DVD I Am Soldier

A film about the SAS and the gruelling training should impart the emotional effect that it has on the squadies who attend it. At no point did I feel the SAS selection was tough – I mean, sure, they had to run and they were out of breath but… I didn't get the sense that each person was being broken down to be built back up in the image wanted by the SAS.

Now, the film also had another plot – the journey of the main guy. Except the very thing he had to overcome he didn't. A shortcut was put in, again, not allowing the viewer to emotionally connect with the trauma or hardship he experienced.

Let's get onto the ending which, even to me as someone who has never served, was a sham attempt at the SAS in action. Special Forces don't run behind one another with their guns pointed at their colleagues. Also, the BAM, BOOM, CABOSH Batman-esque sound effects were awful. What was also awful was the Bosnian language used. I mean, I assume it was Bosnian because the guys were introduced to us as that way but it's another shocking way that the Balkan language is represented (I could *list* the films and TV shows that do the same. The L Word even listed the Serbian translator as an Italian Translator). No excuse in this day and age. If your actors can't speak the language then list the bad guys as coming from somewhere else, please.

So, to surmise. Fails to hit the mark. No emotional connection. Vapid script. A lack of tone through the movie. Small details were so wrong that they were jarring.

4/10 because I'm clearly feeling nice today.

Is 'I am soldier' a film about the harsh training one has to go through to become an elite SAS soldier? No, the film fails in this regard. Although we do get to see the candidates go through the infamous SAS marches carrying various weights of bergen, the brutality of this process is not communicated well or even at all. (Remember men have died doing this). Where is the 4 week jungle course, the swimming and running tests, arms training etc? No, this is not a film about the SAS selection process Is it a film about our protagonist overcoming his fear of parachuting? No, although the numerous flashbacks and his story of a comrade dying during a parachute jump would have you think otherwise. How does he get over this fear? He doesn't, his instructor pushes him out of the helicopter and all is hunky-dory, smiles and a pat on the back.

What 'I am soldier' is really about is how pretty-boy Tom Hughes manages to keep his perfectly coiffured hair intact throughout this 'grueling' training process whilst at the same time trying to pull a 'bird'. I spent most of the film wondering what product he uses.

All in all the film is not about anything much and is extremely vague in its direction and lacks closure in some plot elements. The sub-par acting by our leading man and much of the cast feels forced and lacks conviction, one exception being Ian Pirie as brief his appearance is.