Elliot Ruiz, Yasmine Hanani, Andrew McLaren

An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The movie foll...( read more  read more... )ows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb.

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73% liked it

802 ratings

Critics

64% liked it

28 critics

R, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Nick Broomfield

Release Date: December 14, 2007

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DVD Release Date: December 30, 2008

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Flixster Reviews (365)


  • December 16, 2008
    A modern warfare movie about a terrible massacre of Iragi people. Nick Broomfield is better known for his documents then movies. "Battle for Haditha" has a documentary feeling, focusing on the Marines as well as the Iraqi insurgents and locals.

    Based on a true story where 24 in...( read more)nocent local Iraqs were killed, "Haditha" portrays well the madness of today. Innocent people suffer because of war. It feels realistic and it is not a joy to watch it.

    If you think of it as a normal war movie, "Haditha" doesn't stand out. It's slowpaced but because of its story, people interested about the Irag war should see it.
  • March 21, 2008
    Believably brutal study of a military engagement gone horrifically wrong. Did make me wonder how often this must happen and it is simply covered up.
  • March 18, 2008
    Director:Nick Broomfield
    Released: 2008
    Stars:Elliot Ruiz, Yasmine Hanani, Andrew McLaren Genre: Drama, War
    Country: UK




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    An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb.

    Now weirdly I've always been familar with Brit director Nick Broomfield but never bothered to watch any of his work. I was lucky enough to spot it on TV here in the UK and sat and watched it all the way through. I have to admit I thought it was absolutly superb indeed.

    As everyone knows, The Iraq war was incredibly unpopular both here and in the US, but seeing it from a soldier's point of view is something new entirely. What is done so well is that, asides dramtising the events on screen, the sodliers are characterised so well that you begin to understand them and idenitfy with them so to speak. In particular the character of Cpl. Ramirez is exactly the type of character you would expect in the marines but you see a different side to him entirely. For instance towards the end of the film he describes the horrors that he has seen during his dreams and that he can not sleep. He discusses this with one solider who didn't seem to understand him at all. Gradually as the film progresses, the marines are a unit and practically a family and ultimatly that leads to this alleged incident.

    One of the most brilliant things about Broomfield's film is that you see many sides to this story. Often you'll only ever see one side. We see the insurgents, marines and other Iraqi families. We get a glimpse every so often of how each section is coping and what they are going to do about it. This creates a lot of tension within thw scene and you gradually begin to feel for the Iraqis and understand he insugents better. By the end of the film you end up with a enormous hatred for the Americans. I won't say anything else as it will spoil the film.

    As I've just stated Battle of Heditha is incredibly Ant-American and Anti-War. It points out well that frustrations of the US marines serving in Iraq. We also are witnessed to one scne in particular, in which one of the insurgents declares he wishes he never planted the bomb that lead to this alleges massacre by the Americans. That shook me up. There are many many scenes which slightly changed my thoughts regarding the American soldiers, which i don't want to go into as it will spoil your viewing.

    Battle for Haditha is filmed very well indeed. Often by hand-held camera, which gives it that authetic feel. There are also so fine shots of Iraq and neighbouring Iraq backed up by some interesting diagetic music. Interestingly, it's hard to belive that there were very few professional actors used, most were real soliders at that time unbelievable.

    Battle for Haditha is one of the most powerful thoughtou-porviking films that I have seen. It brilliantly shows all sides of the argument and depicts what is alleged to have gone on well. I hope that this will get some sort of release in the states, but I understand that Broomfield is struggling to get distribution rights, which figures!!

    *Highly recomened watch*
  • March 20, 2008
    The most powerful film made about the Iraq War to date. Sadly, its overrated.
  • April 9, 2009
    Staged 'documentary' about an incident in the Iraq war where an IED killed a number of U.S. morines, leading to a response where 24 Iraqi men, women and children were massacred by the U.S. forces. Overly politically correct suggesting that all parties, the U.S. troops, the Iraqi...( read more) insuregents and the Iraqi civilians are all really victims of the war, the bad guys being identified as the U.S. President and Defence Secretary, fighting this war from a safe disrance away. The format of the movie also doesn't work very well, the introduction has a printed summary of the events that are to follow, thus removing any element of drama. The idea of following the action throughout a single day leads to abruot changes of emotion among the characters which doesn't seem terribly real. The decision to use non-professional actors may have been taken to increase the realism of the film, however their limited abilities become clear in these scenes as they switch from trigger-happy murderers to repentant war objecters within a few hours time period.
  • March 12, 2009
    A must see war film.
    Trully moving and gripping
    Great direction, felt too real
  • March 7, 2009
    real actiauelly happend.shows how easy our people get killed over there.kill them all let god sorte them out.....
  • March 3, 2009
    They might as well have filmed this picture at a camping ground, because it's IN-TENTS! And just like a camping trip, it's pretty boring until something violent happens.
  • February 9, 2009
    directed so bad and the actors wasnt gd,but the story was owesome.
  • January 2, 2009
    not bad..worth watching than Campus Superstar

Critic Reviews


May 30, 2008
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Lacking in subtlety and nuance, Broomfield's nerve-jangling movie nonetheless succeeds in showing the war from various vantage points. And from wherever one's standing, the view is profoundly disturbing. full review

May 7, 2008
Kyle Smith, New York Post

This film by Nick Broomfield, which superficially resembles Brian De Palma's Redacted in that it is a mockumentary based on real, horrible events, is a 90-minute libel against the Marine Corps. full review

May 7, 2008
Armond White, The New York Press

Although Battle for Haditha is certainly a plotted and arranged fiction, it is skillful and informative without corrupting our perspective via the techno-faddishness that undoes current filmmakers full review

May 6, 2008
Nick Schager, Cinematical

As unsophisticated as ... Brian DePalma's Redacted, although at least Broomfield forgoes spurious aesthetic shenanigans. full review

May 5, 2008
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

It's a hell of a picture. full review

View more Battle for Haditha reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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