Welcome to the dark side of the moon is part of the initiation into northern Afghanistan mountainous terrain where a hostile Taliban looms.
It doesn’t get any better is inscribed above a bunk in the new harrowing and visceral Rod Lurie real-life war drama The Outpost it has some quieter interludes of soldier’s reaching out to loved ones but will be remembered for its unflinching depiction of the Battle of Kamdesh while carnage and chaos reigned.
This look at Combat Outpost Keating with infantry unit members played by the likes of Orlando Bloom, Scott Eastwood and Caieb Landry Jones is more down-and-dirty than the likes of the recent 1917 or Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge for that matter given how it purveys infantry antics and firefights.
The screenplay is drawn from the book by CNN’s Jake Tapper that puts a premium on many acts of valor and how to Medals of Freedom were later issued. Perhaps less on character building on strategic deficiencies, but Eastwood is notable for his Staff Sergeant’s snarling stoicism (like his dad to a degree) and Jones of Get Out for where he takes his infantryman physical and especially emotionally after the demise of a key character.
The director has dedicated The Outpost to his son who sadly perished far too early at 27 as many twenty-somethings pout out so much in service of their country. Some involved in the actual events like Daniel Rodriguez even are around during the end credit scroll as talking heads for Trapper that puts a capper on a horrifying, if memorable large-scale ambush.