Armadillo

2010 Directed by Janus Metz Pedersen

For you it's a movie. For them it's reality.

ARMADILLO is an upfront account of growing cynicism and adrenaline addiction for young soldiers at war. Mads and Daniel are on their first mission in Helmand, Afghanistan. Their platoon is stationed in Camp Armadillo, right on the Helmand frontline, fighting tough battles against the Taliban. The soldiers are there to help the Afghan people, but as fighting gets tougher and operations increasingly hairy, Mads, Daniel and their friends become cynical, widening the gap between themselves and the Afghan civilisation. Mistrust and paranoia set in causing alienation and disillusion. Armadillo is a journey into the soldier’s mind and a unique film on the mythological story of man and war, staged in its contemporary version in Afghanistan.

Rasmus Mads 'Mini' Daniel 'Olby' Kim 'Birkerod'

Alternative Title

Armadillo - wojna jest w nas

documentary war

105 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Biringvad ★★★★★ 2

I rarely write reviews since I feel I really don't contribute with things that haven't already been said. I saw this two days ago, and presumably I didn't plan on writing down my opinion on it. But this film has gnawed and never refused to let go since I watched it. I even dreamt about it last night sleeping over at my girlfriend's house. So, I came to the conclusion to lay down some words in order to make you watch this incredible creation.
As it stands in the synopsis; Danish documentary filmmaker Metz Pedersen joined a platoon of Danish soliders for six months in one of the most heated areas in Afghanistan. We closely follow a handful of young…
Review by John Ballinger ★★★½

A documentary about a group of young Danish men that leave Denmark to go and help the people of Afghanistan in the Helmand provence.
For a very short time, it makes you think these guys are doing the right thing to help the people of Afghanistan and when their parents say goodbye they are sacrificing their son for a better cause, the right cause.
When they get there you realise that there isn't a war, its all our chaos in a different language where anything can blow you up or shot you. It shows some of the realities of war and what goes down.
Review by edithhuybreghts ★½ 3

prrrrt
Review by frantakiller ★★★★

Now I want to watch Generation Kill again.
Review by Woods78 ★★★★★

Lysande dokumentär om ett gäng danska soldater i Afghanistan. Mycket välgjort och med en sällan skådad intensitet. En av de bättre dokumentärerna under de senaste åren. Ytterst sevärt!!
Review by Wockerdaw ★★★★★

You can never know what it's like to be there, unless you are there.

Recent reviews

Review by minnajee ★★★

Tanskalaisdokkari Afganistanista, jossa eniten kohahduttaa kansaa aidot ruumiit ja aidot sotilaat, jotka kattoo pornoo ja pelaa ammuskelupelejä. Fiktiona tää ei ois mitään uutta.
Review by Phoenix ★★★★★

So I just finished watching the Danish war documentary entitled Armadillo...
Armadillo is an account of a small group of Danish soldiers serving a six month tour at the Armadillo base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Starting at their initial deployment, we are shown the day to day activities of the soldiers, their interactions, as well as multiple skirmishes they were involved in.
This was some damn interesting journalism. A very stark and honest look at the life of a soldier.
The film isn't this romanticized or dramatized version of a soldier's life. It is very blunt in saying "This is what this is. Take it or leave it." We are shown the ups and downs of serving. From dry briefings…
Review by cptkrrk ★★★★★

This is fucking hard to watch. Half of it would get you banned off Reddit for posting and the rest will keep you awake at night.
It feels like the only documentary I've ever seen to actually tell a story about war that doesn't end just telling an affirming story about what we do to soldiers. I'd like to do some kind of comparison between this and 'Korengal' to talk about the effect artistic decisions about editing have on what is practically LiveLeak footage otherwise.
Review by EvergreenAutumn ★★★★★

If you've made it this far, you know the synopsis of the film.
Although there are half a dozen young men in the platoon, the film begins and ends with Mads, a young Danish lad deployed to Afghanistan. During the course of the film we receive insight into his parents', and especially his mother's, turmoil.
Since depictions of war and gunfights are commonplace and the found footage genre exists, it's sometimes hard to believe that when the camera 'drops', it is literally someone scrambling for their life; that when the platoon receives word one of their mates had parts of his legs blown off by an IED... he really did.
The film also documents the mundane everyday life of a…
Review by Pok Manero ★★★

Este documental sobre la guerra en Afganistán está filmado de manera competente y nos mete a la vida de los soldados en primer plano, pero fuera de eso siento que no aporta nada al cine de guerra, ya sea de ficción o no. ¿Que la guerra es horrible, que los soldos mueren? ¿Qué tiene eso de novedoso? Ni siquiera muestra una transformación en los jóvenes soldados, quienes al principio se muestran incluso ilusionados por ir a combatir pero al final la mayoría están programados para volver al frente, a pesar de los horrores que presenciaron. Siento que, si tiene una postura, es demasiado blanda y no queda clara.
Review by STEPHEN TUBBS ★★★

It is as good as most in this popular genre of film making. It captures the issues of civilians being caught in the middle, target identification, bloodlust, boredom, etc. very well. It could market itself as a fictional drama if it wanted to and the viewer would not be any the wiser.
Review by Michael U ★★★★½

I kept thinking about Chris Hedges' excellent book _War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning_. Pretty astonishing documentary-making on a tough topic.
Even just the scene that's in the header image on here is an unusually intense documentary moment on its own: a man completely in shock, having been shot multiple times.
Might be questionable after the fact, but I was totally sucked into the movie as it played out - and that experience, quelle surprise, is a very minor reflection of a major theme in this movie.
Review by MiNHOKANG ★★★★

전쟁은 흥미진진하지 않고 지루하다. 그리고 전쟁터에는 휴머니티는 없다. 그리고 전장은 중독된다.
[2018. 09. 03 월요일]
Review by Matthew Coaker ★★½

I was never really quite sure how to take this film. It`s shot in documentary style and yet at many points especially when the focus is on the soldiers themselves it feels quite dramatised. For me, this constantly leaves you questioning the projects validity. Anyone who's watch the excellent Ross Kemp in Afghanistan TV programme will find the patrols and subsequent engagements very familiar and the rising frustration of the soldiers struggling for any face to face combat with the Taliban. At the end the film suddenly takes a shift with a different turn of events and I was left frustrated that this aspect wasn't investigated in any detail...ultimately as the troops say themselves "you weren't there man" doesn't quite explain everything.