Hell and Back Again
Hell and Back Again Image
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Metascore
81 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 17 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Summary: In 2009, U.S. Marines launched a major helicopter assault on a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan. Within hours of being dropped deep behind enemy lines, 25-year-old Sergeant Nathan Harris’s unit is attacked from all sides. Embedded in Echo Company during the assault, photojournalistst and filmmaker Danfung Dennis captures the frontline action with visceral immediacy. When Sergeant Harris returns home to North Carolina after a life-threatening injury in battle, the film evolves from stunning war reportage to the story of one man’s personal apocalypse. With the love and support of his wife, Ashley, Harris struggles to overcome the difficulties of transitioning back to civilian life. The two realities seamlessly intertwine to communicate both the extraordinary drama of war and, for a generation of soldiers, the no-less-difficult experience of returning home. An unprecedented exploration of the moving image and a film of uncommon intimacy, Hell and Back Again comes full circle as it lays bare the true cost of war. (Docurama Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. indieWIRE
    Reviewed by: Eric Kohn
    Feb 13, 2012
    91
    Possibly the best war movie of the year.
  2. Empire
    Reviewed by: David Parkinson
    Feb 13, 2012
    80
    A tough but deeply rewarding watch. Search it out.
  3. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Ben Sachs
    Feb 23, 2012
    80
    This structure persuasively depicts combat and recovery as two sides of the same struggle, and Dennis strengthens his argument by maintaining a constant perspective throughout: the camera is always within a few feet of the subject.
  4. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    Feb 13, 2012
    80
    As vital as the best war chronicles to come out in recent years, this is one every American ought to see.

See all 17 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. MorriBey
    9
    Its good. It mixes the war with real life without either overcoming the other. Whilst it is a documentary it does not dictate the story to you but it flows from the screen providing you with the questions.… Expand
  2. TDailyRotation
    9
    Another year, another war documentary. This time, filmmaker Danfung Dennis turns the eye of his camera on Nathan Harris, a Sergeant in the U.S. Army, who leads his 2nd platoon further into insurgent strongholds in hopes of turning the tide of war in Afghanistan. The opening of the film features a firefight between U.S. forces and insurgents in the area where Lance Corporal Charles Sharp is killed in action, bringing the violence home for many viewers.

    The film then announces, via title cards, that Sergeant Nathan Harris is severely wounded in combat, and he has returned home with a fractured pelvis and severely broken leg from a bullet that tore through his right side. This part of the film focuses on Harrisâ    … Expand
  3. j30
    5
    After hearing about Hell and Back Again on NPR I was hoping for a poignant documentary about the horrors of coming back from war (The Hurt Locker, Jarhead, or Restrepo (I know the first two are Hollywood movies)), but the whole movie felt flat to me. Maybe the hero, Sergeant Nathan Harris, didn't let the viewers inside emotionally. Maybe it was that lake of a music score? I'm not quite sure, the film just didn't do it for me.… Expand

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