The Outpost 2020
I heard Jake Tapper talking about his book on a talk show and again once this movie was released. Maybe similar to something like Black Hawk Down, it sounded like something I would like. We hear stories about operations that don’t go well and soldiers getting killed, but it is hard to relate to what is really going on. The Outpost of the movie was in Afghanistan at the bottom of a valley crossroads which made it an easy target of the Taliban. It suffered attacks constantly and access by road was so difficult they eventually gave it up. But even resupply by air was hard, being at the bottom of a steep valley with enemy fighters along those slopes. Supplies were flown in on moonless nights to minimize the ability of the Taliban to attack. This movie is about that outpost, almost the first half establishing the situation, interactions with nearby civilians, and then the second half of the movie is mostly about a big battle that resulted in permanent closure of this base of about 80 US soldiers (plus Afghan government forces that mostly ran away; the movie makes it seem more like 20 soldiers there).
These movies are kind of hard to watch. It is hard to establish the key characters and some characters are established just so you will feel bad when they are killed off. It is hard to keep the names and faces straight (and there are some weird names, but they are based on real people). Then you have Orlando Bloom barely disguising his British accent. For fun, sons of Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood are in the movie and definitely remind you of their fathers. Eastwood’s smoldering glares eerily bring a young Clint out of a time machine, but he is spot on. At any time bullets can start flying or things just blow up because the base is an easy target, before being subjected to a large assault. I won’t give anything away because I think it helps if you don’t know how things will go, though you will want to read more later. I watched the Blu-ray which has a good segment with interviews of some people who served at the base as well as cast and crew. Ultimately the movie is a great tribute to the soldiers who risked and gave their lives for a very poorly conceived military base. It is a gripping story, with my only complaint being that it is kind of hard to follow since they can’t establish all of the characters, though the battle itself is pretty well explained.
Written: 11 Sep 2020
Owned on: Blu-ray