Baghdad ER

2006
8| 1h4m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 16 November 2006 Released
Producted By: HBO Documentary Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Produced and directed by 11-time Emmy Award-winner Jon Alpert, this 64-minute verite documentary takes an unforgettable look inside the 86th Combat Support Hospital (CSH), the U.S. Army's premier medical facility in Iraq and former site of one of Saddam Hussein?s elite medical facilities. Shot over two months in the summer of 2005, the film puts a human face on the war's cold casualty statistics, as doctors and nurses fight to save the lives of wounded soldiers who are Medevaced (helicoptered) in a numbingly routine basis.

... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Cast

Director

Producted By

HBO Documentary Films

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Images

  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew

Reviews

StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.
Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
tmcnulty22 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).
alicia41117 This movie hit a little closer to home for me because my husband is Spc Chester Keenum. I know first hand the sacrifices that our soldiers and their families make. The news does not show things like this and I think people should know. My husband and these soldiers fight for us. My husband makes the sacrifices he does for this country to insure that our children and your children will have a safe country to grow up in. We lived at Walter Reed For 4 months as he had numerous surgeries. These people are only a handful who have made serious sacrifices. You will meet some of the bravest men and woman in the world at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. If ever in the D.C. area you should visit them, they are truly inspiring. My husband did return to Iraq and finished his tour and now is back home with us. His eyesight is better than the doctors ever imagined and we thank God every day that he blessed us. Keep our soldiers in your prayer constantly, they need it.
engineer307 Having worked at the "Baghdad ER" I think this is an outstanding film. When I first saw it I was just sure it would be sensationalistic and exploitative. I was wrong. This film does have its graphic moments but is nowhere near as graphic as it could have been. Initially I also thought that the film would be anti-war. As I watched the film I was pleasantly surprised to note that it had no political message whatsoever. The film has no narrator and the only words are those spoken by the people actually in the documentary from Medics and nurses to physicians and the patients themselves. The film will, therefore, be different things to different people depending on who watches it and in what frame of mind. One person could call it anti-war where another could call it propaganda. I believe it to be neither and the mark of a great documentary. As a physician in the Army I was uplifted by this film realistically showing the work we do in Iraq and elsewhere in support of our front line soldiers. This film shows this beautifully and should be seen by everyone. The compassion for the soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and civilians treated at the CSH is real and happens there every hour of every day.
Colin Brace This hour-long film documents the day-to-day activities of a US Armed Forces field hospital in Baghdad, with often very graphic, disturbing images. This unit sees an unending stream of carnage, both injured US service men and women, most of whom are very young, as well as Iraqi civilians; all are swept up in the vicious internecine struggles and the violent resistance to the US-led occupation of Iraq. The film highlights the humanity and dedication of the hardworking doctors and nurses of the unit amid the utter chaos of the occupation and the long-simmering civil war; it brings home the tragic impact of this ill-conceived military adventure on the lives of ordinary individuals.Perhaps the most moving moment of the documentary are the words of an army chaplain next to the body of a fallen soldier whose life the doctors were unable to save: "We hope that his life and his death will hasten the cause of peace -- and this senseless war and violence will end".

Similar Movies to Baghdad ER