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Where Soldiers Come From

Play trailer Poster for Where Soldiers Come From 2011 1h 33m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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81% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 81% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Filmmaker Heather Courtney follows three lifelong friends, who joined the National Guard right after high school, from boot camp to Afghanistan.

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Where Soldiers Come From

Critics Reviews

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Steven Snyder TIME Magazine 11/10/2011
Director Heather Courtney's emotional and engrossing portrait of America's bravest. Go to Full Review
Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times 10/07/2011
2.5/5
A work that's less urgent and involving than its intense subject matter might have dictated. Go to Full Review
Tom Long Detroit News 09/30/2011
B+
Courtney avoids all political posturing here, something rare in modern war documentaries. These are the guys, American kids. This is the war, it's awful. And this is what happens. In your own backyard. Go to Full Review
Mattie Lucas From the Front Row 08/05/2019
3/4
Its scope is both limited and intimate, a quality that is both to its credit and its detriment. But it is very much an essential document of the times we live in. Go to Full Review
John Beifuss Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) 11/17/2011
3.5/4
One of the more valuable and compassionate entries to date in the ever-expanding catalog of documentaries inspired by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Go to Full Review
Phil Hall Film Threat 09/22/2011
1.5/5
The young men at the center of the film have obnoxious personalities and it takes a great deal of patience to follow their journeys. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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04/27/2014 Heather Courtney's documentary achieves what The Hurt Locker set out to do; tell a truthful tale about the effect war has on its soldiers (and their families). See more 09/01/2013 A great documentary, that puts a human face on the faceless American soldiers that we see in the media, going off to war. Great to have it confirmed that they are not just mindless machines. Rather sad to see the difference between the young boys who go, and the men who come home. See more 12/14/2012 Heather Courtney has the best of intentions, but her bias is unabashedly evident. See more 12/11/2012 The most wonderful thing about this documentary is the unadulterated honesty. It has no agenda. It has no outstanding message. It simply sets out to accurately chronicle the stories of several boys entering the military. As heart warming as it is heartbreaking. A must see, especially for anyone with any relation to the military. See more 11/01/2011 One of the best documentaries of the year. See more 10/08/2011 A truly amazing look into what the war does upon the youth of the United States. In contrast to Restrepo, 'Where Soldiers Come From' shows a more common scenario for our troops over in Afghanistan. The film gives us a detailed look into the before & after psyche of these troops. Showing us that soldiers don't need bullets flying past their heads to become victims to the mental anguish of PTS. A brilliantly shot, and directed film by a devout documentarian. See more Read all reviews
Where Soldiers Come From

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Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmaker Heather Courtney follows three lifelong friends, who joined the National Guard right after high school, from boot camp to Afghanistan.
Director
Heather Courtney
Producer
Heather Courtney, Megan Gilbride, David Hartstein
Screenwriter
Heather Courtney
Distributor
International Film Circuit [us]
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 9, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 8, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$38.2K
Runtime
1h 33m
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