Severe Clear (2009) User Reviews

People Who Gave This Low Ratings Didn't See the Same Movie I Saw

[jbenante-388-963917 · 8/10 · 4 June 2012]

Seriously - people can say what they want about Scotti, and to what extent he may be "full of himself." But this is an excellent documentary. It is not "flag-waving." It does not endorse the validity of the bogus claim for "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq that got these marines sent over there. Those reviewers must not have watched the movie until the end. That's their right, of course, if they couldn't stand the movie for whatever reason. But don't state, as fact, false conclusions based on the fact that you didn't watch the entire movie.

SPOILER right here:

Scotti fully acknowledges at the end of this movie (I have not watched any of his interviews) that there were no weapons of mass destruction after all. He states that he would fight again, but not for the president or to liberate a country, but simply for the Marine Corps itself. You can like that statement, or hate it - but that's what he says. In no way was this documentary a defense of the invasion of Iraq.

That war in Iraq

[sol-kay · 8/10 · 26 October 2010]

***SPOILERS*** Unique and disturbing look at the war in Iraq from the personal video journal of US Marine Let. Mike Scott who, after serving a tour in Afghanistan, volunteered to go there on the eve of Opertaion Iraqi Freedom: The invasion of Iraq in the early spring of 2003.

Scott felt then and even a bit now that he and his fellow marines were doing the right thing in liberating the Iraqi people from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussien as well as the belief in that he had enough WMD, weapons of mass destruction,to wipe out the entire Middle and Near East. What he saw in the fighting there that it was not Saddam and his elite Republican Guard divisions, who were for the most part nowhere to be found, that he was engaged with in the fighting but the Iraqi people, whom he was supposed to liberate, themselves.

From their starting point on the Kuwaiti border the US military launched it's ground invasion of Iraq proper on the morning of March 20, 2003. It's during the fighting in the town of Nasiriyab that Scott saw for the first time just how determined the Iraqis were in keeping their country from being overrun by foreign troops. What Scott also soon realized that they were not fighting for Saddam's regime but against him and his fellow US Marines!

As the US forces got closer to the Iraqi capital of Bagdad the fighting went from engaging Iraqi military infantry and tanks units, who by them were non-existent, to irregulars and guerrilla units who caused by far most of the US casualties. Scott as well as his fellow Marine's enthusiasm for the war began to dissipate as he saw the people he was fighting were the very ones he was supposed to liberate! As for Saddan's WMD the very reason for invading Iraq they turned up to be a no-show! Making Scott have serious doubts about the motives of those who sent him there to fight as well as the effectiveness of the US and foreign intelligence services who swore that they,the WMD, were there!

The movie or documentary ends in early 2004 with Scott now discharged from the US Marine Corps still trying to justify,in his own mind, the reasons why he fought and risked his life in Iraq and telling himself that if he were to be sent back there again he would go without question as well as conscience in his total and complete belief in the wisdom of his leaders who send him there! Even if that wisdom, like eagerly going to war against Iraq the year before, is suspect!

Were told by Scott that one of the main reasons for him not only joining the US Marine Corps but volunteering to fight in Iraq was the result of 9/11 attacks on America. As it turned out not only did Saddam Hassien have nothing at all to do with those attacks, like he was accused of by many in the US Government and media, but that no Iraqi or for that matter Afghan national were among the 19 suicide bombers who executed them! They were mostly Saudi Arabian as well as Egyptian and Yemenite citizens who's countries the USA has very close and friendly relations with!

Honest, insightful if graphic perspective of a US Marine's experience of invading Iraq

[ps33 · 7/10 · 23 August 2015]

The Coalition's decision to invade Iraq in 2003 must surely be the biggest foreign policy error in the 21st century. We know now that it was on a false premise, and that Saddam's regime posed little threat to its neighbours while usefully keeping Iraq's ethnic and religious divisions in check. The legacy of the invasion is beyond tragedy for the countless millions of people across the world since affected by the violence that has ensued. Severe Clear is not the best account of the invasion and views of the soldiers mounting it, but it's certainly interesting and sheds useful light on it.

In contrast to the review currently on the front page of IMDb's entry for this documentary, Severe Clear does not seek to uphold the lie that the invasion was based on. Sure, the beginning records Lt Scottie's astonishing belief that Saddam had been behind 9/11 and therefore needed to be toppled. However, in the epilogue, Lt Scottie adds his shock at the fact that WMDs were not found and thus that the premise was false. The documentary also includes a montage of the post- invasion disorder against audio of Donald Rumsfeld dismissing media reports of chaos, surely suggesting Lt Scottie's disagreement with the Bush administration's version of events. But that's what makes the documentary interesting: it's based on the narrator's journal entries and footage as he experiences them, chronologically. So while he starts off super-patriotic, by the end he's disillusioned, he questions whether the invasion was the right thing to do, and he's under little doubt about the need for a heavy US presence amid serious challenges in the years ahead.

More broadly, the documentary has its strengths and weaknesses. Using UK news commentary to provide context was effective I thought, both in providing an 'international' (i.e. not US) voice and because, rather surprisingly, the USMC were getting their news from the BBC World Service (!). The footage is graphic, arguably too graphic, with several corpses badly mutilated by shellfire shown.

I was also not keen on Lt Scottie's narration, which lacked originality (e.g. his complaints about the US Navy's food) or spirit. I appreciate the documentary's budget was doubtless tight, but I think they should have looked at getting an actor to read the narration.

In all though, an interesting documentary which makes all the more painful viewing in light of subsequent events.

Cringe, Learn, Laugh, Understand

[in1984 · 9/10 · 19 February 2011]

Iraq from the front-lines. No setup, no objective, no talking heads, no "predetermined narrative", just an actual soldier filming actual war and recording actual news and politics as he goes into and fights the war.

The director and editors do an impressive job keeping the film fast paced and connected without falling into a simple time line of video camera shots and comments from the troops' point of view. So it's a bit more interesting and developed than the average Wikileaks video. Important context is seamlessly added to provide perspective.

All sorts of insights in this documentary, from the motivation of troops becoming soldiers, to their motivations going into the war, to their motivations as they fight it. It also captures much of the brutal and nasty nature of war. While it's sympathetic to the troops, it's hard to describe it as a sympathetic documentary.

Watch, cringe, learn, laugh, understand.

The best Iraq documentary of the decade!

[brsc007 · 10/10 · 13 March 2010]

This is by far the best Iraq war film of the decade and definitely in the documentary category! However, do not consider this film your typical talking heads documentary. This is definitely a war film that really shows what it's like to be a soldier. You really get to understand what the mentality is as well as understand the brotherhood. I think all veterans, their families as well as current soldiers should see this but as well as the general public and politicians so that they can get a better appreciation of what war is and what soldiers go through as well as veterans coming home! If you like the brutal and tense battle scenes of Black Hawk down as well as the shear experience of blair witch or paranormal activity- meaning being absorbed in the film as well as shocked and scared et all, then go see this film. The score from Cliff Martinez will definitely keep you engaged as it is brilliant and the editing from the director Kristian Fraga is mesmerizing!

One of the best documentaries in the last few years, and possibly the best about the Iraq war ever made. A Must see. I say A+

[cosmo_tiger · 6 October 2011]

"Here's the truth about being a marine you won't find on the local news." Filmed in 2003 on his way from Afghanastan to Iraq to begin the march toward Baghdad during "Operation Iraqi Freedom", Lt. Mike Scotti of the Marine Corps shows the reality of what they went through. This is definitely the most accurate and truthful account of what the soldiers went through. From saying why they fight, what they feel, and what life is like. This is a documentary that is an absolute must see and the type that people will either love or hate, depending on their thoughts on the war. I say that based on the reviews that I have read of this movie and that makes me laugh because this is a soldiers home movie...not political at all but peoples opinions are so extreme on this that it becomes something that it's not intended to be. It shows both the good and bad. Iraqis cheering and wanting us out. The reason that I think people are giving this bad reviews is because the soldiers that are fighting are defending what they are doing and saying why they are there. Never once bad mouthing the president, although Rumsfeld gets a dig. Regardless of how you feel about the war this is a movie that needs to be watched. Overall, an absolutely captivating documentary that every American should watch. Like Tom Brokaw said "It's OK to be against the war, but never OK to be against the soldiers." This movie is the perfect example of that. I give it an A+ Would I watch again? - I would, and would show this to people.

Nobody loves Mike Scotti more than Mike Scotti.

[matte160 · 2/10 · 9 November 2011]

A by the numbers documentary of the Iraq war. Now that everyone and their brother can bring a camera down there, there is a flood of available material. Thus we have a ton of documentaries about the two wars.

This is not one of the better ones. It lacks any real sense of critical thinking and falls victim to flag-waving more than anything else but this is not the films main problem.

The by far largest problem of the documentary is the protagonist Scotti. He's a pseudo-intellectual who narrates the documentary and through the course of the movie he will have said pretty much every blatantly stolen stereotypical thing someone can say about war. He tries really hard to sound both like a "cool soldier" and a guy who's really smart but fails miserably on both counts. This is of course a problem since the documentary stops being about the war and starts being about Scotti. And nobody loves Mike Scotti more than Mike Scotti.

my view of the movie

[drippee2000 · 10/10 · 23 June 2012]

I loved this movie! I am writing on my husbands site but saw this movie and as the mother of an 82 Airborne young man who was over there and was wounded in a battle at AS Samawa on 3-31-2003, I can relate better to just what my son went through. He too brought back a video with the battle and his whole year there from the beginning and I didn't quite understand the bad words used by him and his unit or the way they talked about Iraq in such a negative manner. My neighbors son was also there in the 101st with the Army and he was the same way. I guess the young men and women who went through this war or any war live and talk different while they are in the heat of the moment and regular people back here just do not understand that, given what they see from the media. My son is OK now and I hope that all the people we have over in the middle east and Afghanistan can get home safe and sound asap God love every one of them

Mostly unwatchable

[jim-j-moore · 3/10 · 21 September 2021]

The main problem with this movie is not the protagonist or the subject matter.

It's the shaky, out of focus "handycam" footage shot on a potato camera that is, frankly, way worse than numerous YouTube bodycam uploads. I'm not expecting someone to be standing up in a firefight with a camera on a tripod but this is just unwatchable. And when the camera does stop swinging around wildly, you get a mixture of sky, earth, thigh, ear, and all in low res. Oh and the odd bit of stock news footage.

You would be be off with the audiobook version! :) lol.

raw

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 30 July 2016]

It's July 2002. After serving in Afganistan, First Lieutenant Mike Scotti volunteers to extend his term in the Marines to fight in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is part of the Marine drive from Kuwait to Baghdad. He brings along a mini-camera to film starting from his shipping over to his return back to the States. It's a world of long waits and harrowing near-death action. It is raw. The guys have no filter. Mike's reasons for volunteering are duty, loyalty and even revenge for the sister of an acquaintance lost during 9/11. This is bottom up, not top down. These men are simply following orders. They are not political and accept their president's orders without question. The chaos and confusion is palpable as the initial welcome from Baghdad residents quickly fades. It's a compelling watch even in the future for its historical value.

Succinct in Sixteen

[unclesamsavage · 9/10 · 13 March 2021]

In your face in the best way. An ungarnished look into the initial invasion of Iraq.

Screenplay...................................... 9 / 10 Visuals................................................ 9 Sound................................................... 7 Editing................................................ 9 Music....................................................... 8 Timeless Utility................................. 10 Total.................................................... 52 / 60 ~= 8.7 (rounded to 9) Verdict................................................. Highly Recommended