Sand Castle (2017)

The story follows a young soldier, and his introduction into the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Based on true events, it bears witness to the destruction, and horrors of war.

Director:

Fernando Coimbra

Writer:

Chris Roessner

Stars:

Nicholas Hoult, Logan Marshall-Green, Henry Cavill

Cast

Credited cast:
Henry Cavill	...	Cpt. Syverson
Nicholas Hoult	...	Pvt. Matt Ocre
Tommy Flanagan	...	Sgm. MacGregor
Logan Marshall-Green	...	Sgt. Harper
Glen Powell	...	Sgt. Chutsky
Sope Dirisu	...	Sgt. Cole
Navid Negahban	...	Kadeer
Beau Knapp	...	Sgt. Burton
Neil Brown Jr.	...	Cpl. Enzo
Anthony Welsh	...	Carter
Sam Spruell	...	1st Lt. Anthony
Gonzalo Menendez	...	Haring
Parker Sawyers	...	Sergeant Robinson
Nabil Elouahabi	...	Arif
Sammy Sheik	...	Mahmoud

Storyline

A soldier enlists just before the 9/11. He is not a brave man--simply volunteering to defend freedom. Arriving in Iraq in 2003, just after the occupation of Bagdad, with a few soldiers of his infantry platoon, he is sent to provide water to a village whose infrastructure was destroyed. Simple things however, such as water transportation, water distribution and the reconstruction of the plumbing became a challenge in war environment.

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Plot Keywords:

soldier | military | based on true story | shower | taking a shower | 

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Taglines:

Home is a war away

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to writer and war veteran Chris Roessner, he was inspired to write the screenplay for this film when he watched Oliver Stone's Platoon (1986) while in Iraq. Interestingly, the cast of this film includes Parker Sawyers, who had previously worked with Stone on Snowden (2016).

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Goofs

Both M-60A3 main battle tanks and AH-1 attack helicopters are shown being used by the US Army in the movie. By the time of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 both had been replaced in service by the M-1 Abrams and AH-64 Apache.

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Quotes

Enzo: Ready them titties, Kansas City.

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Connections

References Hooper (1978)

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Soundtracks

No One Knows
by Queens of the Stone Age

User Reviews

Good drama with some technical flaws.

Sand Castle will likely resonate with general audiences. The acting in it is good for the most part, as Nick Hoult pulls of his part very well. His acting is pretty spot on and the story telling around his character is well done. Logan Marshal-Green did a superb job in his role as a get-it-done SSG who reminded me of a couple different platoon sergeants I'd worked with while in Baghdad. The story itself is fine, and even though the outcome was predictable, I didn't stop rooting for the guys to get it done. Where the movie fell short for me was in the details. Coimbra should have hired a decent military adviser to help him out. A good example is found within the first few seconds of the movie, as Hoult's character strolls to a great tune by Queens of the Stone Age through a staging area in Kuwait (camp New York?) he walks past some tanks that are being readied for combat. M60 tanks. I kid you not. As an M1A1 Tanker myself, I knew at this point there were going to be some obvious flaws-and there are quite a few others-but they didn't really detract from the story. I'd probably recommend this movie to others for the story alone. If you are former military, just know what you are in for.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

21 April 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sand Castle

Filming Locations:

Jordan

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Mark Gordon Company, Treehouse Pictures, International Traders

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1