Guerreros

There has never been, or at least not in the recent years, a Spanish movie like this one. We are used to certain personal dramas (like Almodovar) or chilling thrillers (like Amenabar´s "Thesis" or "The Others"). In Guerreros, everything turns around the remains of Kosovo´s war and a group of Spanish soldiers that were sent there in a humanitary mission to take control of the situation. Calparsoro discovers us that, in the so-many-times-seen field of war, what it is really important is every man´s personal feelings.

Guerreros is not only a war film. It goes further more than shots, blood or explosions to show us deep inside every soldier´s problems and reactions. You won´t find special effects (like in "Black Hawk Down") but you´ll really suffer as the movie goes on. And you will see how each character evolutionates according to what he sees or feels.

I don´t want to spoil anything from the movie, so I won´t tell any more. If you like war movies, you shouldn´t miss this one. Probably, it will make you think and discover other points of view in a war.

We often watch world conflicts on TV and think they could never occur in our own country: we're too civilized to surrender ourselves to such brutal behaviour. This thought is one of many that haunts a group of Spanish peacekeepers in the embattled Serbian province of Kosovo. The troops represent a spectrum of personalities: the pacifist, the trigger happy, the professional soldier, the UN translator with conflicting loyalties, the soldier who wants no part of somebody else's conflict and who just wants to go home. As they undertake their duties - rebuilding a Church, restoring electricity to a town - the conflict becomes their reality. They are swept into it, and far from being the placid observers & peacekeepers they think they ought to be, they now must fight for their own survival. They slowly begin to lose that veneer of civilization that they though only they possessed, the same patina these embattled locals once had, but lost long ago. The director based many of the stories on actual events as told to him by Spanish soldiers returning from the region. It is filmed in a very gripping and heavy way - drawing you into it all, along with the lost soldiers. It drew great acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2002. For those who followed (or survived) the events of the last decade in the Balkans, it is a stark and honest portrayal that will leave many re-thinking the versions they may have formulated in their own minds, reading newspapers and watching TV, comfortable, in their own very civilized, and very insular, homes

This war film packs adventures , large-scale blow-up , thrilling plot , and lots of action for the most part , but also contains thought-provoking issues about courage and cowardice . The conflict between Servia and Kosovo serves as thrilling backdrop for this Wartime picture . It's a good mix of action-packed , adventure , thriller and warfare genre . The tragic story of a platoon of Spanish soldiers in Kosovo 2000 ; at the beginning they are rebuilding a Church , restoring electricity and helping villagers . The platoon is formed by Eloy Azorín as Soldado Vidal , Carla Pérez as Soldado Balbuena , Roger Casamajor as Soldado Lucas and Jordi Vilches as Cabo 1º Ballesteros ; all of them commanded by an unexperienced Teniente Alonso played by Eduardo Noriega and a tough Sargento Rubio performed by Rubén Ochandiano . Later on , they are assigned a mission in the hell of the Kosovo war . On rout their destination , the bunch is ambushed by Kosovar soldiers and their military vehicle -Oruga- sinks into a river . After that , the team escapes but they are detained , raped and strongly tortured .

This exciting movie contains noisy adventure , war and intense drama . Other chief excitements about the picture , will be in the intervention of a good plethora of Spanish actors and young secondaries who realize professionally competent interpretations . The traditional story and exciting screenplay was well written by the same Daniel Calparsoro though clichés run through-out , the enjoyable tale is enhanced for interesting moments developed among main characters and especially on their intense relationship when take place the upsettings moments when are attacked , besieged or mistreated . Thrilling musical score by Najwa Nimri as Najwajean , being composed by means of synthesizer . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Josep Civit filmed on location in Istog, Jablanica, Bosnia-Herzegovina , Klina, Kosovo and Lerida , Huesca , Guadalajara , Spain .

This is another superbly powerful Warfare movie being compellingly directed Daniel Carlparsoro. Daniel was raised in Donostia , for that reason most films are set in Basque country . Daniel uses to work with his spouses , as his first wife , Najawa Nimri composes his films and played in Asfalto , A Ciegas ; and his second one , Patricia Vico , performed in La Ira . Calparsoro is an expert on action and violent movies , such as 2o13 Combustion , 2012 Invasor Ausentes , 2000 Asfalto , 1997 A Ciegas ,1996 Pasajes , 1995 Salto a Vacío .

I caught this on Spanish-language HBO the other night and was captured by its style, tension, and brilliantly executed character development. The pacing is deliberate and, at times, frenetic. The tragedy of the "fog of war" in which these Spanish peacekeepers are lost is palatible. If you liked "Saving Private Ryan", "The Big Red One" and "Enemy at the Gates", you'll love "Guerreros".

I read these reviews and some seem more concerned that the film be educational and politically correct. This film is fiction, and a damn good story about how people react to stress and loss. It could be ANY WAR, and that is the issue. A EXCELLENT movie about people, and not so much a National Geo special.

The characters are real, the story plausible, and at the end of the day it tells a story of conflict and not to heroic survival.

The film is frank and graphic, I am avoiding spoilers, but you should see this movie. It shows a side of us all that we need to see.

One of the thing that this find does is to put you in the place of the characters, you find yourself asking what would I do.