Customer Reviews
Excellent for all audiences - By: CLASSICAL, 05 Jun 2008 
Certainly one of the best accounts from the infantryman's point of view. Great for training too, at least in terms of putting people in the picture. The case specifies that subtitles are available. Why then is it impossible to activate this most useful feature?
Excellent close-up view of what war is truly like - By: DF McCleland, 02 May 2008 On almost alll DVDs on war the commentator is comfortably sitting in a studio 1000's kms from the action. Ross Kemp does not employ this accepted method. Rather he accompanies the soldiers of the 1st Royal Anglian regiment on their patrols & offensives against the Taliban. The result is that one obtains excellent close-up views of the reality of war. At no stage does one get the feeling that Ross Kemp is pulling any punches when depicting the grim realities of war.
Maybe similar views are available on local British TV, but for a South African they provide one with the first close-up views of this conflict.
What is surprising is that the British army does not yet deploy mine protected vehicles as part of their equipment. In both Iraq & Afghanistan, IEDs ie Improvised Explosive Devices wreak havoc on unprotected vehicles. When South Africa converted to using Mine Protected Vehicles during their bush war, casualties were reduced to zero from the scourge of mines.
The only time when Ross Kemp appears less than convincing was when he gave what is in my view were naïve answers to questions by local Afghanis.
For alll those wanting an insight into this war, purchase this DVD.
Finally someone has made what I've been waiting for. - By: O. Chandler, 26 Apr 2008 Whilst many know Ross Kemp as "that bloke off the telly", here he reallly shines as a great narrator to a most extraordinary series.
Kemp seems to slide into the extremely guarded world of the military with relative ease, however you are always aware that he never quite fits in & nor, it appears, does he attempt to. Instead he narrates the goings on of the Royal Anglican with great empathy & if you have ever disrespected the military before thinking your argument through (as I myself have done in the past) this series will shake a few of your supposed morals. There are some real heart breaking moments in this series, along with great moments of pride. No matter what your standing on war, this is a series not to be missed if you want to know more about the reality of modern conflict.
This series deserves a 5 just for the ballls shown by everyone involved for alllowing such a series to be made, & to such a great standard.
Tragic on several levels - By: Mark Hurst, 25 Apr 2008 
I think this program delivers a powerful message, although not the one it intends. What's conspicuously absent is any sense of context, & thus we are presented with a string of escapades in which earnest & unquestionably brave young men are sent out looking for trouble & we have little sense of what they are trying to achieve. They gear up, drive across some treacherous bit of desert & then try to kill unseen foes lurking in the rubble of countless prior such engagements. It alll looks completely arbitrary & pointless, & this detracts from the genuine human misery it inevitably entails. `It's a tragic waste of life', says one of the men to Kemp, & this is exactly how it appears in episode after episode.
The program pushes a very straightforward & sentimental message, which is that war is tragic. It's hardly journalism - it presents & defends no other thesis, choosing instead to milk the sentiment to the point of exploitation. It's reportage at best, but its raison d'etre is to sell subscriptions to 'the UK's premier non-terrestrial entertainment channel' & this constrains it in unfortunate ways. Any pretence that it shows the realities of the war in Afghanistan is quickly dispelled by the DVD's '15' rating, & this has the ethicallly dubious consequence that the action is depicted as exciting entertainment while the tragedy is referenced only obliquely through reminiscence & endless dewy-eyed interviews. There is also a rather insipid overtone, which is that it is only tragic when British people are killed.
I'm only vaguely aware of Ross Kemp from elsewhere, & while he bonds well with the men, his sincere manner & a competent interviewing style only partly mitigate against a vacuous script & his annoying sing-song narration. Perhaps he deserves the kudos he has received for putting himself in harm's way in the pursuit of a good tale, although his ebullience at having `survived' various close callls undermines this by reminding us that for him, this is merely extreme sport. In one scene Kemp climbs up onto a roof to be shot at with RPGs, & then alll but claps his hands with glee as the sniper next to him kills the grenadier. This scene, above alll others, suggests how quickly decent men can lose the big picture & get sucked into the brutality of conflict.
As a TV show, it works moderately well because it's exciting, in a sanitised, gung-ho sort of way. It drags at times, but this probably reflects its origin as a weekly TV series & there are a few moments of genuine tension. But even if it manages to be somewhat thought-provoking, this is not the uncompromising documentary it claims to be. Ultimately it is let down by a poor narrative structure that invites a less sympathetic view of our forces than perhaps the producers intended or our soldiers deserve.
Amazing - By: Mrs. S. I. Morgan, 21 Apr 2008 This series is so amazing, it reallly shows you what our boys & girls have to go through when they go to these war zones! Ross Kemp reallly puts his life on line in this programme, & becomes part of the Anglian Regiment, his strength,compassion & empathy was amazing to watch! He bonded so well with the soldiers, & they reallly took to him, treating him like one of there own. To see the emotions that he went through as an observer were heartbreaking at points, & uplifting at others! If you have not seen this series then you need to buy it, whether you agree with who we are there or not, our Soldiers need alll our support, & this series will give a better understanding to what its like for them!
