Bestie Krieg (1988)

Bestie Krieg: Directed by Kevin Reynolds. With George Dzundza, Jason Patric, Steven Bauer, Stephen Baldwin. A Soviet tank and its warring crew become separated from their patrol and lost in an Afghan valley with a group of vengeance-seeking rebels on their tracks.

“A very enjoyable film! Reynolds captures the essence of manu0026#39;s struggle with right u0026amp; wrong, good u0026amp; evil, on several levels in this realistic depiction of the Soviet-Afghan conflict. It was both meaningful and entertaining. I gave it an 8.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe internal conflicts of the characters reflect the many ways that people reconcile and deal with their emotions and beliefs vis-à-vis the roles thrust upon them by war and duty- the soldier, the faithful, the victim, the oppressor, the revenge-seeker and the order-follower. Each main character struggles at some point with his or her decisions in the face of right and wrong, duty and morality. It is the results of these choices that guide the film to transcend the events of war, and delve into the universal questions of how and why man struggles with real and painful choices.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlthough the film does prove to be quite predictable, the underlying messages are timeless and well depicted. A moving story with good character development artistically filmed and approached realistically. The brutality and violence of war is not gratuitous, and the anti-war message is delivered superbly.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI highly recommend this film to all audiences… not just war-film buffs. With the US presence in Afghanistan today, the film should serve to help understand that conflict and this one in regards to the human components that are so often overlooked.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA note regarding other useru0026#39;s comments: The film was subtitled. It seems that some saw it without the subtitles for some reason. If you are one of those people, you really must view it with them. Rent it. I cannot imagine truly understanding the full scope of the film without the benefit of the Afghan dialog. Also, the u0026quot;Americanizationu0026quot; of the soviet dialog not only serves to draw parallels between that conflict and the Vietnam War, but it universalizes the struggles of war and allows the viewer to empathize on a human level- not just a political one. In our long human history, how often have these basic human conflicts occurred… particularly in times of war and oppression and injustice?”