Apparently, Russian soldiers in Afghanistan were either criminals, idiots, lunatics, traitors, or all of the above. None of them had any genuine desire to do good, like build infrastructure, for instance, something this film never has time to acknowledge. None of them were patriots who fought bravely. None of them performed their duties professionally. None of them deserve to be called heroes. When veterans protested the film during a screening at which the director was present, he defended himself, saying he did not intend to insult 'their' fatherland. The choice of words was more than revealing. For him, it was not 'his' fatherland, but 'theirs'. And this alien country did nothing right, just as her sons that fought and died in Afghanistan did nothing right. That's what this nasty film director would have us believe, that is.

This film, like Chernobyl, is the truth about what the Soviet Union is. Human life is worth nothing. What kind of ephemeral goals, thousands of human losses, for the sake of influence. This movie is true. Requiem for tens of thousands of people who died in Afghanistan, from 15 republics of the former union. A meaningless adventure. Bravo Lungin! And the fact that this film is scolded in modern Russia, Putin's Russia, says that it should be watched!

In 2020, The US has been engaged in the tricky process of extracting itself from it's military blunder into Afghanistan, leaving the future of the government it has propped up in uncertainty. Last year, "Brotherhood" was released, telling the story of the Soviet Union's own tumultuous extraction from the country, laden with it's own uncertainties.

If I were to make a rough comparison, what Full Metal Jacket was to The Deer Hunter is what Brotherhood is to 9th Company. That is to say; Brotherhood is not like a Hollywood action movie with big fireball explosions and hordes of mindless enemies that serve to be mowed down by fearless, hardened and 'badass' soldiers. In Brotherhood, the special effects are realistically tame and used appropriately, the Mujahideen put up a deadly fight, and the soldiers they are fighting range from the brave, careless, and absolutely terrified; and sometimes all three.

The soldiers also all have different senses of morality and motivation, it is for that I assume where the bombardment of 1 star ratings on IMDB came from and the reason I am writing this review. As far as I can tell, the soldiers here (as in real war) are portrayed as human beings with human flaws that are capable of and indeed at times act unprofessionally and at others, do terrible things. The Mujahideen are also portrayed with the same level of nuance, some are willing to make a deal with the Soviets, others are committed to brutality.

The sets and props are spot on, anyone who has watched documentaries on the Soviet-Afghan war, or indeed on the more recent conflict (in regards to the locations at least) should be completely satisfied. As for the sound design, the crisp chatter of Kalashnikovs and explosions echoing around the mountains and isolated cobble houses of Afghanistan leave little to be desired. The soundtrack is appropriately haunting, and makes great use of the music of Soviet punk, Egor Letov, something that as a big Letov fan I appreciated greatly.

I'd highly recommend this to any buffs of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, as well as to anyone who wants a prime example of a mature Russian war film.