Attracted by the high rating (7.6 at the time being) I watched this film which was probably mostly intended for Turkisch audiences. That was what made interesting for me: it gives some insight in the mentality of nowadays Turkey and it's attitude towards it's army. That attitude is very dualistic: on one side both protagonists are not happily becoming / being soldiers and life as a soldier on a mountaintop is not really glamorized, on the other side there is still the heroic dying ("where one will die a thousand will rise") and the father figure type commanders. On one side it is a modern, America type film on the other side quite dramatic and melancholic, which is maybe very Turkish.
The visuals of the mountain landscape are beautiful, the characters are interesting, there is humor. The downside is that the military action is either quite unrealistic or Turkish soldiers are criminally lousy trained: going into a building in enemy territory WITHOUT taking your gun with you? You are almost out of ammunition and you do NOT take the AK 47 of the enemy you just killed? Take a rest in the snow and not on the nearby rocks where you are not such an easy target? I have never been a soldier but have seen enough war movies to know that these are not clever actions. The two protagonists pay dearly for these mistakes so the director was at least aware of that.
The visuals of the mountain landscape are beautiful, the characters are interesting, there is humor. The downside is that the military action is either quite unrealistic or Turkish soldiers are criminally lousy trained: going into a building in enemy territory WITHOUT taking your gun with you? You are almost out of ammunition and you do NOT take the AK 47 of the enemy you just killed? Take a rest in the snow and not on the nearby rocks where you are not such an easy target? I have never been a soldier but have seen enough war movies to know that these are not clever actions. The two protagonists pay dearly for these mistakes so the director was at least aware of that.