...but "Soldiers of Paint," a well-crafted look at one of this country's more arcane niche hobby interests and the folks who make such things possible, certainly deserves a wider audience. This aging ex-grognard (that's shop talk for wargamer, btw) quite certainly enjoyed the faux war movie aspect of what is essentially a documentary about the world's largest paintball battle, i.e. Capture the Flag with non-lethal ranged weaponry. Wargames are never actually mentioned, but I'd put at least even money on the likelihood that a significant portion of the event's participants are active wargamers, be it boardgames or miniatures or video gaming.
"Soldiers of Paint" follows a number of participants throughout the planning and execution of the event, including its primary organizer, various commanders of the teams involved and a goodly sampling of the out-and-out "grunts" enjoying the festivities. It's a great cross- section of the hobby, fairly and even-handedly delivered; no attempt is made to marginalize or "geekify" paintballers. Kudos to DeChant and Gritzmacher for putting together this absorbing peek into an interesting slice of the human psyche.
"Soldiers of Paint" follows a number of participants throughout the planning and execution of the event, including its primary organizer, various commanders of the teams involved and a goodly sampling of the out-and-out "grunts" enjoying the festivities. It's a great cross- section of the hobby, fairly and even-handedly delivered; no attempt is made to marginalize or "geekify" paintballers. Kudos to DeChant and Gritzmacher for putting together this absorbing peek into an interesting slice of the human psyche.