Gunner Palace DVD
by Michael Tucker (III), Petra Epperlein
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DVD details
Actor: Bryant Davis, Devon Dixon, Nick Moncrief, Richmond Shaw, Terry Taylor (VII)Director: Michael Tucker (III), Petra Epperlein
Brand: Universal Studios
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-06-28
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sunset Home Visual Entertainment (SHE) / Palm Pictures
Product features:
- American soldiers of the 2/3 Field Artillery, a group known as the "Gunners," tell of their experiences in Baghdad during the Iraq War. Holed up in a bombed out pleasure palace built by Sadaam Hussein, the soldiers endured hostile situations some four months after President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations DVD Features: , Available Subtitles: English , Available Audi
DVD Reviews of Gunner Palace DVD
DVD Review: A haunting, visceral experience that everyone should have
Summary: 5 Stars
"For y'all this is just a show, but we live in this movie." -- Spc. Richmond Shaw, 1st Armored Division's 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, in the film "Gunner Palace."
One of the great ironies of 21st century international politics is that personnel trained to wage war are more often forced to play peacekeeper. This paradox is brought to life in the documentary "Gunner Palace," an uncensored, unflinching, unfiltered look at the daily lives of American combat soldiers in Iraq.
Filmmakers Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein went to Iraq twice, in late 2003 and early 2004, to follow soldiers from the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment -- nick-named "Gunners" -- during operations in one of the most volatile sections of Baghdad. The soldiers' barracks is a bombed-out former pleasure palace of Uday Hussein that the new tenants christen Gunner Palace.
The film captures the unvarnished reality of the soldiers' existence as they go about their mission of bringing stability to "post-war" Iraq. It provides a candid look at their experiences, good and bad. It shows their bravado and their anxiety, their frustration and their determination, their grim sense of humor and their dark sense of isolation. It also shows their joy of being alive -- eight of them were killed during the two months of filming.
There is riveting footage of nighttime patrols and raids on houses harboring suspected terrorists. With adrenaline pumping, the soldiers break down doors and roust terrified Iraqis out of their beds. Too often they discover their targets are not home, and they go back to Gunner Palace empty-handed.
The soldiers' mission is multi-faceted, yet ill-defined. They mediate community meetings and visit orphaned children in the hospital. They patrol the streets in the daytime as children smile and wave at them one moment, then throw rocks at them the next. They warily approach an abandoned bag along a busy street, mindful of "improvised explosive devices," as nearby Iraqis laugh at them. (The bag turns out to be empty.) They act as paramedics as they pick up a stoned street kid. They arrest fugitives and transport them for interrogation.
The Gunners work hard and play hard. They unwind with pool parties and golf matches. Several of the black soldiers decompress by snarling angry rap lyrics. Spc. Stuart Wilf, the regiment's clown prince, dresses in robes to imitate a mullah. He also plays a mean electric guitar.
These soldiers cuss like sailors. They are young, proud and confident, yet also scared and lonely; they are strangers in a strange land. They feel forgotten by their country and unappreciated by the Iraqis.
The film plays like a cross between "M*A*S*H" and "Apocalypse Now," with a little bit of the TV show "Cops" thrown in for good measure. There are surreal moments such as a sergeant intent upon tracking down the rat that has invaded his bedroll, seemingly oblivious to the mortar rounds bombarding the compound. In another, the soldiers raid a crowded coffee shop one night in pursuit of insurgents. Everyone is ordered to stand up with hands on their heads. After the suspects are secured and escorted away, an officer apologizes to the remaining customers and thanks them for their cooperation. The customers then calmly sit down and resume their discussions as if nothing had happened.
The culture clash between the soldiers and the Iraqis is highlighted by one memorable sequence in which Wilf plays "The Star-Spangled Banner" on his guitar, Jimi Hendrix-style, while standing on the roof of the palace. He is silhouetted against the setting sun as an American helicopter patrols overhead; in the background, the voice of a muezzin can be heard over a loudspeaker, calling Muslims to the mosque for evening prayers.
I do question some of the filmmakers' choices. Is the use of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" as a patrol prepares for a raid meant as a homage to "Apocalyps Now," or to draw comparisons between the war in Iraq and Vietnam? In another scene, a soldier floating on an inner tube in Uday's pool recites an entire monologue from "Full Metal Jacket"; it's inclusion is puzzling and unnecessary.
But overall "Gunner Palace" is frank and honest. It is eye-opening and thought-provoking. It has a rawness and immediacy that is captivating. It provides a view of the war the Pentagon probably doesn't want you to see, and one television news won't show you. It doesn't take sides, nor does it have a political agenda. It is not targeted toward the red states or the blue states, but rather to all 50, united states. It is funny, it is sad, it is real. It is a haunting, visceral experience that everyone should have.
Description of Gunner Palace DVD
GUNNER PALACE - DVD MovieGunner 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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