The Outpost (2020) – Edge of seat

After twenty years, trillions of dollars, and thousands of deaths on all sides, the U.S. finally replaced the Taliban with the Taliban.

 

This was an actual WhatsApp message circulating in August 2021 when the Taliban finally took over Afghanistan for the second time in 20 years. The comparison with Vietnam in 1975 (below top) gave a sense of deja vu and was inevitable, where thousands of refugees desperately tried to clamber aboard any U.S. vehicle or aircraft, waving bits of paper at various US installations (below bottom). 

Saigon – 1975

 

Kabul – 2021

 

The Battle of Kamdesh of 2009 was – as always, the case in Afghan War movies – a U.S. outpost in the middle of nowhere that was attacked by hundreds of Taliban one day. After the battle ended, the Americans counted the dead and stocked up to fight for another day. Firepower and, finally, airpower prevailed over the Taliban, who left behind hundreds of dead. No one could have predicted that 12 years later, all those deaths would be utterly meaningless.  

 

The film starts well. A group of soldiers are heli-dropped to the outpost at night. In the morning, their leader Sergeant Romesha (Scott Eastwood), looks at his surroundings and utters the classic statement,” This is a joke, right? “. 

Their outpost is surrounded by hills – a tactical advantage for the Taliban.

 

(Closer home, this is one reason why the Kargil War took so long as the Pakistanis were on the higher elevation and the Indian forces had to fight “upwards”). For that matter, any military unit on top of a hill or a mountain always has an advantage. Military history is replete with examples, the most infamous being the four-month-long Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944 during the Italian campaign.

 

Beyond the moderately fortified camp is a village whose local population is ambiguous in its support for the Americans. This is natural as the Americans would one day go away while the locals still have to live there and make peace with whoever is in power. The local Afghan interpreters and Afghan Army forces are also ambiguous in their support of Americans though the policy of “Hearts and Minds” – winning over the local population – is actively practised.

 

 “H.Q.” is always clueless about what is happening in the field and, at times, sends clueless officers who go by the book and not what is tactically required to do the job. Every day the Taliban take potshots at the outpost – as if testing their response time and defences. One of the soldiers catches a local Afghan from the village filming the post on his mobile.

The tension rises palpably. Everyone knows something is going to happen soon. 

One dawn, the Taliban attack in full force. From all sides. 

 

The blurb for the movie says, “A small team of U.S. soldiers battles against hundreds of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.” This might as well be a template for all Afghan and Iraq War movies, which have become a cottage industry. Just like the Vietnam War movies of the 1980s, where the Americans won every onscreen battle, the Afghan and Iraq war movies also take the same path – “we won all the battles against a tough, relentless, ruthless enemy”. What’s unsaid is that the politicians – like in Vietnam – dealt the soldiers lousy hands. In one of the most cynical manoeuvres, the Americans led by Donald Trump negotiated with the Taliban and abandoned everything and everyone in 2021 – just like Richard Nixon’s “Peace with Honor” abandonment of Sout Vietnam.

 

The film is, however, clear in its intent. It intends to show “honourable men fighting and doing a good job in a bad place”. This is war without any glamour. Soldiers die in battle, and some die badly. There is no time for the medic to mourn the dead; they are moved aside from the “operating table” for the next casualty. The post almost runs out of ammo because of the assault from all directions. The Afghan “Allies” desert them totally – just like they did with the Russians. As Sgt Romesha says initially, “if we get through this together and live, we win”. 

 

 

The intensity of the battles was such that Romesha and Specialist Ty carter were given America’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor. Despite absolute air supremacy and heavy air power on call, the action wasn’t all one-sided, as 27 Americans died against an estimated 150 Taliban. 

 

The film is utterly gripping once it gets going. If anything jars the film, it’s the “by the book” black officer who doesn’t leave his seat. His juniors are soon wary of him as he uses his rank all the time to carry out “shit detail” (pun intended). Luckily for the team, he is soon transferred out. 

 

The film was shot in Romania, and you can’t tell the difference between the locations and the Afghan terrain. An object lesson: soldiers have no time for heavy dialogues – they think on their feet, on the fly and try to maintain a tactical advantage all the time.

 

 

This is where the film scores, as it is all about Romesha and his team believing in their training and trying to do a good job. 

 

Since there are no major stars, it works in the film’s favour. We can empathise with the soldiers rather than look at what “Clint Eastwood” or “Tom Cruise” will do to fool the enemy. {Scott Eastwood IS Clint Eastwood’s son 🙂   }

 

You can catch The Outpost on Amazon India.

 

Do not miss the end titles, as it shows the real-life soldiers who fought in the battle, talking about their experiences while the credits roll. 

 

Real History/ Historical background – 5 out of 5

Equipment and Kit – 5 out of 5

Locations or substitutes – 4 out of 5

Script – 4 out of 5

 

Overall Rating – 4.5 out of 5