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Gunner Palace
Palm Pictures


8.4

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 16 votes
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Rate this movie

FILM:

The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair

MPAA RATING: R for language

This documentary reveals the complex realities of the situation in Iraq not seen on the nightly news. Told first-hand by our troops, Gunner Palace presents a thought provoking portrait of a dangerous and chaotic war that is personal, highly emotional, sometimes disturbing, surprisingly amusing ... and thoroughly fascinating. (Palm Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Documentary \| War
DIRECTED BY:	Petra Epperlein Michael Tucker
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 28, 2005 Theatrical: March 4, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	85 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Illuminating, disturbing, evenhanded.

100

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

At the very least, it's more honest and involved in its portraiture of American soldiers in Iraq than anything TV news of any political persuasion has given us.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Rousing, provocative film.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

A nerve-jangling work of visual poetry and ironic juxtaposition, and a powerful human story of a group of brave young Americans.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

A riveting and indispensable record of the war in Iraq because it comes from the men who lived it.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A ground-level documentary, messy and immediate, about the daily life of a combat soldier in Iraq. It is not pro-war or anti-war.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

The ironies and contradictions that give the first half a dark humor give way to gravity and respect as soldiers are killed (off camera).

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The film is more of an anthropological essay on the way young Americans relate while they make war, not love, and try to survive in the meantime.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Sensational viewing.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The resulting film is an unruly, riveting assemblage of anecdotes and impressions. The larger political and military questions about the war in Iraq are kept deliberately in the background, which some viewers may find frustrating.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A striking new documentary that shows the war in a way it's not been seen before: from the ground up.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

The best glimpse yet of what it's like to be in Iraq.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

In a simple, direct manner, Gunner Palace reminds you that the thousands of faceless, nameless troops in Iraq are still there after you switch off CNN.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Gets behind the armor and the camouflage to give viewers a clear if brief view of the men and women who fight and die under the American flag every day in Iraq.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Despite the jumpy, ride-along camera work and the ever-present threat of engagement, a certain tedium sets in during the film.

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

A lack of artful filmmaking doesn't detract from the dramatic impact of this fly-on-the-wall, cinema verite documentary.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

Why don't we see this kind of thing on the news every night? Undoubtedly military censorship comes into play, but probably more so it's the prevailing notion that talking-head shoutfests stacked with pundits bring in the ratings, while actual field reporting costs more money.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Do these soldiers make it? We keep watching and waiting. There's not much more to Gunner Palace than that, but it's no different than the soldiers' lot.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

For the soldiers, it's about living to see the next day and living with the things they see, and Gunner Palace honors their perspective like no other Iraq documentary has to date.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Put together by Tucker and his co-director/editor wife Petra Epperlein without a hint of artifice, docu offers up its sounds and images bluntly, and they are very much sounds and images worth having as part of the record.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Floating on the surface of confusion, Gunner Palace has a raw home video quality that's often quite beautiful. Much of the movie is hardly more than an immersion in sights and sounds. Vivid as it is, Gunner Palace is dominated by what isn't shown. It's the human face of Abu Ghraib.

Newsweek David Ansen

Defies any expectations you bring to it. There are sights in Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein's eye-opening documentary that will confirm and confound both right and left.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The film's fragmentary structure, though, is suspect. It says that the soldiers find no real meaning in their combat actions, yet Gunner Palace presents the operations we're seeing in so little context, reducing them to a random hash of ''sensational'' moments, that Tucker at times appears to be exploiting the war to create a didactic canvas of manic military unease.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

With so many soldiers interviewed, some only fleetingly, it's impossible to keep track of them all.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Works purely as a series of complex snapshots of the conflict in Iraq.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Provides an intimate, nonpoliticized, uncensored and totally unappealing look at the lives of U.S. soldiers serving during a grim and uncertain period of insurgency.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

The picture is too long. It repeats and repeats. Thirty minutes, instead of its eighty-six, could have told us all we need to know about the danger and tedium of these lives.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Although the acclaimed documentary Gunner Palace contains some electrifying vignettes of the Iraq war, its jaggedly elliptical and hopped-up style lands it in a limbo between ragged and slick.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Sorry, but this level of insight is readily available from daily news reports.

Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt

Tucker has done a bang-up job, distancing and hypnotizing us with his frenzied, fragmented, sexy images. But war isn't a video game.

TV Guide Ken Fox

But good intentions aside, Tucker and codirector Petra Epperlein only further confuse the issue: Their rap-video stylings and use of non-source music create the impression that you're watching characters trapped in a Tom Clancy Xbox game.

New York Post Kyle Smith

At its best, the film just sits back and lets the weird times roll.

New York Magazine Ken Tucker

Gunner Palace too often makes the grunts look like mean slackers -- precisely the opposite, one presumes, of what was intended.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jeff L. gave it a10:
Most people, if you ask them, will tell you that they "support the troops." The exact depth of their support may vary, but is usually characterized by their display of yellow ribbons, flag pins, and bumper stickers. The filmmakers of Gunner Palace - Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, co-directing their first feature - show their support of the troops in a far more tangible, meaningful, and poignant manner: by giving the soldiers themselves the opportunity to tell their own stories. The film portrays several months in the lives of soldiers stationed in the converted ruins of what was once Uday Hussain's obscenely opulent Baghdad palace, complete with fully stocked fishing pond, huge swimming pool, ballrooms, and a comically over-the-top bedroom that would embarass Austin Powers. With an immediacy rarely captured in other war films (even documentaries) we watch the soldiers carry out raids on suspected terrorists, attempt to train Iraqi security forces, interact with the locals (some of whom are highly sympathetic, others quite hostile), and blow off steam with the occasional (alcohol-free) pool party. The film doesn't wear any political agenda on its sleeve, with names like Bush and Rumsfeld only occasionally coming up in conversation. There is actually a surprising amount of dark, boisterous, profane humor on display, as the soldiers rely on gallows humor to cope with their often depressing or terrifying situations (of course the best fictional war films, like Altman's MASH and Coppola's Apolcalypse Now are often infused with dark, absurdist comedy.) There is also a lot of music, with many of the young soldiers using rap to vividly and eloquently express their feelings and relay their experiences. Regardless of how you personally feel about the war in Iraq, you owe it to these young men and women to look at this film, get to know them as individuals, and listen to their stories. Then maybe that bumper sticker on the back of the pickup (or Volvo) will take on a whole new meaning for you.

Corky T. gave it a6:
One of the best this year!

Joe F gave it a4:
Okay, to start off, I am a combat veteran of the U.S. Marines Corps., and a huge movie buff, for I hope this will not slant my opinion one way or another of this film. Having said that, this was an okay movie. The fillm gives the average soldier a voice, however, there was no real attempt in the "tying together" of a plot, or artistic semblance whatsoever. The filmmakers don't grant you enough substance to make an educated decision about our U.S. forces in Iraq. Any one of us could get "war" footage and freeze a frame here and there, and overlay music for effect. Yet this was too choppy, and extremely disorganized. The moviegoer wants to come out of this film either feeling patriotic, or, build upon their will to get our troops home and out of this cluster of a situation. This movie makes you feel empty afterwards, and with no closure, other than the fact that our men and women are are dying each day, without reason. Either attempt to provide the reason or give reason for our occupation. There was far too much footage of our troops smokin' and jokin' without real substance. You get the feeling throughout the entire movie that something dramatic is about to occur, and never does, until the end of the film in which the narrator sloppily ties together loose ends instead of providing true meaning during the film. The in film narration is horrible, and is sporadic at best. Yes a documentary, but please have a point. For the average moviegoer, this may just be a "sneak peek" into the lives of those that serve and defend our country, in which they may never see. I guess this is a good substitute for those of you who just have to see war, and lust after the 24 hour news footage, that is long since gone. However, in that regard that is all this film really is, extended footage, and not much else. Kudos to our troops serving our country and through candid interviews, contributing their opinion. That is the one true bright light of this film. However I feel without a strong base, all this film amounts to is cheesy one minute clips of boys just being boys. Rent it, and volunteer your time at your local VA.

Gehrig L. gave it a10:
I saw this in Toronto and was blown away by the film makers "style" and approach. I'm a film maker so I look with an anamorphic eye and was very Pleased by Mike's approach and edit. This is what starts discussion and hope it continues to do so.

lupi gave it a1:
A year with this awesome group of soldiers and this what you chose to portray? I saw the Frontline piece and yours was just that: a piece. It seemed like you wanted to show the less intelligent side of these troops. No point to the entire doc.

Marc R. gave it an8:
It's not a bad movie, but they could have done more with it. I suppose with all the embedded coverage of the war, and after the ABC reality series which they pulled off the air after like 3 episodes, this sucker wasn't all that original. However, that being said, it was refreshing to get to know at least a handful of American soldiers. Sure, they rapped, blew off some steam, and had some fun, but I was proud that this film confirmed for everyone that these men and women are solid folks, good people who are put into and extremely difficult situation and making the best of it. If you're hesitating seeing this film because you think it's going to be political - don't. It's not overtly pro war or anti-war. Probably the most interesting segment was an interview with one of the soldiers who described in detail how they don't fear bullets, mortars, RPGs or anything else conventional -- fear stems solely from the IEDs which are hidden in garbage, and "this whole country is covered in garbage." I guess I had assumed that it wouldn't be overly difficult to spot suspicious looking boxes, etc. in the street, but that segment drove home just how precarious any drive becomes. [They should put the hardened prisoners on "Street Sweeping Duty."] The film also brilliantly showed the heroism of the Iraqi informants like "Ray" and "SuperCop" who risk their lives daily by assisting the Army with intelligence about insurgents and terrorists. SuperCop explains that the insurgents have never known a world free of war and they are afraid to live in such a world -- it's merely a fear of the unknown. The Iraqis who assist the coaltion can envision an Iraq that is free of fear and terror - a place where they can hang out with their friends and family, where they can laugh and be together without that collective pit in their stomachs. Once this way of thinking is spread to the Iraqis at large, we'll be able to leave them, knowing their country is in good hands.

Rich P. gave it a10:
It would be great to say that there are some great people fighting to defend their Country. But they are not defending their country and they know it. They are fighting for a lost cause and this fantastic documentary shows that the soldiers who fight in ANY war deserve respect, whether you agree with the politic or not.

Gunner Palace Palm Pictures

Gunner Palace
Palm Pictures