9th Company

Over the long weekend, I was able to watch a Russian war movie titled 9th Company.  Based on a true story, this 2005 movie told the story of several young men who enlisted to fight in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation in 1988.  The movie followed their departure from their civilian lives through their training and onto their mission of guarding a mountaintop FOB against enemy attack.  It was based on a true story.

At first glance, this movie felt very much like a Russian version of Full Metal Jacket.  A good portion of the movie concentrated on their three month training before their deployment.  Complete with a crazed drill sergeant, it really showed how difficult life is as a newly enlisted private in the Soviet army.

The second half of the movie showed how the harsh life on the front lines in Afghanistan where a well mannered local met during the day could be the same Mujahadeen fighter who fired at their base every night.  The fresh recruits soon found out the hard life also bred even harder men as even falling asleep on guard duty is severely punished with a beating by the senior officer.

As an airsoft player, I was initially drawn because of my interest in Soviet gear and weapons.  Although the equipment used were based around the 1980s, this movie did not disappoint in this regard.  It was not long before I was drawn into the movie with its cinematography and how realistic everything is.  The scenes with firefights were also a delight to watch and are definitely a highlight of this movie.

As a fan of war movies and as a player, I fully recommend anyone to watch this.  Definitely an eye opener of a topic that i was not familiar with.  This also marked my very first Russian film.