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| Gunner Palace DVD | 
 enlarge | Directors: Michael Tucker (iii), Petra Epperlein
Actors: Devon Dixon, Terry Taylor (vii), Bryant Davis, Richmond Shaw, Nick Moncrief
Studio: Sunset Home Visual Entertainment (SHE) / Palm Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $0.65
You Save: $19.33 (97%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (80 reviews)
Sales Rank: 22418
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 87 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D3116D
UPC: 660200311629
EAN: 0660200311629
ASIN: B00096S45I
Release Date: June 28, 2005
Theatrical Release Date: March 4, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Genre: Education/General Interest, War, Documentary, Theatrical Release, Soldiers, Military (Usa), Weapons, Saddam Hussein Director: Mike Tucker Description: In this striking documentary shot in 2003, early on in the US-led war on Iraq, a group of American soldiers in Baghdad who have taken over a bombed-out palace that belonged to Uday Hussein, the son of Saddam Hussein, offer the camera a view on their world. While they party poolside for most of the day and lead raids on homes of suspected bomb-builders most nights, they also have a lot to say about the war and their situation. Rapping to each other or to the camera, they use rhyme to speak their minds about various aspects of the war, their day-to-day duties, and life in Iraq. Their youth and immaturity is striking, as is the war itself and the nebulous reasons that they are stationed there. While the primary purpose of GUNNER PALACE is to give the perspective of the soldiers, secondarily viewers get a glimpse of Iraqi civilians and how they react to the US military presence--some are terrified, others are skeptical, still others are compliant and grateful if not totally sure why. However, giving voice to the soldiers remains the film's major theme, and for this reason, filmmakers Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein appealed the original R-rating given to the film by the MPAA, and won. With a PG-13 rating, filmmakers explained, teenagers considering military careers can watch the film and benefit from seeing soldiers in combat and hearing them talk about what it's like. Release Notes: DVD Features: Region (unknown) Audio: Stereo 2.0 Surround Sound 5.1 Additional Release Material: Deleted Scenes U.S. Theatrical Trailer DVD Rom Features: Weblinks
Amazon.com
Gunner Palace may well prove to be the emblematic film of the Iraq war, offering a yet-to-be rivaled level of intimacy with the inner lives of those who hate war more than anyone--the soldiers who have to fight it. A war documentary seemingly without an agenda, at least in political terms, it appears to neither support left-wing nor right-wing interpretations of the Iraq war (or perhaps it supports both). Director Michael Tucker provides a ground-level view of the conflict by closely following members of the 2/3 Field Artillery. He lived with these soldiers, documented their daily lives in a bombed-out former pleasure palace once belonging to Uday Hussein, accompanied them on raids, and recorded their brutally honest observations on film. We learn that mortar attacks typically fail to rattle the troops, but that paper bags or packages in the streets that may contain Improvised Explosive Devices evoke gut-churning anxiety. We see Iraqi civilians whose homes are raided, cowering with fear as these members of the occupation search for contraband weapons. We meet soldiers who express profound doubts about the morality of their mission, soldiers who earnestly hope they?re helping the people of Iraq, soldiers who roll on the ground with laughter at the ineffective armor they've been provided for their Humvees. Most of these men (and occasionally women) hail from small towns and vacillate between exaltation for the adventure they're experiencing on the world stage and deep confusion and disillusionment at how it's proceeding. At one point in the documentary, Tucker returns to his home in the states; some footage of him making breakfast in his kitchen is shocking when one considers that only twelve hours previous he was in a war zone. Gunner Palace recapitulates this dissonant sensation by virtue of its candor and proximity to the conflict. In the 1970s the major broadcast media brought Vietnam into our living rooms via the nightly news. Gunner Palace, practically by itself, provides the same service today. --Ryan Boudinot
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| Customer Reviews: Read 75 more reviews...
Hours of Boredom January 5, 2008
War has been described as "hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror" but nothing much happens in this documentary. I assume the producer had only limited time, maybe 3-4 days, to shadow the troops he was filming and during that time, essentially, nothing happened. The titles on-screen tell us that a couple weeks later so-and-so was killed, and across town an IED exploded, but on-camera all we get is the daily routine of these fresh-faced high-school kids, 19- and 20-years old, going out on patrols in their Humvees.
During the day they're holed up in Uday Hussein's old palace (not a very good image for U.S. troops), while at night they careen through Baghdad streets blasting "The Ride of the Valkyries" from the stereo (a la "Apocalypse Now" - even worse publicity). They raid the homes of suspected "bad guys" (from what intelligence we're not told, but their raids mostly come up empty), banging down doors in the dead of night and shouting incoherent instructions in English to the terrified families in their beds. Meanwhile Donald Rumsfeld drones on and on in radio broadcasts about progress being made in "winning the war."
One wonders what war he's talking about.
 Awful December 4, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a returning vet I found this movie to have no point or relevance to what was actually going on in Iraq. Plus if your looking for a horrable rap video documentary on nothing, look no further. The only reason this video got one star from me was because it made me put one in.
 A limited documentary October 30, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
While the Iraq war is too vast and complex to cover in a single film or even a mini series, at least some level of context and background would have been appropriate for this documentary. It is so narrow in its scope (a few months with a single unit in Baghdad in 2004), it can hardly even begin to speak for the conflict thus far.
The war has changed and the majority of soldiers don't have pool parties, barbeques, or practice guitar on a high rooftop. So much time is wasted in the film on rap, jokes of the day, or answering such unique and hard-hitting questions as "Why did you join the Army?" that missions and daily tasks seem to be cast off as minor annoyances in a combat zone.
Though it does a good job of avoiding the grand standing and saber rattling so typical of wartime politicians and higher ranking officers, it becomes so neutral that it seems to almost not even have a point. The director's whisper of a narration does little beyond providing a constant flow of background noise, and he seems to be more a cameraman than any sort of documentary maker. Though Michael Moore style rhetoric would have been too much, at least a sense of some opinion or view could have been offered.
As a veteran of the Iraq war, my biggest worry is that viewers will make so much out of the so little in this film. Remember, just because he uses a handheld camera and talks to soldiers doesn't mean he's going in depth. Though better than so much of the hot air on TV (no cable news "experts") and all the garbage in theaters concerning the war (no actors or Hollywood stunts), it is still only slightly better. It will probably be years, or even decades, before anything decent is really presented in covering this war, but until then this will barely pass muster.
Worth a Viewing May 27, 2007
Following members of the 2/3 Field Artillery based in Uday Hussein's Azimiya Palace,
we see all the daily aspects of life for the soldiers currently in Iraq. Be it relaxing in one of Saddam's former palaces' pool, interacting with the local Iraqi citizens, to going on a nighttime raid for suspected terrorists. A viewer experiences for 90 minutes the horror, satisfaction, courage, confusion, grievance & uneasiness that our men and women in uniform confront everyday in Iraq and similarly in combat areas throughout the world. Regularly omitted from the nightly newscasts, the interviews featured in the film provide insight and reflection from the common soldier serving his/her country in War on Terror. Well worth the money and your time, "Gunner Palace" captures on film the drama and turmoil our soldiers struggle with and endure during combat in defense of his/her country.
With so much emphasis on debating the US's role and direction to take in Iraq, it is invaluable the average citizen can witness what really is and has been transpiring behind the jargon and political spin.
Despite what aspirations of aversions of war in general the filmmakers had originally intended to convey, the film really brings to the viewer a sense of profound appreciation for the job our troops are doing.
good movie May 25, 2007
I am currently serving in Iraq right now so I thought it would be neat to see what other soldiers have and are going through. The movie was pretty good, the only thing that I didnt like was the fact that there wasnt more action. All in all though, I feel like its worth watching again
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