Woodyanders This remarkable documentary centers on a troop of American soldiers in Iraq who make their base of operation in the bombed-out remains of Saddam Hussein's pleasure palace. The soldiers interviewed herein candidly discuss killing enemy soldiers, the bitter possibility of being killed in combat, and how no one but themselves will ever fully understand what they're going through while fighting in the war. A majority of these soldiers are fresh-faced teenagers straight out of high school who hail from obscure small American towns; their charming sense of naiveté and wide-eyed innocence puts a genuinely human face on war itself that's alternately funny, sad, shocking, and ultimately quite moving. The filmmakers follow the soldiers as they carry out their sometimes useless and often dangerous daily routine missions and goof around Hussein's palace in their spare time. Several soldiers perform incredible rap songs that are not only profane and amusing, but also very profound and touching. This movie thankfully eschews politics and preaching in favor of simply letting the soldiers tell their own story in their own words; this gives the picture a strong sense of urgency and intimacy that's both powerful and impossible to shake. The chaos, boredom and frightening unpredictability of war is vividly captured by the compelling anecdotes related by the soldiers. An amazing achievement that's essential viewing for anyone interested in seeing the soldiers' perspective on the war in Iraq.

lastliberal The one thing that strikes you more than anything else about the war documentary is how quiet it is. You would expect bombs exploding and bullets whizzing and shouts and screams, but they are all missing from this work by Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker.What remains is a constant recognition of the tension under which these soldiers are operating. Every moment, 24 hours a day, they are under threat. Everey step they take, every road they travel is fraught with danger from IEDs or motors or rifle fire.They are America's young; people who, for the most part, had no other options back home, and are now joined in a brotherhood that plays together, prays together, and dies together.It is a beautiful story of what our soldiers are going through.

daniel-ambia This is not a good movie. The director's voice is obnoxious and he is constantly commenting on everything that is happening. The worst part is when he films his own home however many months later and says something to the extent of, "I'm home now and safe, but those guys are still over there risking their lives for our freedom blah blah." Very melodramatically. The background music is poorly produced hip hop by the soldiers in gunner palace and it really doesn't flow well with the rest of the picture. Gunner Palace is boring because the makers tried too hard to strike some sort of nerve and missed completely. The soldiers that are interviewed are not very bright and it's boring to watch unintelligent people talk. While imminent danger is nearby, they never seem to run into any problems throughout the film. I wouldn't call it a war story because where is the war? Might as well watch the evening news reporters stand around interviewing deployed soldiers. Gone are the days of filmmakers actually putting themselves in the sh#t to tell a good story. The makers acted like embedded reporters reporting on only one side of the conflict according to a bunch of nineteen year old morons. You should see Occupation Dreamland. The soldiers are more interesting and the audience gets a better feel for the way things are because Iraqi civilians are interviewed as well. The truth is that a lot of Americans do not treat the Iraqi people very well. It's difficult to do so when you have no idea why you are stuck thousands of miles from home in a desert and you are unaware of how you have been manipulated by your government to occupy a country under false pretexts. Does anyone remember Vietnam? Jesus. It's like it never happened. This movie sucked.

kasserine This documentary centers around an army unit that has made its base at one of Uday Hussein's "Pleasure" Palaces. Gunner Palace, essentially, traces the lives of the members of the unit from the point of view of Michael Tucker, a reporter embedded with the unit.What works so well in this film is the simple fact that the viewer is getting to see the actual day to day activities of soldiers stationed in Iraq. It is fascinating and interesting, in this respect. What we are seeing is going on RIGHT NOW. It is unlikely the immediacy of Gunner Palace, and its impact, will be lost on anyone. Unfortunately, aside from the main strength of the film, the video footage shot by Mr. Tucker, there seems to have been little thought in how to present the information. It is simply not edited well. It proceeds in a somewhat chronological order, but is hampered by an almost comical voice over, I assume done by Tucker, himself. It sounds odd and overly dramatic, even for some as dramatic as war. The narration just doesn't work.The experiences of the soldiers themselves, are at times, very intriguing and include some amusing and often endearing raps performed by the soldiers about living in Iraq. It's clear that singing about the war, either with an electric guitar or a rap beat drummed out on a jeep is helping them get through the every day stresses they face. Presented more clearly and effectively, these raps could have given a nice structure to the film but seem more random and inserted without thought. And this is a shame, because there seems to have been a great deal of material the director could have drawn from. He was stationed there with them, for God's sake.Also, somewhat inexplicably, the director/narrator, towards the end of the film, recounts his own experiences leaving Iraq and adjusting to home life again. Why I say this is inexplicable is because one would assume it would be the final moment of the documentary with maybe an epilogue, but rather the film shifts back to Iraq and continues on. It only adds confusion and disrupts the viewers ability to track the events and people appearing in Gunner Palace.If only to see the faces of the soldiers and citizens in Iraq, as they are actually living, this film is worth seeing. It is a shame, however, that the footage Tucker shot didn't find it's way into more capable hands. Gunner Palace could have been even more compelling and affecting.