Film shows Marine perspective on Fallujah

NCT:

War from the perspective of Marines and soldiers who fought three major battles in Iraq is told in stark terms in a film the producer says attempts to put the audience in the shoes of the troops.

"The Last 600 Meters" tells the story of the troops' experiences in the 2004 battles for the cities of Najaf and Fallujah that pitted Marine and Army forces against heavily armed and entrenched insurgent forces.

A screening hosted last week by Marine Maj. Gen. John Kelly was presented to more than 100 Marine officers and senior enlisted men and women, many of whom later praised the 90-minute film for letting the men who fought the battles tell the story without any narrator.

"I'm very impressed with it," said Kelly, who commanded the base's I Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq in 2008 and served two earlier tours leading combat troops in the country's Anbar province. "It puts the light on the Marines and sailors, who we are and what we did."

Produced by veteran filmmaker Michael Pack, the film won a Founder's Choice Award at the 2008 G.I. Film Festival in Washington. Pack is screening the movie around the country right now in hopes of securing funding for a theater release. He also is in talks with the Public Broadcasting System to air the film.

Pack told the assembled Marines at Thursday's screening that he decided to rely on footage shot by combat camera photographers and recollections of the men involved in the fighting without any narration. He also opted not to include any perspective from Iraqis.

"We decided to stick with the Army and Marine Corps' points of view," he said. "We thought about including them, but decided it would have been tough to get a balance given the time constraints of the show."

Executive producer Stephen Bannon said the film provides a unique window into how the war was waged.

"We want the audience to put themselves in the role of the enlisted men and junior officers that did the fighting and made all these critical decisions," Bannon said.

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We are finally seeing some descent movies produced about the war in Iraq and now the difficult part is getting them into theaters and other avenues where the public can see them. I would much rather see what the men fighting have to say about their efforts than something anti war pukes in Hollywood put to gether and I am sure the public would too.