beorhhouse I give this anti-war gem 9 stars even though the various groups were not delineated enough to maintain clarity. The British Secret Service, I think, was involved as well as the IRA and the PIRA and supporters as well as the UDA, the RUC, and the British Army. I have friends in Belfast. I never visited, but I did spend time in Derry, and I lived in Armagh. My plans were to visit Omagh, but I left Ireland instead, missing the bombing by just a week or so (1998). This film shows, above all, humanity in the face of fearful hatred of 'the other.'

James "71" is under the direction of Frenchman Yann Demange, and that is only the right and proper distance from the subject, given the circumstances. But to achieve the level of insight that is on show here is no mean feat for "a foreigner", even if writer Gregory Burke presumably helped out with this.In contrast, I (like pretty much any British person beyond a certain age) came to this film as someone who has little distance to offer, above all as someone who sees the ordinary British soldier - the squaddie, the poor bloody infantryman from the shires (in the case of Jack O'Connell and his character Gary Hook that's Derbyshire) - as a genuine hero in every sense of the world. And that would hold true whether its the Alma or Waterloo, or World War I or the Falklands we're talking about. Happily, the film agrees with me on this (or I would have found it difficult to get very far with it), while it also reminds us at the outset, that - county regiment as this may "only" be - these are still the best and most professional and most-disciplined (which here also means superbly self-restrained) soldiers to be found anywhere. Trying to perform decently in impossible circumstances has been the lot of the British soldier for many a long year, but coming as close to this ideal as humanly possibly, the lads have won the respect of a great many of us.Officers and special forces or intelligence types get less favourable treatment here, and I can quite allow that, and all the more so given the bleak picture painted of "Loyalists" and Republicans alike, who are seen turning on their own (almost as much as each other) repeatedly and without hesitation.Indeed, given that (as the film reminds us several times), everybody here is also within the United Kingdom context, at some level everybody is turning on their own, as several surprisingly touching and affecting moments of regret at killing in the film make clear.To add to those nuances, there are even glimpses here of people trying to get on with semi-normal lives above and beyond the sectarianism. War zone this may be, but it has kids and schools and TV and some kind of normalised future within reach, as opposed to the slide into more and more of those "Troubles" that 1971 actually denoted.Ultimately the whole piece is then a tragedy, as was the real-life situation, but what this film achieves in concise storytelling is little short of miraculous. How to give the essence of that complex and miserable story by referring to the events of not much more than one day? One might have thought it could not be done, but the makers of "71" achieve it.There is not much fun to be had from this film, but its level of understanding and layered complexity is superb.Thank God we have a peace now, if a tenuous one, and most prices are worth paying to keep that. To realise what could conceivably again be lost, a look at "71" is enough of a reminder of awful times, primitive times, that do indeed need to be consigned to history.Watch "71" for all of these reasons, but also marvel at the art of those who made it.

Harrison Tweed (Top Dawg) It's been done so many times before, I didn't have high expectations going into this film. I have to now say, it's one of the best war action drama thrillers!This film is brilliant in every aspect; directing, screenplay, cinematography, editing and acting. My only critique would be some loose plot issues and I would have liked to see some more character development.Aside from that, a fun thrilling ride that is a must see film. It's a 9/10 from me.

Svenstadt I'm kinda split on this movie. I saw it a few years ago when it first came out.Much like a B-level movie, there's a lot of camera-work and what-not that distracts you. It doesn't really seem to connect with me for some reason. The story I found difficult to follow also. It kinda reminds me of Dawn of the Dead in that it seems there are continuity goofs and mistakes.In simple terms, this is a survival movie. That said, there are several parts that I found to be impactful. There is a scene where the British soldier, running away through a hostile section of Belfast, ends up at a pub with a small Protestant child who served as his guide, and his parents and other relatives are above the pub assembling a bomb. The soldier is in the pub when the bomb accidentally goes off outside, killing the child. Honestly, after a while I lost track of the movie due to boredom as it is very long. The pace also isn't consistent. Needless to say, there is a long-term antagonist that has been following the protagonist from early on in the movie. He isn't the one who initiated the survival run (it was a woman who disguised as a mother, plants a grenade on a group of soldiers, one of which is the protagonist, and makes it look like they are the bad guys, setting off a mob action on the soldiers). Rent if you wish, but only if you're dying of boredom.