The Big Parade, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Story of G.I. Joe, A Walk in the Sun, Pork Chop Hill, Paths of Glory, Saving Private Ryan, From Here to Eternity, Flags of Our Fathers - make no mistake about it, The Outpost will be included alongside each of them whenever the great 'modern' (post-1900) war films are listed and discussed. Like the others, the new Rod Lurie movie balances the anti-war sensibility that any sane person shares with all of humanity with a rousing/worthy tribute to those individual people and 'bands of brothers' (Shakespeare, Henry V) who, as Tennyson said, do not have the option of 'wondering why' they are catapulted into in hell on earth, only that they must 'do or die.' An Alamo like depiction of an actual battle during our never ending war in Afghanistan, Lurie's film (based on a non-fiction book by Jake Tapper of CNN) does not so much document the fighting as it thrusts you into the epicenter of this human storm, the highest compliment any movie on any subject can ever be awarded. Though completed (and originally scheduled for release) in 1919 (long-delayed), we can only hope that The Outpost will be considered for Academy Award nominations for the 2021 Oscars. If it is, watch it sweep the Academy Awards - including a long overdue one for the under-appreciated director! DOUGLAS BRODE, Author: From Hell to Hollywood: An Encyclopedia of World War II Films (Volume I and II).
Review of The Outpost
