Warriors (1999) (TV)

Director:

Peter Kosminsky

Writer:

Leigh Jackson (writer)

Release Date:

29 November 1999 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

After seeing devastating results of ethnic war in former Yugoslavia soldiers from UNPROFOR peace units find it impossible to return back to their civil lives in the UK. |

Plot Keywords:

Child Murder | Ethnic Hatred | Fire | Atrocity | Genocide

Awards:

11 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Matthew Macfadyen	...	Pte. Alan James
Darren Morfitt	...	Pte. Peter Skeet
Cal Macaninch	...	Sgt. Andre Sochanik
Ioan Gruffudd	...	Lt. John Feeley
Joe Renton	...	Cpl. Gary Sprague
Steve Chaplin	...	Pte. Tommy Redmond
Damian Lewis	...	Lt. Neil Loughrey
Jodhi May	...	Emma
Pauline Yates	...	Gran
Shaun Dooley	...	Pte. John Hookway
Gregory Chisholm	...	Pte. Martin Rook (as Greg Chisholm)
Simon Shepherd	...	Major 'Brick' Stone
Tom Ward	...	Capt. Richard Gurney
Predrag Bjelac	...	Naser Zec
Ifan Meredith	...	Lt. Jonathan Engel

Also Known As:

Peacekeepers (USA)

Runtime:

Sweden:175 min (2 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Quotes:

Pvt. Alan James: I've seen people on fire.

If you see a more accurate depiction of wartime Bosnia then you're probably watching a news report.

Peter Kosminsky graces our screens with another socio-political issue that catches his eye. This time it's the Bosnia war. The purpose of the film is to highlight the decision to send 'peace keeper' troops in, the legitimacy of their purpose in the situation and the effects of this on the troops involved.

It does this with the sandwich style presentation: the process and the before and after. The process, the troops in action in Bosnia during the war, is presented quite superbly. Tremendous amounts of effort have been put in to recreate wartime Bosnia. To sum it up in one sentence: If you see a more accurate depiction of wartime Bosnia then you're probably watching a news report. The acting is also top quality and coalesces perfectly with all other aspects of the location. I did find some of the dialogue a little unbelievable. As the Bosnia war is a complex subject for discussion it seemed too much detail was crammed into the lines on occasions as in several instances the path finders come up with spontaneous word perfect one line anecdotes of their findings.

Unfortunate the meat of the story is sandwiched in a bit of a soap opera. The before, getting to know bit, I found a little false and also found the after a little indelicate as if a brief had been given to describe the ill effects of a brutal war on those involved in fifteen minutes. It could have been better thought out.

The one thing that kept me impressed throughout was the performance of Ioan Gruffudd who's character remains convincing and believable throughout.