Sand Castle (2017)

I'm not one to take the time to review movies but this one really got to me. Now like all service members know, military movies are always going to stretch fiction for dramatic purposes. That being said, this movie really comes off as having little to no research done to attempt to show any accuracy in its story. The majority of the US population has a small understanding of the US military and tends to believe whatever they see on TV. The questions I have been asked because of movies like The Hurt Locker, Jarhead, etc. prove just how in the dark people are. Hollywood, understandably, wants to capitalize on the recent conflict but needs to realize what a disservice it does to service members when it shows such irresponsibility in its product. The inaccuracies are too many to list but just a handful are: vehicles and equipment crosses service branches and even generations, the unit patch of the "infantry" unit followed is a non-combat arms civil affairs unit patch(I'm Biased, but as an Infantryman that is a big slap in the face), tactics and every day basic operations are zero, rank structure is in title only, and one last thing to mention, and I'm no Special Operations guy so take it with a grain of salt but, to show a Special Forces guy growing his beard out to better interact with the local populace but then always have the cleanest of buzz cuts seemed a little off. It's my understanding that the writer is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I would be curious to see just how far this strayed from his original story line due to being pressured by Hollywood. In the end, if you have never been in the military, or at least have not deployed in support of our recent conflicts, this movie is decent enough to kill a few hours. Casting has quite a few known names and the locations actually due closely resemble Iraq. Just please don't watch this and believe this is how the military does things.

Fmovies: it is actually a very good movie considering it has been filmed by a TV network (netflix) the movie writing wasn't great but it got some good lines and quote and funny moments too ... and the directing was kind of fine but it could be better... What i hated the most that they had some good actors but they didn't use they full potential such as Henry Cavill and Nicholas Hoult and speaking of Henry Cavill hell i still seeing superman when i look at him! finally it is a good movie and i recommend it if you have no thing else to watch....

This was a surprisingly good film. Seen through the eyes of a private who initially wanted out of the army, this film shows the Iraq conflict from all angles. It's a slow burner with numerous scenes of high tension, combat action, understanding and sadness. Filmed well, acted well, written well, and cast well this is an intelligent war film. A definite 7/10 for me.

Sand Castle fmovies. Lots of war-type films have come out over the years, and most are OK to meh, but something about this one was done better than most. Aside from the exceptional directing by Fernando Coimbra, it's not like it had top actors in it, but his directing gave it a feel of a documentary/drama, and added interesting action and drama twist to it. Better than I expected, although slowly paced. It's a 7/10 from me

Sand Castle will likely resonate with general audiences. The acting in it is good for the most part, as Nick Hoult pulls of his part very well. His acting is pretty spot on and the story telling around his character is well done. Logan Marshal-Green did a superb job in his role as a get-it-done SSG who reminded me of a couple different platoon sergeants I'd worked with while in Baghdad. The story itself is fine, and even though the outcome was predictable, I didn't stop rooting for the guys to get it done. Where the movie fell short for me was in the details. Coimbra should have hired a decent military adviser to help him out. A good example is found within the first few seconds of the movie, as Hoult's character strolls to a great tune by Queens of the Stone Age through a staging area in Kuwait (camp New York?) he walks past some tanks that are being readied for combat. M60 tanks. I kid you not. As an M1A1 Tanker myself, I knew at this point there were going to be some obvious flaws-and there are quite a few others-but they didn't really detract from the story. I'd probably recommend this movie to others for the story alone. If you are former military, just know what you are in for.

A decent and straightforward War movie. It's not very combat centered, but rather focuses on the soldier's internal conflicts. I've seen plenty of War films like this before and unfortunately this one doesn't stand out as that unique compared to many others. It feels like an extension of something you'd see on "Generation Kill". It's not necessarily a bad thing, because if that is your thing then you are gonna like this movie.

I will give it this though; I like the story-line of the soldier's giving water to the people in the village. That's actually one of the main missions the characters are given. I appreciate that it explores a simple story like that. Giving water to the people in need is ultimately more important than winning a war. Nicholas Hoult's character seems to find a purpose of being part of the army by doing this act of kindness because he feels that he finally does some good. So, that aspect was well portrayed in this movie.

Henry Cavill is not in the movie that much, but whenever he is on screen he plays his supporting character well. I think they should have utilized him much more, since he really was doing such a good job playing a kind of eccentric captain. A different role compared to what he has played before. The editing in some scenes distracted me. They started zooming in the image on the same shot a few times and I didn't like that. It's better to just let the scene play out in one shot. Don't start jump-cutting and zooming it in all the sudden. You have different angles for that.

The music is great. Some parts gave me "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Apocalypse Now" vibes and the end credits song is very relaxing. So, the movie leaves you with a nice feeling because of the music. It's not bad as I said, just a tad underwhelming. You can watch it and enjoy just fine.