War Documentaries Worth A Damn: Taking Fire

War Documentaries that are shot almost exclusively using a Soldier’s recorded Helmet Cam Video are getting to be the standard by which all 21st Century War Documentaries are judged now.

After the groundbreaking Afghanistan War Documentary Restrepo by Sebastian Junger and the late Tim Hetheringon and their equally powerful follow-up Documentary, Korengal, which documented the lives of the 173rd Airborne Brigade as they fought Taliban insurgents in the hellish Korengal Valley in Eastern Afghanistan, not by listening and watching some pompous Hollywood director narrate the action, but by simply recording what happened and letting the soldiers who sere fighting and dying tell the story. It was hard to imagine a better war documentary being made after Restrepo quite frankly.

But then came Director Ricky Schroeder’s excellent 2015 series The Fighting Season and his 2016 Follow-Up My Fighting Season on Audience Network. With the majority of the footage being First Person Soldier POV Helmet Cam and the remainder being Solider and Officer narration of the actual battles being shown, My Fighting Season showed combat in its purest, most un-adulterated form. Gritty, Hard-Hitting and No Bullshit from the soldier’s perspective and not the media’s.

Taking Fire is anticipated to be a runner-up to these great War Documentaries. It will combine both Soldier POV Helmet-Cam and Standard Digital Camera footage along with solider narration.

Taking Fire Premieres on Discovery Channel September 13th.

War Documentaries Worth a Damn: My Fighting Season

Every once in a while a War documentary comes along that really grabs you by the n_t sack and does not let go.

Set in 2012 in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, My Fighting Season follows several Companies from the 82nd Airborne whose main job is root out the Taliban from an area north of the city of Moqor affectionately known as “The Playground”.

The series which is directed by actor Ricky Schroeder, is raw with uncut language and intense battle scenes.

One of the things that I like most about the series (so far) is how you, right along with the soldiers, learn the Guerilla style TACTICS of the Taliban and how best to counter them. You learn really quick the Taliban are no slouches when it comes to Guerilla Warfare, some of the fighters have decades of experience fighting Americans and most of them were taught by Grandfathers, Fathers and Uncles who fought with the mujahedeen against the Soviets in the 70’s and 80’s.

My Fighting Season Comes on Tuesdays  at 7pm CST on the Audience Network.

War Documentaries Worth A Damn: “My Fighting Season”

“My Fighting Season” captures the chaos and brutality of life on the frontline of the Afghan War.

Last year, actor-turned-filmmaker Ricky Schroder, released the first installment of his six-episode documentary series called “The Fighting Season,” which chronicles the U.S. military’s efforts to bring the war in Afghanistan to a close after 13 years of grueling counterinsurgency operations.

Much of the footage featured in the series was pulled from helmet cameras worn by frontline soldiers in an attempt to show what that effort looks like on the ground. The result is what Schroder has confidently described to Deadline as “the most realistic combat experience on the modern day battlefield ever shown.”

The second installment of the series, titled “My Fighting Season,” follows U.S. Army infantrymen in 2014 as they operated along the border with Pakistan — one of the country’s most treacherous battle spaces.

The 6 part series will begin to air on July 5th on Audience Network, Channel 500.

Judging by the trailer, it’s going to be one hell of a film. Take a look.

Read the Original Article at Task and Purpose

(Note: I corrected the air date from June 28 to July 5th via this article)