THE OUTPOST : Tuesday 13th October 2020.

'THE OUTPOST' which I saw this week is an MA15+ Rated American and Bulgarian Co-Produced war drama film that is Directed by Rod Lurie whose previous feature film making credits take in the likes of 'The Contender', 'The Last Castle', 'Nothing But the Truth', and 'Straw Dogs'. This film is based on the 2012 book 'The Outpost : An Untold Story of American Valor' by Jake Tapper about the Battle of Kamdesh during the war in Afghanistan. Due to see its Premier screening at South by Southwest in March of this year, when the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it was released through Premium VOD and in selected US theatres in early July this year. Last week it saw its cinematic release in Australia having earned just over US$1M at the Box Office so far and generated largely positive Reviews.

As the film opens we are introduced to a troop of soldiers being helicoptered in to a remote outpost in Afghanistan located some fourteen miles from the border with Pakistan and at the base of three steep mountains. This is Combat Outpost Keating. Staff Sergeant Clint Romesha (Scott Eastwood) is amongst the new arrivals late at night. He settles in taking a lower bunk and as he stretches out he notices that a previous occupant has inscribed the words 'it does not get better' on the underside of the upper bunk. In the camp there is a complete mix of personalities, backgrounds and ethnicities, all led by Captain Benjamin Keating (Orlando Bloom). The next morning following a quick briefing by Keating, the newly arrived troops are shown around the camp ground when they are attacked by Taliban insurgents. The short lived skirmish results in an exchange of gun fire and mortar rounds aimed at a cluster of Taliban perched on a narrow escarpment just within range.  Such skirmishes are almost a daily occurrence with Keating's men generally gaining the upper hand even though they are disadvantaged by being on the lower ground, but they have far superior weaponry and trained soldiers. 

After being introduced to various other soldiers, including Specialist Ty Michael Carter (Caleb Landry Jones), Staff Sergeant Justin T. Gallegos (Jacob Scipio), Private First Class Zorias Yunger (Alfie Stewart), Private Ed Faulkner (Will Attenborough), and following that skirmish these men all had disagreements with one another or with Captain Keating, revealing the amount of pressure and stress the men collectively were under. The next day Captain Keating meets with a group of local tribal elders during which time he states that they must all work together with a shared sense of trust and respect, and he agrees to pay them and offer contracts for projects to help support and grow their communities, including the construction of a local school. He also advises them that the United States will compensate them for anyone who agrees to lay down their arms. After some reluctance the gathered Taliban all lay down their weapons at Keating's feet, and as a show of gratitude one of the English speaking elders embraces Captain Keating.

The next day Captain Keating announces that they are to return a big truck to another military base located just thirteen miles away. But the narrow unsealed mountain roads are too precarious for a vehicle of that weight and size, and so none of the men want to go because it's seen as being way to dangerous a mission. Captain Keating volunteers to drive the truck even though it will take all night to travel the thirteen miles, and Romesha and Carter ride with him in the cabin, with army patrol cars up front and behind. On a narrow stretch of road with a sheer drop to the left, the small convoy comes to halt having spied something in the road up ahead. Romesha and Carter go to investigate and discover that it is nothing, and turning around to go back and join Captain Keating, the truck gives way with its weight on the crumbling roadside and plunges down the mountain side and erupts into a ball of flame a couple of hundred feet below. Keating is thrown free, but has sustained severe head injuries and dies a short time afterwards where he lay. After the soldiers have held a funeral and a gun salute to their deceased Captain Keating, they are introduced to Captain Robert Yllescas (Milo Gibson). 

As he is being shown around the base on his first day, the Taliban insurgents attack, and afterwards Romesha leads his men on a patrol of the surrounding area. Looking down on their camp they see for the first time just how exposed and vulnerable the outpost really is. Sometime later Sergeant Josh Kirk (Jack Kesy) observes a man with a mobile phone taking photos and video footage of the camp. The man does a runner but Kirk give chase and catches up with him, knocking him to the ground. The man advises Kirk that the elders paid him to take photos of the camp. The next day Captain Yllescas is in discussion with the elders wanting to know more details surrounding the covert photography. The elders respond asking about their arrangement with Captain Keating as they feel it is now not being honoured. Captain Yllescas withholds money from the locals which was to be used for the school and to bring clean water and power to their community. As relations with the elders begin to deteriorate the US troops are warned by a local translator Mohammed (Sharif Dorani) of an impending mass attack by the Taliban. The US troops laugh it off and do not take the warning seriously saying that Mohammed cries wolf to them almost everyday, and nothing ever eventuates from his dire warnings.

On a patrol mission headed up by Captain Yllescas, a lot of chatter is picked up over the radio. Mohammed claims that the chat is about nothing really, not realising that it is probably coded. As Captain Yllescas is crossing a narrow rope bridge over a river and talking to Yunger behind him, he is blown up and killed outright. Yunger escapes being wounded but is traumatised after the incident and goes into shock. Later that night Yunger is talked out of shooting himself in the head by Romesha, and is the next day helicoptered off camp for treatment. 

Captain Sylvanius Broward (Kwame Patterson) arrives at the camp and when it is attacked he delays the orders for his troop to fire back when engaged in gunfire by the Taliban, and subsequently berates Romesha for engaging with the enemy when they are not seen to be holding any firearms. So many changes in their leadership over such a short period of time is only adding to the tension and stress the men are feeling. Captain Broward offers to pay the men an extra US$1,000 per month for their troubles. The relationship with the elders and the locals continues to deteriorate. Mortars come raining down on the base at night. The next day at the village, Broward is confronted by the villagers with a corpse of a young woman who claim that she was killed by mortars from the camp the night before, even though it is obvious to the soldiers that she has been dead for two or three days at least. The elders demand money for the loss of one of their daughters and further state that everyone knows the troops are leaving soon. Captain Broward gets upset and questions why they think they are leaving soon? As Captain Broward tries to get an answer to his question, the sniffer dog companion of one of the US soldiers bites a local man's hand. Mohammed explains that in their culture it is extremely disrespectful to get bitten by a dog. Captain Broward then pulls out his sidearm and shoots the dog, which only serves to alienate him even more from his own men. As he turns to walk away he orders one of the men to pay US$3,500 out of the Captains discretionary fund to compensate for the loss of the young woman. 

The next day as the soldiers are letting off some steam in their quarters, Captain Broward enters and announces that he has been relieved of his duties. Broward also advises that they are scheduling the birds to come pick them up with a Captain Stoney Portis and that the Saudi's will then close up the base on October 6th and ultimately blow it to kingdom come. Broward appoints First Lieutenant Andrew Bundermann (Taylor John Smith) to assume command until then. Bundermann's first order is to remain silent on all outgoing communications about leaving as they do not want to give the Taliban the heads up. He instructs the soldiers not to talk about leaving the base to anyone on Skype, email, the radio, or over the phone.

Early morning on 3rd October, Mohammed runs around the camp screaming that the Taliban are here. In the mountains, hundreds of Taliban soldiers are seen advancing on the camp as they begin their attack using mortars, rocket propelled grenades and gunfire. Soon the soldiers find themselves in a life or death battle at a base that is fully surrounded by mountains and the Taliban have the advantage of the high ground. The attack is one of the bloodiest battles and is known as the Battle of Kamdesh, that raged through the entire day until early evening when air support finally arrived dispensing with many of the remaining attackers. 

Eight U.S. soldiers were killed and twenty-seven wounded; eight Afghan soldiers were wounded, along with two Afghan private security guards. The US military estimated that 150 Taliban militants were also killed as a result of repulsing the assault. The US soldiers killed in the battle were Staff Sergeant Justin T. Gallegos, Specialist Christoper Griffin (Alexander Arnold), Private First Class Kevin C. Thomson (Bobby Lockwood), Sergeant Michael P. Scusa (Scott Alda Coffey), Staff Sergeant Vernon W. Martin (Cory Hardrict), Specialist Stephan L. Mace (Chris Born), Sergeant Joshua J. Kirk and Sergeant Joshua M. Hardt (Jack DeVos). Twenty-seven soldiers were awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat. Thirty-seven soldiers were awarded the Army Commendation Medal with 'V' device for valour, three soldiers were awarded the Bronze Star Medal, and eighteen others the Bronze Star Medal with 'V' device for valour. Nine soldiers were awarded the Silver Star for valour. Staff Sergeant Justin Gallegos and First Lieutenant Andrew Bundermann were ultimately awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha and Staff Sergeant Ty Carter were both subsequently awarded the Medal of Honour in 2013.

'The Outpost' presents the viewer with a truly immersive rendition of the Battle of Kamdesh underpinned by a sense of urgency and hopelessness by being overcome by a group of marauding insurgents who outnumbered those US soldiers in Camp Keating eight to one. This is a realistic retelling of one of the bloodiest and boldest battles of the nineteen years of the Afghan War, that pays tribute to the brave soldiers who stood their ground and won the day against the odds, but not without sacrifice. The cast are all to be commended for their authentic depiction of the soldiers they portray with a particular stand out performance by Caleb Landry Jones, and the Director here has crafted a surprisingly visceral, gritty, intense, no holds barred depiction of the horrors of the battlefield, its bravery, its failures and the true cost of war on both sides. 'The Outpost' reminded me in some ways of Ridley Scott's 2001 'Black Hawk Down' - another true life account of American soldiers a long way from home fighting for their lives amidst seemingly impossible odds. Certainly worth watching on the big screen if you can. 

'The Outpost' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-