This review is from an Iraqi who lived throughout the entire thing.
I'm here to state some facts about the zero-hour of operation Mosul liberation...
Watching this film and comparing it to what every Iraqi soldier/civilian had witnessed during that operation, you can't help but say that this film has nothing on the 'Free Burma Rangers' documentary or any other real Mosul firefight you'd see on YouTube.
Sadly to say, considering that the film was supposed to be about Iraq, only 25% (if not less) of the characters in the film were actually Iraqis, others like the kid policeman and most of the guys in the team were Egyptians or Syrians and I thought I recognized one guy's dialect I thought it was from the UAE.
Another facts... The Iraqi SWAT team is actually called Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) or the Golden Division, these guys are under the direct command of the Prime Minister and are in no way obligated to follow the orders of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, incase these guys refuse to follow a direct federal order, they'll be declared fugitives and will be shot on sight just like the Islamic State terrorists. And with that being said, no one in the country apart from the PM has the right to tell them what to do, and especially not a stupid police officer holding a checkpoint only to be bribed. These guys don't stop at checkpoints to ask for permission... They MUST be Iraqi and police detective with a Major rank cannot be a part of them, they only take in people at around the age of 18-23 (not sure about the numbers exactly), so I think you guessed it... they don't recruit people based on motive, it's not up to them.
Also the ISOF operate US military-standard NATO gear and equipment... meaning no AK's, no looting of dead people vests... These guys are the most funded and the most paid infantry personnel in Iraq.
And about the firefight and the scenery of the film... there's a reason why ISIS militants are called rats... they hide behind buildings, fire through holes, and they don't setup outposts in the middle of the street (when the Major and his second in command spotted them with the score/snorkel)... I mean, they literally dug tunnels throughout the entire city with outlets that extend 5-10 kilometers in the outskirts of Mosul. ISIS don't SMOKE CIGARETTES. Period... and that is what the kid looted off of the IS sniper he incapacitated on that rooftop.
I don't know if anyone had the same experience that I had , but this film would've had a rating of 4.5/10.0 tops if it was about world war II and not the most recent event. Sorry, that's just my opinion.
I'm here to state some facts about the zero-hour of operation Mosul liberation...
Watching this film and comparing it to what every Iraqi soldier/civilian had witnessed during that operation, you can't help but say that this film has nothing on the 'Free Burma Rangers' documentary or any other real Mosul firefight you'd see on YouTube.
Sadly to say, considering that the film was supposed to be about Iraq, only 25% (if not less) of the characters in the film were actually Iraqis, others like the kid policeman and most of the guys in the team were Egyptians or Syrians and I thought I recognized one guy's dialect I thought it was from the UAE.
Another facts... The Iraqi SWAT team is actually called Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) or the Golden Division, these guys are under the direct command of the Prime Minister and are in no way obligated to follow the orders of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, incase these guys refuse to follow a direct federal order, they'll be declared fugitives and will be shot on sight just like the Islamic State terrorists. And with that being said, no one in the country apart from the PM has the right to tell them what to do, and especially not a stupid police officer holding a checkpoint only to be bribed. These guys don't stop at checkpoints to ask for permission... They MUST be Iraqi and police detective with a Major rank cannot be a part of them, they only take in people at around the age of 18-23 (not sure about the numbers exactly), so I think you guessed it... they don't recruit people based on motive, it's not up to them.
Also the ISOF operate US military-standard NATO gear and equipment... meaning no AK's, no looting of dead people vests... These guys are the most funded and the most paid infantry personnel in Iraq.
And about the firefight and the scenery of the film... there's a reason why ISIS militants are called rats... they hide behind buildings, fire through holes, and they don't setup outposts in the middle of the street (when the Major and his second in command spotted them with the score/snorkel)... I mean, they literally dug tunnels throughout the entire city with outlets that extend 5-10 kilometers in the outskirts of Mosul. ISIS don't SMOKE CIGARETTES. Period... and that is what the kid looted off of the IS sniper he incapacitated on that rooftop.
I don't know if anyone had the same experience that I had , but this film would've had a rating of 4.5/10.0 tops if it was about world war II and not the most recent event. Sorry, that's just my opinion.