"Unforgettable. A raw, intimate, and improbably funny portrait of the situation in Iraq in the year after president bush declared that `major combat' was over. Gunner Palace is so startling because it suggests - it shows - just how complicated the reality of this war has been. It may not change your mind, but it will certainly deepen your perception and challenge your assumptions, whatever they may be. Gunner Palace is a movie no one should miss." ~ A.O. Scott, New York Times
"Gunner Palace, an intimate portrait of the soldiers serving in 2/3 Field Artillery in Baghdad, defies any expectations you bring to it. There are sights in Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein's eye-opening documentary that will confirm and confound both right and left." ~ David Ansen, Newsweek
"If you're an OIF vet... SEE THIS FILM. If you're family of a soldier... SEE THIS FILM. If you've never had any contact with the military... SEE THIS FILM. If you're for or against the war, red state or blue state, longhaired hippie or backwoods redneck... SEE THIS FILM." ~ Raymond A. Kimball, Army OIF Veteran
"This film will fill in some gaps for those who really want to know about the war in Iraq - and the others that think they know what war is. Armchair critics only tell tales of glory; we tell you our own reality in respect to our fellow soldiers and fallen comrades.....GUNNERS!" ~ Sgt. Robert Beatty 2/3 FA - Iraq War Veteran
Welcome to a place called Gunner Palace and an experience that the soldiers who live there jokingly call "minor combat" - which involves everything from executing raids on suspected terrorists, enduring roadside bombs and mortar attacks from an enemy they never see to post-raid parties around the palace pool. This is the experience of war in the soldiers' own uncensored, surprising and often humorous words. Rarely pretty, always honest, their words provide a backbeat and bulls-eye view of a war that defies sound bites, on-air updates and hidden cameras. Gunner Palace allows viewers to travel to the front line without ever being in the line of fire. Capturing our troops' heroism and unique battle-hardened personas,
Director Michael Tucker accomplishes the extraordinary: obliterating politics while reinforcing the unifying, universal truths of surreal life in the combat zone. The result is a powerful portrait of a controversial war too intimate and shocking to ever be seen in the news.
If you think you know what war is, think again.
