothing but trekking for 2 hours go watch lord of the rings. To all these so called movie buffs who think there movie experts because they work at Mcdonald's all day then spend the rest of their time watching movies. Just because you were an extra in the movie of the week being filmed down the road of your small town doesn't make you Roger Ebert. Remember not everyone is Spielberg and has 120 million to spend making a movie.(Anyone know the budget on this movie?)Furie has made more movies then any of you and i give him respect for making a movie that went somewhere no else was willing to go.