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Warfare is based on co-director Ray Mendoza‘s experiences as a US Navy SEAL during the Iraq War, following the Battle of Ramadi, which took place from March to November 2006, and this film takes place on November 19th.
Just a heads-up for anyone going to see it, though, it has a silent opening to the film, even when the MGM lion ‘roars’. I was a bit concerned the speakers had gone, even though we’d already heard trailers, adverts and all the other junk Odeon shove up on the screen before the film actually starts.
After Navy SEAL platoon Alpha One have enjoyed Eric Prydz’s Call On Me video, albeit some two years after it was released, we then see them in the dead of night, heading into an apartment block and smacking down someone’s wall, to hole up and keep an eye on some potential baddies.
In amongst occasional moments of heavy gunfire and bloodshed, there’s an awful lot of waiting around for things to happen, which is perfectly fine in a suspense-filled drama that has plenty of time to set out its stall and carry it through.
However, Warfare is just a mere 90 minutes long before the end credits kick in, and while this does feel like watching gameplay of a videogame such as SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo 3 (above) on the Sony PSP (albeit with better visuals), as the platoon head about their dangerous business whilst waiting for exfiltration, this does feel like I’ve switched on to the middle episode of a 6-part Netflix drama series.
Hence, while it is very engaging, I still want to catch up with what I’ve missed, as well as seeing it continue.
As an aside, since co-director Alex Garland‘s last film, Civil War, was shot in 1.85:1, why is this framed at 2.00:1? That smacks of a movie that was intended only for streaming, but the problem is – as I’ve stated many times – most cinema screens are 2.39:1, but for a film of 2.00:1, it’s treated as a 1.85:1 movie, so with black bars top and bottom – as well as at the sides – the picture is effectively floating in the middle of the screen, and looks ridiculous. And still, modern cinemas do nothing to address this.
NOTE: There are no mid- or post-credit scenes, although just before the credits, you are shown a series of pictures of the cast members alongside the real-life soldier they’re representing, although many of them are obscured to protect their identity.
Warfare is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 96 minutes
Release date: April 18th 2025
Studio: A24
Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1 (CinemaDNG (6K))
Rating: 6/10
Directors: Alex Garland, Ray Mendoza
Producers: Andrew Macdonald, Matthew Penry-Davey, Allon Reich, Peter Rice
Screenplay: Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland
Cast:
Sam: Joseph Quinn
Ray: D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai
Elliott: Cosmo Jarvis
Kelly: Aaron Mackenzie
Mikey: Alex Brockdorff
John: Finn Bennett
Brock: Evan Holtzman
Lt. Macdonald: Michael Gandolfini
Mo: Joe Macaulay
Peter: Laurie Duncan
Ted: Jake Lampert
Bob: Aaron Deakins
Aaron: Henrique Zaga
Erik: Will Poulter
Tommy: Kit Connor
Brian: Noah Centineo
Frank: Taylor John Smith
Sgt Laerrus: Adain Bradley
Jake: Charles Melton
AJ: Tom Dunne
Falah: Rayhan Ali
Sidar: Heider Ali
Alia: Sima Pollitt
Farid: Nathan Altai
Samir: Aso Sherabayani
Sama: Amira Dutton
Noor: Donya Hussen
Amira: Inbal Amram
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.