lavatch The year is 2006, and the setting is the Kajaki Dam in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. A small British contingent is protecting the dam against the Taliban. The film depicts the harrowing tale of the small band of brothers of "Kilo 2" who walk into a minefield in the wadi.The level of realism in this film is startling. The dialogue sounds almost like a candid recording of the private conversation of a group of soldiers. The filming of the mine explosions and mutilations is a harrowing experience. One can only marvel at the skills of the medics working under pressure, as well as the courage of the rescue team. Everything about the film was credible.Beyond the heroic tale of survival of the men of Kilo 2, the film offers insights in the nature of the war in Afghanistan that has continued unabated since 2001. But the minefields depicted in the film were originally set by the Soviets during their failed invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Those mines remained active until the tragedy in the wadi in 2006.A film that is difficult to watch, "Kilo Two Bravo" is a moving record of an incident that needs to be told. We are reminded that the subtitle of the film is "The True Story."

Prismark10 The film starts off slowly, it is low budget with some unknown actors giving it a naturalistic setting, but it really drags you in and at times you really want to close your eyes as the bombs keep going off and you hear the men scream.Kajaki is based on a true story, set in Afghanistan in 2006, a British army unit is providing security at a Hydro electric dam.The area is looming with minefields not from the post 2001 invasion but from the Soviet invasion in 1979. Some of the soldiers go to checkout an illegal Taliban checkpoint and are trapped and injured after stepping on a mine.The other soldiers need to go and rescue them but they need to avoid stepping into the mines, a rescue helicopter is called but they do not know that the vibrations of the blades could set off the mines and the chopper cannot land or winch the injured soldiers.Over the course of the film, the injuries increase, even the injured soldiers get re-injured, we get to learn more about the characters and their bravery.This is brutal uncomfortable viewing, there is some humour, some of it is bleak, one of the soldiers was in immense pain as the morphine did not work on him as he was allergic to it.

tnfitzgerald_1985 I've never seen a movie capture what it is to be a soldier better. British, American or whatever. Watch this - it's history not a film.There have been many films made about Afghanistan/Iraq over the last few years and they are all afforded a degree of Hollywood Licencing. The Hurt Locker being an excellent example, almost good but ruined by pandering to a less intelligent audience.If I was asked to describe what being a soldier is I could only ever point to this film. There is nothing there that is overdone or underdone. It just is what it is meant to be.

James Smith Knowing the story beforehand I was curious to see how the makers of this film could come up with a well rounded movie.Unfortunately, they didn't. After a very short introduction to the main characters, all with strong British accents which even I had trouble understanding (British born Australian), we are taken to the minefield. Yes I jumped a couple of times, but then found there was no pace. There was too much unedited conversation and no action or tension.It is a shame that the film makers didn't provide more background, showing how tough you have to be, to be a British Paratrooper, and some of the previous actions they had been involved in leading up to the mines. This would have probably conveyed more the futility of being killed or wounded by Russian mines planted many years earlier. Just showing realistic portrayals of mine strikes does not a great movie make.