The Outpost [Blu-ray]

Director: Rod Lurie Rod Lurie

Overview

Director Rod Lurie's war drama is an adaptation of Jake Tapper's 2012 bestselling nonfiction book about The Battle of Kamdesh. Starring Orlando Bloom, Scott Eastwood, Caleb Landry Jones, and Milo Gibson, it tells the story of a small regiment of American soldiers who are stationed deep in a valley in northeastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. They are forced to defend Combat Outpost Keating against an overwhelming attack by Taliban forces.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/18/2020
UPC:	0814838016207
Original Release:	2020
Rating:	R
Source:	Screen Media
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:03:00
Sales rank:	41,588

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Scott Eastwood	Staff Sergeant Clint Romesha
Orlando Bloom	First Lt Benjamin Keating
Caleb Landry Jones	Staff Sgt Ty Carter
Taylor John Smith	First Lt Andrew Bundermann
Milo Gibson	CPT. Robert Yllescas
Jacob Scipio	Staff Sgt. Justin T. Gallegos
Alexander Arnold	Griffin
Bobby Lockwood	Kevin Thomson
Celina Sinden	Cpt. Katie Kopp
James Jagger	Chris Jones
Will Attenborough	Ed Faulkner
Kwame Patterson	Sylvanius Broward
Alfie Stewart	Pfc. Zorias Yunger
Marin Rangelov	Nasir
Alexander Aleksiev	Sgt. Janis Lakis
Jonathan Yunger	SFC Jonathan Hill
Scott Alda Coffey	Michael Scusa
Ahmad Sakhi	Commander Zahid
Ernest Cavazos	Sgt. Armando Avalos
Jack Kalian	Shane Courville
Jack DeVos	Sergeant Joshua Hardt
Jeremy Ang Jones	PFC Jordan Wong
Chris Born	Stephan Mace
Brandon Wengrzynek	Sergeant John Breeding
Henry Hughes	Brad Larson
George Arvidson	Captain Chris Cordova
Dancho Koleff	US soldier
Petar Petro	Malak
Todor Parpulov	US Soldier
Cory Hardrict	SGT Vernon Martin
Sharif Dorani	Mohammed
Trey Tucker	CPT Stoney Portis
Henry Lloyd-Hughes	Brad Larson
Daniel Rodriguez	SPC Daniel Rodriguez
Larry Groupé	Composer
M. Scott Mortensen	SPC Thomas Rasmussen

Technical Credits

Paul Tamasy

Jake Tapper

Eric Johnson

Rod Lurie	Director
Paul Michael Merryman	Producer
Jeffrey Greenstein	Producer
Marc Frydman	Producer
Paul Tamasy	Producer,Screenwriter
Les Weldon	Producer
Rob Van Norden	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Producer
Mark Rhino Smith	Executive Producer,Producer
Tommy Vlahopoulos	Executive Producer,Producer
Avi Lerner	Executive Producer,Producer,Producer
John Kalafatis	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Producer,Producer
Trevor Short	Executive Producer,Producer
Andrey Georgiev	Executive Producer,Producer
Ryan Nowak	Sound/Sound Designer
Hristo Dobrev	Sound/Sound Designer,Sound Mixer
Daniel Hubbard	Casting
Daniel Ivanov	Sound Editor
Adam Horton	Stunts
Teodore Tsolov	Stunts
Ivo Jivkov	Special Effects Supervisor
Aline Apostu	Script Supervisor
Boaz Davidson	Executive Producer,Producer
Lyubomir Petrov	Special Effects
Max Kraus	Stunts
Jake Tapper	Screenwriter
Eric Johnson	Screenwriter,Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

Jake Tapper's non-fiction book, The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor, is brought to life by director Rod Lurie (The Contender) and screenwriters Paul Tamasy (Patriot's Day) and Eric Johnson (The Finest Hours). The excellent scripting, inspired direction, and brilliant camera work combine to bring the audience into the stark reality of a no-win situation turned somber victory. US Army Outpost Keating, located in Kamdesh, Afghanistan, is vital for the outreach to locals in the battle against the Taliban. But it is also in an indefensible position, and ultimately scheduled to be dismantled. Before this can happen, missteps with the locals lead to a major assault on the outpost. Through leadership and courage, Keating is defended at the cost of eight American soldiers and resulting in the death of an estimated 150 Taliban fighters. Johnson's script doesn't hesitate to show the combat soldier's day-to-day life, from the aggressive camaraderie among those that do and don't get along, to the unusual and occasionally obscene ways they get by in such a stressful environment. It doesn't cut any corners in showing the dangers of living in such a zone, from daily sniper attacks to tenuous relationships with the allies and tribal elders. Lurie steps into the script with full gusto, translating it into a realistic, sometimes hard-to-watch world that so many troops live every day. He doesn't spend excess time promoting any particular character. Instead, he creates a genuine feel that these men are a band of brothers. The actors show a great deal of respect to the fact that these are real men. Each actor could just as easily have been active-duty US Army because they fold so well into their roles. Scott Eastwood does a good job as Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha, but the standout is Caleb Landry Jones. Much like the real Staff Sergeant Ty Carter, he goes above and beyond the call of duty in a spectacular portrayal of the Medal of Honor winner. Also worth noting is that, in an act of both valor and honor to those who died, SPC Daniel Rodriguez relived the battle by portraying himself in the film. The camera work leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, creating a fully immersive world that is sometimes frenzied as the battle unfolds. Moving from one location to another and showing individual groups as they try to get a handle on the situation could quickly lose the audience. But Lorenzo Senatore has a full grip on the cinematographer's job, keeping the action controlled and easy to follow. As the film closes, we see the service awards that the heroes of this battle received. While the credits are rolling, the eight fallen soldiers are depicted beside the actors who portrayed them. This is another instance of just how much respect everyone involved in the production holds for those involved. The Outpost might have scenes that are too violent for some viewers. Still, it is an honest, gritty, and sometimes disturbing portrayal of events that might otherwise fade into the obscurity of war archives. The memory should never be lost - both to avoid the mistakes that were made from a military standpoint and for each man that was at Keating that day.