Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Mabel Munoz Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

JohnAU1965 Considering the low budget of the film, the Patrol does a sterling job of showing the various emotions, conflicts and actions that can occur during war.For those decrying the film as garbage, I wonder if that 'knowledge' is based on how many hours you've clocked up on COD or how many times you've seen 13 Hours.One reviewer attempts to suggest the SA80 is a wonderful rifle as one Private routinely bitches about it during the course of the film.Apparently, said reviewer knows more about the quality of the firearm than Ian V Hogg, one of the foremost experts in the field of small arms."Soon after being adopted for service, problems began to surface:…the first five years of this rifle's service have been disastrous. A number of manufacturing defects showed up in service conditions, and it was not until the closure of the RSAF at Enfield and the setting up of an entirely new production line, with new computer- controlled machine tools, at the new RSAF Nottingham, that the quality of the production weapons began to improve. It will take some time for the poor reputation gained by the initial issue weapons to be overcome; the only consolation is that the same sort of thing has happened to other military rifles in the past, and they have managed to live down their early reputation and prove their innate reliability. It is to be hoped that the L85A1 will do so as well."A quote from the reviewer: "So if the SAS don't use a certain weapon it must be rubbish ? Not sure if that's good yardstick to judge something with". The SAS weren't alone. The Pathfinder company of the Parachute Regiment and Brigade Patrol Group of the Royal Marines also ditched the firearm in preference to M16 based platforms.As for the SAS being a 'good yardstick'. The answer to that one is quite firmly "yes, actually". Britain's premier counter-terrorist, long range patrol & other special operations tasked unit might actually know a little of what they're talking about.As mentioned by the unit's Lieutenant, the later A2 modification saw a quantum leap in reliability, although the weapons this unit are using are quite obviously earlier versions complete with their reliability issues.The same reviewer feels the action is reminiscent of Vietnam rather than Afghanistan. Really? What a surprise. An unpopular counter- insurgency conflict where the lines of battle blur more often than sunsets.As for the fractured cohesion of the unit. Is there any real wonder? Paratroopers, Royal Marines & Territorial Army soldiers mixed in within one patrol? A recipe for problems in anyone's book.I suspect if you're after a 'ooh rah' war movie, watch something starring John Wayne or Michael Dudikoff, not something that might actually be based in some sort of reality.

actionfilm-2 Well made and fairly watchable film, despite the absence of any combat action or visible enemy. What is surprising is the great accolade the film has received among IMDb reviewers for it's insight and statement, I think it's undeserved. A anti-war film? And so what, when the last time you saw a serious pro-war film? If that's one's criteria for declaring a film great then this is the non-action war film to watch. The writer/director has said he was unhappy with the way the war was being portrayed by the mainstream media. If the U.K. media is anything like the U.S. mainstream media, which has taken a non supportive view of the war in the middle east for the longest time (thou they are less vocal about it since the current President took office) then I'm not sure why the filmmaker is concerned. Though if radical Islamic groups ever decide to look for a jihadist propaganda film they need look no further than The Patrol, with it's "this is not your war" message written all over it. Again, from an American perspective, soldiers fighting this war experience fear and frustration among many other things, but generally speaking they recognize the enemy for what it is, and continue to fight because Islamic terror against the U.S began long before 9/11 and will not end until it is defeated. The characters in The Patrol stop fighting and abandon the war, but to be true to reality the film should acknowledge how Al Queda, the Taliban, and others would gladly follow them home and continue their slaughter. Though politicians try to hobble the military, it does not prevent soldiers from conducting themselves like the professionals that they are.

demelewis Tom Petch delivers a well-paced no frills look at the realities of the early days of the British Army's recent involvement in Afghanistan. To anyone with any knowledge of this conflict, or of some of the less than brilliant equipment British soldiers generally have to put up with, it offers few surprises, but that is not to say that it isn't worth a look.It works well thanks to some great performances from the cast, combined with a sterling attempt at showing battles and the nuances of the chain of command in a small unit, wrapped up in a realistic production, rather than in an overtly CGI-laden Hollywood style. There is some CGI and matting of course, since when limited to a budget of about a million quid, and filming on location overseas, one cannot afford to have AH-64s, F-16s, A-10 and CH-47s on call. But even though there are some visual effects, they are well done and thanks to the almost documentary-like cinematography of many action sequences, such effects composite shots slot in convincingly enough to not detract from the narrative at all, in fact most people probably won't even realise they are CGI shots, which is the essence of what good CGI should be of course.Despite the storyline being not especially revelatory (i.e. the familiar tropes are all in evidence here: war is bad, war is often pointless and futile, officers are posh, the ranks are working class, the equipment sucks, the conditions are tough, the enemy is elusive, etc) the film does manage a couple of things which are often not done well in other war movies, in conveying the loneliness of command, as well as the 'them and us' feeling often prevalent among the ranks and how a code of conduct beyond mere salutes develops when away from HQ. This alone is compelling enough to keep you watching and is indicative of the director's ability to convey a subject he knows well to his cast, in that he was actually a British Army officer who experienced this first hand.Being that Tom Petch is both the writer and director of the film, this is a very good effort, all the more so when we take note of the fact that he has previously only directed one short film and had a couple of jobs as a technical military adviser on one or two other movies.So, no real surprises in the storyline, especially given the opening narrative which telegraphs part of the tale to us, but The Patrol is certainly worth a look for its convincing portrayal of combat for an isolated small unit in a largely pointless war, as it does this better than a lot of other films which have tried on a much larger budget.

service-provider Given this is a low-budget film, I wasn't expecting much. Perhaps it was going to have something to say about the war in the Middle East, about politics, interpersonal relationships, maybe even an action scene, but it really doesn't do any of that for me. Even with this initially low expectation, I was still disappointed.During a patrol we follow an incredibly unprofessional main character who complains persistently about anything/everything and is constantly putting everyone else down (just a terrible personality to have in a team; paranoid, easily stressed, quick to anger and takes it out on everyone else). I'm not entirely sure, but I think that through this character's annoyance at everything, there were some brief attempts to raise the question about whether soldiers are adequately equipped, or whether they were doing any good by being out there. The movie then ends, leaving me somewhat regretful. I don't mean to be that harsh on a low-budget film, but this really is one that I wouldn't recommend.