Outside The Wire : The Complete Series

Released By: Mill Creek Entertainment
Released On: 07/19/2011
Director: JD Johannes
Cast: The Men and Women of the United States Marine Corps

The Film:

It is not an easy task to watch JD Johannes' documentary series Outside the Wire with an open mind. I'll preface this review by saying that I have great respect for the men and women of the military who are stationed overseas, and have criticized those who have no such respect. That being said, it's hard to put a finger on what Johannes, a former US Marine himself, set out to accomplish with this series. The question that kept coming to my mind while watching the films on this set from Mill Creek was, “Why?”. Why are there still men and women fighting in Iraq 3-4 years after these films were shot, and did they need to be there in the first place?

Outside the Wire starts off with a pretty good indication of its intent with the title of the first episode, “Call Sign Vengeance”. Through a series of on-camera interviews with soldiers from various companies and platoons stationed in Iraq, it can be assumed that the nature of these films is to tell the story of war, according to the soldiers. And some of the material is very compelling. A variety of film footage, some of it shot with night-vision and other stock that is grainy and difficult to watch, showcases explosions, gunfire, ambushes, and raids in the middle of the night, and is pretty much what you would expect from a “behind the scenes” look at any war. Unfortunately, as the episodes give way to one another, a theme becomes apparent, and it's not a pretty one.

Thousands of young adults are being sent overseas…basically, to act as a SWAT team, kicking in doors in the middle of the night, subjecting themselves to injury and death, being shot at, shooting back and killing people…and again, the question must be, “Why?”. The question is answered, not courtesy of Johannes appearing on-screen and reading woodenly from cue cards, but from the soldiers, themselves as one Marine details how he explains his absence to his children; to fight Al-Qaeda and prevent another 9-11 from happening. Another soldier explains his reason for being in Iraq; he's “good at killing bad guys”. It's FUN to kill bad guys. Morals about the war, the reasons, etc, aside, Johannes does a fantastic job of painting the “good guys” as being clueless, gun-happy murderers. Maybe it's not intentional, but by the time Johannes makes another appearance toward the end of the series, this time in a bar wearing a wardrobe that would make Don Cherry vomit, most viewers will probably recognize Johannes for what he is; an exploitation filmmaker. And while there are obviously a good number of folks who believe that raiding houses in Iraq will prevent another attack in America, it will probably leave a worse taste in your mouth than any of the “shocking” films you've seen in the past.

The tagline on the back of the box is, “The Iraq War You Won't See On The Evening News”. It's difficult to see how anyone could make that claim. Armed forces kicking down doors? Night vision cameras showing explosions and gunfire? This is EXACTLY the Iraq war that you see on the evening news. Johannes has just put his own spin on it; he's done a far better job of making the men and women serving their country overseas look like idiots than the news media ever has. Nice work.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Outside the Wire is presented on this Mill Creek DVD in a couple of different aspect ratios. The first episode is in 1.33:1, while the following episodes are 1.78:1, and all are accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. Though the different film sources will obviously show a differing visual quality, the picture is clear for the most part. The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is adequate for this release as well, with dialogue being clear throughout, with subtitles hardcoded during translated sequences.

All five episodes are included on one DVD, including Call Sign Vengeance, Danger Close, Anbar Awakens, Baghdad Surge, and Baghdad Happens, and they vary in length from 25 to 55 minutes. There are no other extra features included.

The Final Word:

If you want to see what's going on in Iraq, watch the news. It probably won't make you as ill.