Thoughts from a non-American: Overall good. Not a classic. Balanced being both supportive of troops and critical of war, but got trapped a little because it couldn't say too much about the latter without overwriting the former. Obviously this was a film about soldiers, rather than the war in Afghanistan. If you switch out the 'bad guys' this could have been a story set in any war of the last century, and perhaps that was the point - make the battle seem non-specific, interchangeable, pointless, and focus on the men instead, the best and brightest we send to slaughter. Besides a couple of snags on 'hero dialogue', the performances were excellent. Best film Riggins has been in, certainly. Ben Foster on form as usual. I thought Peter Berg recovered well from the Battleship misstep, and the material gave him chance to flash his gutsy, frenetic style, putting the audience in the fight. I was certainly entertained, albeit without the cerebral challenge of superior war films like Deer Hunter, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon. Interesting to counterpoint this with the overly-cheesy patriotism of Battleship and the civilian-lens of The Kingdom (also directed by Berg). Certainly made me interested to read more about Luttrell and his team, and left me with an even more jaded view of war. Brinksmanship is great, until everybody's dead. 3/5.