Check This One Out! - Kilo Two Bravo

Check This One Out! - Kilo Two Bravo

Mine: "Kaboom!"

      Kilo Two Bravo is directed Paul Katis (1st time director!) and stars Mark Stanley as Tug, David Elliot as Mark Wright, Scott Kyle as Stu Pearson, Bryan Parry as Jonesy, Benjamin O'Mahony as Stu Hale, Liam Ainsworth as Ken Barlow, John Doughty as Dave Prosser, Andy Gibbins as Smudge, Thomas Davison as Jar Head, Grant Kilburn as Alex Craig, Paul Luebke as Jay Davis, Robert Mitchell as Faz, John-Paul Bell as Luke Mauro, Ali Cook as Spud McMellon, and Malachi Kirby as Snoop.

I stand by this statement, just like I always have: the most intense job, in my opinion, is being a medic on the front lines.

      Setting: Afghanistan, 2006. A patrol of three British paratroopers go to a dried up riverbed that leads the way to a couple of Taliban men. Their mission is to disarm them, but one of the soldiers sets off a mine only to have his leg blown off. To his aid, the two other men signal for help and the others in their troop come to help. Unfortunately, other mines are set off. Now knowing that this dried up riverbed is a minefield, the men must be extremely cautious that their next small movie doesn't set off another mine. With selflessness at every soldier's foreground, they all must help each other and survive together until the rescue helicopter arrives.

Going through every area around you to carefully caution others about a mine is like making sure you study for every minor detail on a test...not really. This job is much harder. 

      I found out about this movie really randomly by scrolling through Netflix's drama section. Holy crap, am I glad I stumbled upon this gem. Kilo Two Bravo is almost the perfect war film that doesn't have any actual warfare in it. I can actually summarize it as 127 Hours meets Saving Private Ryan's Omaha Beach scene, but with less gun violence and brutality. It still holds the intensity just as well as the Omaha Beach scene, though. Two Kilo Bravo is first and foremost a fantastic film about brotherhood and heroism in the ARMY. We have all seen films like this, whether they're recent films like 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi and Lone Survivor or older films like Platoon or Apocalypse Now, but I honestly have to say that this film probably takes the cake on how soldiers interact with each other in a high stakes scenario. I can't say for sure whether or not soldiers would interact like this on the front lines with mines all around them, but I assume it would be something like this because of not wanting to raise others' fears/anxiety. I also absolutely loved how this film is primarily taken in one area: a dry riverbed. This is unlike most of the war films I have seen in the past. It's original, is what I should say, like the story behind it. That's actually another point: this actually happened. These brave badass people did whatever they could to help each other stay alive. Although not everyone was affected by a blast or shrapnel of a mine, the psychological damage that occurred literally moments after each blast impacted all of the men. The soldiers showed this anguish of not being able to physically help their fellow soldier who is just steps away from them. Well done, actors! I can't even remember the last time I thought deeply about a movie even days after seeing it. It's truly one of a kind.

Damn! If only I could be this selfless, courageous, and calm when trying to help people.

      Kilo Two Bravo is not only a great war film, but it also allows you to laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time in the way that a comforting friend would lighten the mood when things are going South. The bond that this band of brothers have is so strong that it feels like you're one of the soldiers. The camera work (by the way, cheers to the grips) has a lot to do with that; almost like a documentary kind of filming. I do want to stress that this movie is definitely for people that can hold their food into their stomach because there are plenty of scenes with graphic depictions of the aftermath of the mine explosions. In any case, watch it, please! Kilo Two Bravo is a film about real soldiers that deserves more credit than it actually gets and should be watched by everybody.

Front line medics...I salute you all!

Kilo Two Bravo is rated R for disturbing and graphic depictions of war injuries, and for pervasive language

Click here to watch the trailer

Kilo Two Bravo is available on DVD, Blu-ray, some streaming services, and digital download

      Thanks for reading, everybody! I really do appreciate it. Please subscribe to my blog and follow me on Facebook here and Twitter here to get updates on new reviews and trailer drops. Also, if you've already seen Kilo Two Bravo, comment and let me know what you think of it. I'll post another Check This One Out! next week. Thanks again!