The Couchpotatoes
I've seen quite a bit hard-to-watch-movies. But in most of those cases it were fictional movies like The Human Centipede, Hostel, Saw or A Serbian Movie. But with Kajaki it's different because it tells a true story. So your mind is set up to watch this movie as it was real. And I have to admit I was sometimes physically unwell during some scenes. They are hard to watch, so if you have a weak stomach I wouldn't recommend you to watch some scenes. But about the movie itself it is a brilliant movie. Certainly one of the most captivating war movies I've seen. It's not about we are the good ones and the others are the bad ones. It's about the devastating consequences of mines. Most of the movie is shot at the same place but the intensity of the stress moments gave me all those emotions. The absurdity of wars, the footsoldiers being seen just as expendable losses, it's sometimes hard to conceive. The acting was brilliant. It was like being with them in war territory. Kajaki is a movie I won't easily forget. It's one of those movies I will talk about among friends for a long time.
Prismark10
The film starts off slowly, it is low budget with some unknown actors giving it a naturalistic setting, but it really drags you in and at times you really want to close your eyes as the bombs keep going off and you hear the men scream.Kajaki is based on a true story, set in Afghanistan in 2006, a British army unit is providing security at a Hydro electric dam.The area is looming with minefields not from the post 2001 invasion but from the Soviet invasion in 1979. Some of the soldiers go to checkout an illegal Taliban checkpoint and are trapped and injured after stepping on a mine.The other soldiers need to go and rescue them but they need to avoid stepping into the mines, a rescue helicopter is called but they do not know that the vibrations of the blades could set off the mines and the chopper cannot land or winch the injured soldiers.Over the course of the film, the injuries increase, even the injured soldiers get re-injured, we get to learn more about the characters and their bravery.This is brutal uncomfortable viewing, there is some humour, some of it is bleak, one of the soldiers was in immense pain as the morphine did not work on him as he was allergic to it.
James Dillon
All politicians should see this harrowing film, before they casually commit our troops to harms way and death. To often they resort to the death and desruction option than exhausting non political alternatives A truly terrifying film, bringing home the realities of war, not like the American glorification of war
DominaTroy
I watched this movie with no real expectations, however knowing a lot about Kajaki and those who were there in 2006. In the Afghani/War on terror, many movies come out that have no realism, no research, no detail specifications or background information. I found this movie to be on point in all of those categories making it a real and horrifying viewing experience. Controversial war films are rarely made these days. This was a controversial time in the 21st century when many who were in Kajaki in 2006 will, most definitely, relate to and understand. Many war movies use the same army gear, guns, etc however there is a huge difference between all factions, countries, and wars. This movie, if you know a little about war history, just by turning it on you would know the place, incident, and year. The director/costume people did a fantastic job with the accuracy right down to the TATTOOS ON soldiers. Another bold and extremely accurate detail I found was the attention to mines and effect they have when one is triggered. Spot on. The makeup was so real, and accurate, is was like I was there. The men in this movie told a story. The story was the soldiers telling it, not the action going on around it. That is a what I call a fantastic script. A soldier is your brother, or sister, and in a life or death situation, They're not going to just run because it's too dangerous. This film was a showcase of bravery and truth. I wish they had gone a little further with some of the other issues at hand in Kajaki but this was the issue at hand and 10 stars for taking the leap. I don't see any mystery, however.. Not much mystery in this movie, straight up a war drama. A tragic, funny, and a display of brothers in arms.
AD
