The Long Road Home (2017) User Reviews

The battle from the Inside of Sadr City

[ConsDemo · 8/10 · 11 November 2017]

Much of the cinematic coverage of Iraq War was focused on fighting against Saddam's army and the Sunni resistance. This movie focuses on the experience of a U.S. Army unit in the midst of the Shiite area of Sadr City. As such it focuses on the Army's attempt to win "hearts and minds" but also deal with an insurgent threat.

The depictions are gritty and realistic. However, the first couple of episodes have a few glitches. One, it implies that Iraq was considered peaceful prior to the unit's arrival in April 2004, when an active insurgency had been under way since the summer of 2003. Also, members of the unit repeatedly say one the name and rank of one of their fellow soldiers over the radio, which is a big communications security "no-no." However, it does a good job depicting the contemporary military, equipment, uniforms and customs.

Lots of keyboard warriors out there.

[rdncktxn · 7/10 · 11 November 2017]

Sure the acting isn't great but take it for what it is. It's a series depicting a true event that happened to US soldiers. As a veteran myself and living just down the road from Fort Hood, I think it's crazy the nerve that these keyboard warriors on the internet have. It tells the story well. It shows the front line battles and the battles that happen back home that some shows don't touch.

good, but if you think about it not so good

[pvinnitsky · 6/10 · 1 January 2018]

Several things just make no sense:

1. US Army basically looks dumb and incompetent in this movie

2. They attempt rescue at night but nobody is using night vision and there is no air support.

3. They can't figure out where the 1st squad is located? really? with interpreter and another guy who speaks Arabic they can't ask or figure out their exact address/location? that is dumb.

4. They wave their arms like idiots while rescue drives by instead of shooting enemy who can clearly be seen?

5. Where are all the female soldiers?

6. Why did they need an an unarmored truck with infantry, they were a liability not an asset not once but twice.

7. why so much melodrama? Why focus on backstory of only some random soldiers, why not just do every single one?

Would you want to do it?

[cleishmains · 8/10 · 6 December 2017]

I really can't understand all the negative reviews this series has garnered as I really enjoyed it. It's not the best acted but it depicts a true series of events and does an excellent job of showing how badly the American forces had prepared for urban warfare at that time.

Sending an open truck, without a radio and full of troops into streets of multi-storey buildings packed with well armed insurgents is obviously, in hindsight, just madness but that was what the American military did. In a similar fashion the UK sent out unarmoured Land Rover Defenders before finding out that they tended to get blown up by unscrupulous terrorists. Lessons were learned the hard way back then and the series does a good job of showing that.

Yes the "homeland" stuff is occasionally a bit cheesy but people "Get over yourselves!" and see the entire series for, overall, a relatively inexpensive good bit of TV entertainment.

8 of 10

[paranormal_260 · 8/10 · 27 November 2017]

I meant to start watching this when it started, but forgot about it. I happened to catch it On Demand and wound up watching the first three episodes in one binge.

It's a good show. Yes, we can sit here and pick apart some of the acting or some of this or some of that, but some of these reviews are just asinine.

Honestly, I think some people could save some time and just write "I hate the military. I hate America. I hate God. I am going to bash this show, no matter what an no matter how ridiculously, unless it changes history to reflect my own personal narrative and wants".

It has a "Blackhawk Down" feel to it. The character development is fairly well done, although not necessarily done in the conventional way.

Grab a cold drink and a snack, sit down and enjoy the show. If you want an agenda driven, $$$$$$ heavy production, go watch a movie from the any major studio.

Decent War Series

[ryebailey2002 · 8/10 · 3 December 2017]

I'm not sure why the hatred for this series. It leaves a little to be desired concerning backstory, but I think you get enough of it for satisfaction. The show incorporates not only, the Soldier sentiment from the front lines, but also shows what families experience on the home front--that everyone is in this fight together. It also deals with the intricacies of loyalties among those who are native-Iraqis, the struggle in deciding who to side with, and the moral issues the American troops run into, while trying to make it out alive. It also shows the human, family, and team elements common among Soldiers in wartime.

So far I have enjoyed the show. It is full of action and pretty intense gunfights, battles, comms issues (the real, military deal), the whole nine yards.

I've enjoyed the series for its entertainment value, but also for some of the realism and different aspects of what it takes for our troops on the front lines and their families as they take the long road home.

Requires some patience but well worth it in the end

[grantss · 7/10 · 19 December 2017]

April 2004. The US 1st Cavalry Division has recently relieved the 1st Armored Division in its occupation of Sadr City, Baghdad. Everything seems peaceful until one day a platoon is ambushed in the city while on patrol. The platoon holes up in a house and reinforcements are sent to extract them. However, the relief column is itself ambushed, the main aim of the initial ambush. What follows is a life-and-death struggle against overwhelming odds. Based on actual events.

Pretty good, but requires some patience to get there. I was initially expecting a Generation Kill-like series, i.e. based on a true military story, follow a unit and are engaged by the camaraderie, gritty action scenes. However, the series immediately failed on the engagement front. Scenes showing soldiers with their family seemed token, padded and superficially sentimental. The unit brotherhood also seemed quite artificial, with forced, unnatural-feeling dialogue and interactions.

The first 2-3 episodes were all like this, to the point where I was thinking of giving up on the series. Comparing it with Generation Kill is obviously a very high standard to emulate, as Generation Kill is one of the best military mini-series of all time (only Band of Brothers is better), so maybe disappointment was inevitable.

However, from a point, the series clicked into gear. The soldiers' backstories went from mundane meet-the-family stuff to interesting series of events, linking in with their current situation and revealing their characters. The dialogue and interactions became more plausible. These all lifted the engagement level significantly. In addition. the action got grittier, more intense and more compelling.

The final episode is very poignant, with a great emotionally-manipulative twist. Makes the effects of war very realistic and stark.

Overall, a good series, just don't give up in the first few episodes - it gets a whole lot better.

New appreciation for our soldiers

[sharongoebel · 10/10 · 21 December 2017]

Yes the acting is not Tom Cruise but what do you expect for a mini series. You see on the news that there is fighting in Iraq and that troops get deployed but this hits home as to what they go through and endure. I was on the edge of my seat how they got rescued. Fantastic story and my hat is off to these brave men and soldiers. Whoever wrote the negatives comments below should be ashamed of themselves or better yet maybe they should go enroll in the army. Not having sympathy for our troops is disgusting. God bless our troops, freedom is not free.

I was at sadr city.

[majorebanez · 1/10 · 19 October 2020]

I was at sadr city 1st cav, and I have never written a review about any tv or movie but I had to say something about this travesty. The acting was on all average, not good but not bad. Sadr city was an extremely dangerous combat zone and these guys are walking in the middle of the street for any sniper or insurgent to hit them. Everything from tactics to uniform was terrible. In my unit we treated all Iraqi people with disrespect and hated them all, we never said we where going to help the people and give them freedom. This was a PC liberal persons view on the war. We where dirty, filthy dirty, smelly, and these guys are so clean, their finger nails where clean it's amazing how clean they where. The PC Benetton squad didn't exist with every race in each squad. Every Iraqi interpreter wore body armor and helmet because they worked with American forces and Iraqi insurgents saw them as traitors working with infidels, and the guy in this wears a uniform like he's hanging on the block. ITS A F KING JOKE THIS SERIES... I was there in sadr city. It's embarrassing for people to watch and think this is what we where like.

Its a true story...so about as real as it gets

[shoequeen2713 · 8/10 · 25 November 2017]

I can not believe these long winded full on negative reviews.

What not enough pazazz for you??

So full of it behind their computer screens

What would get to me is the waiting...

The wives at home needing to fill the hours to distract themselves from worrying & waiting. Stuck unable to go forward or plan ahead.

The soldiers yanked along from training to suddenly they're there in the truck, waiting to leave on their first mission,...

Many a war in recent modern history i have not believed was justified, but there is no doubting the valour, bravery & selflessness of each & every soldier, engaged in conflict.

What were they thinking????

[skoebrich · 1/10 · 10 July 2018]

I just can't begin to describe the awfulness of this show. The portrayal of the commander (Gary Volesky) rises almost to the level of stolen valor in the central role they give him in the event, when he was in reality only involved from the sidelines. Catching a grenade and tossing it out his HUMMVEE window? Please! I personally know several soldiers who were part of this event, and they are hurt and insulted by how it has been rewritten into a standard Hollywood shoot 'em up. I sincerely hope Martha Radditz wasn't consulted during production - if she was, then I'm sincerely disappointed in Martha Radditz.

Salute

[lusisab · 9/10 · 20 September 2018]

Truth. Hurt. Sacrifice. With all the emotions in realistic rationalization of decision making. Both objective and subjective to the crisis at hand.

Very well done!

[npvarley · 10/10 · 27 August 2018]

Ok, forget all the negative reviews that bang on about the dialogue, the acting, the US military's incompetence. None of that matters. This is, basically, a true story. Real soldiers (of which I was one, in my youth) are not all John Wayne stereotypes. They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They don't give heroic speeches. They just do their jobs as well as they can. That should be what people take away from this miniseries: ordinary people doing extraordinary things, brotherhood, family, courage, dedication.

Have the US military made errors? Of course. Humans make mistakes. That's normal. But it is the ordinary boots on the ground that make the army work, that overcome those mistakes.

This is a superb presentation of just that. Mostly, the acting is very good. The set and production is top notch. The actors all play their parts well.

And a word for Jeremy Sisto. His S/Sgt Miltenberger absolutely steals the show. He is brilliant.

This is well worth watching and, as you watch, stop critiquing the script. Just watch the people. They all do a great job.

?

[jamesaitken-98303 · 20 December 2017]

8 soldiers dead n 65 injured just to shovel shit..... wonders of the western rich elite never seize to amaze me anymore.... rip

Hard to Watch, but excellently depicted

[floridadragonborn · 10/10 · 25 February 2020]

I was just across the river with 1-5 Cav when this was going on. Very well put together and I think they did really good justice to what it was like. The entire city was in complete chaos while this was going on, brings back some really unpleasant memories.

I wish to be some soldier

[sajithdinukavikasitha-77322 · 10/10 · 1 August 2019]

You know from the day I can understand something, I loved, Respected and Adore them. I am not a emotinal one. But when I watch this I have skip some parts on first time. But I watched them three time in a raw. Because I loved this. But I hate that brothers died. And as this is based on true story, Brothers who were died, Rest In Peace Brothers.

Good old US of A

[ltc73 · 3/10 · 16 April 2021]

In episode 1 we have solders given Iraqi kids sweets, generals promising to make Iraq great, and the nice American families going to church back home.

Luckily we know what really happened. The USA invaded Iraq under false pretences and destroyed the country. They killed thousands of kids, not just gave them sweets.

I'm sick of tv shows glorifying USA when they destroyed the lives of millions of people . Tell the truth in shows.

long road home

[mesminpjohnson · 10/10 · 24 February 2021]

The flim series really tells about emotional and how do they survive inthe wars and also its a true picture of all millitary personal serving for there own country around the world. its tells about how to act simultaneously for time to keep there boys safe it also point out the value of the family and also they believe that there prayers keep them alive inthe war.... this series is dedicated to all army personnel who fought there life in the Iraq war

US Propaganda Machine on it again

[ahmadsmile · 1/10 · 24 December 2017]

This is total one sided US GOOD GUYS crap all over again. There is no greater moral Compass than you guys. Maybe some reality in this show would've a better cover on the lies that've been told in this series.

Wars are ugly but painting it like One side is just crazy animals and other is the Flock of Angles is total idiotic thing to do and leads to Years of more war.

Disappointing Iraq-War Melodrama

[wgingery · 5/10 · 8 November 2017]

We want war stories to express the paradox of war: how we hate war and how we love war; how it destroys life and affirms life's worth.

Don't look for that complexity here, though. What it offers, instead, is the conventional. If you've seen one Iraq War movie, you'll come away feeling you've already seen all this before.

These people seem incapable of doing the unexpected despite the horrific blood and violence., As they grapple with death. you get no sense of unbearable stress demolishing their façades and wrenching their guts.

It's not entirely the actors' fault, though, the way the dialogue just plods along, giving them no opening to get us inside their characters and reveal the interior.

That leaves much of the dramatic work to the annoying musical underscoring. It won't leave you alone; it's always there dictating what you're supposed to feel.

In the end, with nothing unexpected or surprising to grab you, you're left feeling you've wasted your time. .

Like a protracted day time special.

[hydearchie · 2/10 · 13 November 2017]

This was heavily marketed and I was very interested to watch it based on the cast and subject matter. However, The Long Road Home is dreadful on every level. The script is tortured (a weak narrative and asinine dialogue); the production quality poor and the performances stilted or soap opera-ish (I am sure due to the awful script). This was a missed opportunity for another perspective on recent history, though I think the source material was probably largely to blame - the book was apparently so badly written I was advised not to read it by a number of people. Overall, it felt like watching an interminable daytime drama and I had to give up shortly in to episode 3!

Simplistic reportage

[DCCinema · 2/10 · 20 December 2017]

Simplistic reportage by a simple-minded reporter who will never understand what the people she interviews are telling her. It's a technically well-crafted motion picture, but lacks a realistic story. This society lady can go to war zones as many times as she wants and talk to all the soldiers she wants and she will still never understand what they are going through -- before, during or after. I'm sure she had good intentions, but this overly dramatic, heart-on-the-sleeve retelling of the story has only the impressions of a lady reporter garnered from a distance, not the complex impressions of soldiers or their families. This lady should stick to writing something she actually knows about first hand, not just something she finds fascinating. And yes, I'm a veteran.

Just Another US War Story

[aarovicsc · 4/10 · 9 November 2017]

I was looking forward to this new series, being an avid war story fan. But what a disappointment.

There have been a number of very good mini TV series form the US over the past few years that have taken bold steps to try and show the rest of the world that the film industry can shake off this old Hollywood stereotypical view of America but this is not one of them. The characters in this first episode might as well have walked around for the first half hour waving the star spangled banner and eating apple pie because not one of them came across as being real. And the story is so predictable that I found myself searching the filming location on IMDb because it had lost my interest.

Needless to say I wont be watching the next episode.

Drama yes, Realism really bad

[michaelvanaerle · 2/10 · 19 December 2017]

The drama is okey, acting not great. the fire fights are really bad.

Poor tv series.

[bonobox · 2/10 · 24 February 2018]

I've watched this TV series with higher expectations knowing also the fact that National Geographic was behind.

I found it very slow paced, full of stereotypes and totally unrealistic from a military point view.

Don't waste time.