Sand Castle

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Aadam P It wasn’t clear if this movie was about war or character development but whichever it was I don’t think it was perfectly executed. It left me confused and wanting for more. I understand that some movies are meant to be that way but this just felt like I wasted two hours to watch guys talk nonsense and die. The plot wasn’t movie worthy and the characters didn’t open up enough for me to connect with them. The first mission with the hotel was confusing cause they never told why they were there and who they were up against. Some sniper on a building waiting for them and when they took him out the fire ended. Was it just one guy in the hotel? Why was he there? I don’t know. And the guys didn’t show enough emotions when they lost a friend. I felt nothing cause it seemed like they didn’t show enough emotions and I couldn’t grieve with them. I don’t recommend this movie. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 12/10/24 Full Review Audience Member Editing and pacing was kind of weird but I thought the story was good Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/05/24 Full Review Roux M I am an infantry veteran, and as a queer grunt who served under DADT, Hoult’s alienated civil affairs private resonated with me in a lot of ways. I served in the Surge era infantry and the futility of what we were doing hit me early on. I saw many of the people I served alongside in this movie; to those criticizing the juvenile behavior of these troops, this is what your warfighters were back then. A bunch of scared 18-24 year olds fighting phantom bandits with no measurable positive result, encouraging each other with false bravado and the pent up sexuality of an all-male unit. It wasn’t the most comfortable culture as a queer vet forced to hide who I was so I could stay on the job (which damaged unit cohesion, good riddance to DADT), and I empathized a lot with Hoult’s character sitting half in, half out of belonging by the end. You develop a desire to support and protect your friends and complete the mission, and that competes with your desire not to die for nothing in some godforsaken desert trying to drive a tanker full of water on a dirt road to nowhere. There are a large number of kids that bled and died over there, and for many of us who lived on, this movie reminds us we have a duty to do more to remember our battle buddies than just living with their ghosts; we have to tell their stories, big and small, and sustain each other in that mission. It’s been 13 years since I got out of the Army; I am the last one in my first squad left alive, and one of only 3 in the second, including the loss of both squad leaders. Most of those veterans died by their own hand. Please, if you are a vet in crisis, call somebody you served with, no matter how long you have gone without talking. The majority of my ghosts ended themselves in a hasty moment without trying to reach out and we all deserve so much better than that. It’s up to us to keep the memories of the ones that didn’t make it alive. We have a sacred obligation to support one another and honor those who could no longer shoulder the weight. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/22/24 Full Review Johannes S I can't build up a connection to any character whatsoever and the story is also a bit whacky, which makes the movie feel soulless. Most "action" scenes are just a front shot of an Army soldier shooting. To give them a bit of credit, some visuals and special effects are good. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/16/24 Full Review Andrew U I don’t know if it was laziness or lack of budget or what, but there were so many details wrong in the first 5 minutes of this movie that I had to stop watching. One of the first major dialogue scenes starts off with a model of tank (M-47 or maybe an M-48) that was out of service with the US decades before the time when this movie is supposed to take place, then goes on to do a wide view shot still showing those same outrageously obsolete tanks next to MRAPs (they look like Force Protection 6x6 Cougars?) that didn’t exist in theater until a year and a half AFTER this movie is supposed to take place and even then they were only used by the Marine Corps, and weren’t even ordered by the Army until 2005. The worst part about the opening 5 minutes? They had the balls to refer to those massively outdated tanks as “Abrams” when they very clearly look nothing like Abrams. So we have tanks that haven’t been in service since the 1980’s (at best) next to MRAPs that didn’t even exist yet. Maybe I’m just too much of a stickler, but when you’re a vet of the war supposedly being portrayed and producers can’t even be bothered to get simple things like vehicles even close to right, it makes it hard to take anything about the movie seriously. It gets two stars because the acting and dialogue in the first 5 minutes I did watch wasn’t awful and was somewhat realistic. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/15/24 Full Review Michael M Just another Netflix garbage movie. You've got to love those door-less humvee's with fully armored turrets. I mean why even bother armoring them if you can just shoot the guys legs through the open door. Should have just dropped Cavill, who seems pointless in this, and used the money you saved for some lore accurate vehicles and a better scriptwriter. Ugg Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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