Full Battle Rattle (2008/First Run DVD)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C Main Program: C+
In a few films and TV shows, one of the more amusing tales
of fighting The Cold War had to do with the U.S.S.R. setting up special towns
and camps that would train KGB agents and the like to penetrate the U.S. and
this inevitably had the stuffy communists trying to learn slang, the
“much-hated” Rock N Roll and other “decadent” ways so they could crush those
“imperialists” once and for all. From
early episodes of Mission: Impossible to the John Travolta bomb The Experts, this was all about the shooting range of psychology
and disguise. The Tony Gerber/Jesse Moss
documentary Full Battle Rattle (2008)
shows a real-life version aimed at Islamic terrorists.
Crossing the psychological with the old-fashioned target
range idea, the U.S. Army has set up such an operation in California’s
Mojave Desert and this 85-minutes-long program argues that it is effective and
working to help U.S. troops
survive in the Middle East. By being more intimate about the participants
and dealing with the consequences of the need for such an arrangement, it
avoids looking like War Porn and shows something is being done we can actually
be told about. Not bad.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a little
soft throughout with some motion blur, but that is to be expected with the
shooting circumstances. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo is also not bad, but you get location audio flaws, which is
also to be expected much as with any documentary. Extras include stills, section on related
First Run DVDs, a Q&A with the filmmakers, bonus scenes and U.S. Army Guide
for Cultural Awareness that is DVD-ROM accessible.
- Nicholas Sheffo
