Baghdad ER (2006)

Winner of four Emmy(R) Awards, including Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming (Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill)! The 86th Combat Support Hospital (CSH)--the U.S. Army's premier ... See full summary »

Directors:

Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill

Stars:

Jeffrey Beltran, William Berterm, Edward Dunton

Won 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jeffrey Beltran	...	Self
William Berterm	...	Self
Edward Dunton	...	Self
James Hill	...	Self
Chester Keenum	...	Self
Saidet Lanier	...	Self
Jeremy Lowe	...	Self
Bill Macy	...	Self (as William Macy)
Merritt Pember	...	Self
David Snyder	...	Self
Al Weed	...	Self
Bill Winburn	...	Self

Storyline

Winner of four Emmy(R) Awards, including Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming (Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill)! The 86th Combat Support Hospital (CSH)--the U.S. Army's premier medical facility in Iraq and formerly one of Saddam Hussein's elite hospitals--is the setting for this unforgettable documentary that puts a human face on the war's cold casualty statistics. Directed by Emmy(R)-winner Jon Alpert (HBO's 'One Year in a Life of Crime'), the film profiles the doctors and nurses at the 86th who fight to save wounded soldiers who are Medevaced (helicoptered) in on a numbingly routine basis. In addition to capturing the drama of victims and caregivers in the ER, the film provides vivid frontline rescue footage with the 54th Medical Company Air Ambulance Team along with tension-filled scenes of soldiers patrolling what is considered the most dangerous road in the world: the five-mile highway from the Baghdad Airport to the CSH.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

TV-MA

User Reviews

You'll never think of war the same way again.

Baghdad ER is an extremely powerful film, and its impact amplified extremely effectively with its understated, straightforward storytelling. It communicates the tragedy of the latest Iraq war with some pretty graphic scenes, but it never becomes sensationalistic, or turns into a soapbox from which an anti- war or political message is delivered.

The doctors and nurses who work in this ER are total professionals. There's no fooling around a la M*A*S*H. Instead these men and women take on whatever broken and bleeding soldiers come to them via helicopter, day in and day out - mostly the mangled victims of IEDs, some of whom need an arm or leg amputated immediately, or instant chest surgery from shrapnel that has shredded lungs, bones, muscles and tendons. (And to the reviewer who commented that he was so 'Disappointed' in the movie because they only treat the "aggressors," there are scenes when Iraqi soldiers and civilians are brought in and treated by the medics, who are just as dedicated to saving their lives as those of Americans.)

Some casualties just don't make it, dying right on the gurney. And while the medical personnel are sad and disappointed, often cursing the "stupid, pointless war," they remain professional. Surviving soldiers don't always hold their emotions in, though, and who could blame them for breaking down after suddenly losing a friend, or a buddy with two arms or legs that have to be amputated.

There doesn't have to be a narrator to tell us that the soldiers who are severely wounded, whose lives will be changed forever, are someone's sons, friends, husbands, brothers, or fathers.

I'd like to sit with George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld while they watched "Baghdad ER." The film doesn't say it, but these three are war criminals. I don't know how they've lived with themselves since they sent so many good people to their deaths or caused them to suffer such life-changing injuries (and I'm talking about Americans AND Iraqis).

Details

Official Sites:

HBO [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 May 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Epeigonta peristatika, Vagdati

Filming Locations:

Baghdad, Iraq

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Documentary Films

Technical Specs

Color:

Color