Hell and Back Again
Docurama | Release Date: October 1, 2011
6.4
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
4
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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9
MorriBeyMar 1, 2012
Its good. It mixes the war with real life without either overcoming the other. Whilst it is a documentary it does not dictate the story to you but it flows from the screen providing you with the questions.
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5
j30Feb 9, 2012
After hearing about Hell and Back Again on NPR I was hoping for a poignant documentary about the horrors of coming back from war (The Hurt Locker, Jarhead, or Restrepo (I know the first two are Hollywood movies)), but the whole movie feltAfter hearing about Hell and Back Again on NPR I was hoping for a poignant documentary about the horrors of coming back from war (The Hurt Locker, Jarhead, or Restrepo (I know the first two are Hollywood movies)), but the whole movie felt flat to me. Maybe the hero, Sergeant Nathan Harris, didn't let the viewers inside emotionally. Maybe it was that lake of a music score? I'm not quite sure, the film just didn't do it for me.… Expand
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6
TyranianDec 11, 2019
Reasonably good war doco that contrasts experiences of war with post-tour home life.
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9
TDailyRotationFeb 11, 2012
Another year, another war documentary. This time, filmmaker Danfung Dennis turns the eye of his camera on Nathan Harris, a Sergeant in the U.S. Army, who leads his 2nd platoon further into insurgent strongholds in hopes of turning the tideAnother year, another war documentary. This time, filmmaker Danfung Dennis turns the eye of his camera on Nathan Harris, a Sergeant in the U.S. Army, who leads his 2nd platoon further into insurgent strongholds in hopes of turning the tide of war in Afghanistan. The opening of the film features a firefight between U.S. forces and insurgents in the area where Lance Corporal Charles Sharp is killed in action, bringing the violence home for many viewers.

The film then announces, via title cards, that Sergeant Nathan Harris is severely wounded in combat, and he has returned home with a fractured pelvis and severely broken leg from a bullet that tore through his right side. This part of the film focuses on Harrisâ… Expand
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9
JwvJan 9, 2014
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The documentary starts off with a thought provoking contrast. We land in the middle of a deadly Afghan war scene, only to see the marines' family reunion in America shortly after. This contrast suggests the frightful incompatibility of these scenes, and hints at the question of how the marines cope with this.

During the story of Nathan back home, our point of view shifts from time to time to the Afghan war scene. These suggest the flashbacks that Nathan experiences.

Ironic scenes from Nathan playing Call of Duty confront the viewer with the barbarity it is of reducing war to an enjoyable video game.

The strongest moment in the film features one of Obama's speeches touching on the Afghan war. The film suggests the ridiculousness, emptiness and idiocy of Obama's idealized speeches about war, and subtly subverts it when a wounded and indifferent Nathan comments: "Well, Afgan people aren't watching." This film suggests that even physically unharmed marines come home profoundly wounded, be it emotional. Nathan's neurotic and unpredictable behaviour makes us question what injury cuts deeper, the physical or the emotional.… Expand
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