User Reviews

Will not appeal to those looking for an action oriented war movie, as the film is a methodically paced and cerebral look at the devastating effects of war on soldiers both on the battlefield and on their return home.

The three leads here Tye Sheridan, Alden Ehrenreich, and Jack Huston give fine performances, with strong support from Jennifer Anniston and Toni Collette. You'll have to wait till the end of the movie to find out how the mystery of what happened to Private Murphy (Sheridan) unfurled, amidst the film's numerous flashbacks.

Overall, this movie, despite being most difficult to watch at times, is still an important one illustrating the horrific effects of war on many soldiers.

Not a war film. But a film about war. Not the best. But decent. And good reflection of good intentions. It is a drama presenting two young men in Iraq war. Theirs mothers. The traumas. The choice of one. And the confession of the other. Sure, it is not real convincing. But, after so manyy great war films, "The Yellow Birds" has the purpose to remind the frame of heroism , sacrifice, lost of the other. And, in this sense, it does a good job. Because, against its status of sketch, it has the virtue to present, in the right nuances, a tragedy who, in this case, escapes from the circle of special effects and easy melodrama or heavy patriotism. A decent film. With few great scenes.

This film tells the story of two young soldiers and their mothers, who are devastated by the war in different ways.

It is a powerful anti war film, even though most of the time there is no blood and gore. The psychological effects of war on the soldiers and the families are profound, and the film portrays the feelings effectively. I'm also very glad to see two very famous actresses in this film.

The movie was really good ,, wasn't perfect and yes maybe some errors here and there ,, but over all the movie was purposeful , based on a true story and really emotional ,., makes you think how you really can't feel what these who have been to war have felt back in Iraq or when they got home ..

The casting was also good ,, wanted to see more of Jennifer Aniston and Toni Collette but again it's not their story to tell ,, it's the soldiers. Tye Sheridan, since his X-men depute back in 2015 he's been doing great ,, and Alden Ehrenreich did good too,.

Again, don't really care if there wasn't flat screen TVs in 2003 ,, just you know first flat screen came out in 1997 and become popular in the early 2000's ,, I actually noticed the Hajjis in the movie they speak Moroccan accent not Iraqi , i know because i know the language but again it didn't matter... the story itself was good and had a goal ,, War hurts everyone and keeps on hurting even after it ends, so don't start one in the first place.

finale thought,, watch it , it is recommended and sometimes you need to read more than one review.

Yellow Birds was a flawed movie from start to finish. Despite the story being interesting and the quality of production being above average, this was an easily forgettable war movie. To start, it was exceptionally slow to start picking up, which is never a good sign (especially when the movie is so short). We never saw their friendship grow or really any character development occur. We were never provided with a clear reason as to why they decided to hid that truth and cover it up. And we have no idea how it was found out that they did that. Just loads of missing information throughout. Not a fan.

This is a strong and compelling adaptation of Kevin Power novel involving the Iraq War. It has driven and poetic moments, and versatile and strong acting, but does have the almost jumpy feel to it as we go back and forth from real time to different engagements in the film. . The strength of Director Alexandre Moore elicits centered performances from his cast, including strong support by Aniston as a desperate mother, Collette as an exasperated one, and Huston as a veteran leader who defies the easy dramatic classifications of "good" and "bad." The strength and passion of the film lies with the two leads who are outstanding. Sheridan (Mud, Joe, Ready Player One) is a soulful actor who deftly conveys Murph's naïveté and eventual break and crisis. He's instantly sympathetic. Ehrenreich, who has swung hard from impressive work (Hail, Caesar) to less so (Solo: A Star Wars Story) is focused and settled as the damaged young man at the story's center. His Bartle is a true everyman -- without direction, not a star soldier, not a failure. The difference in him before and after he reaches his personal breaking point is clear; the sometimes-poetic narration seems to come from somewhere that didn't exist until it was unearthed by his experiences.

The levity of the film comes from the emotional and compelling performances. War pictures come across many ways and mostly with action and eye popping cinematography. This film comes at you in a completely different way and tells the story of what men and women see, feel and think in times of battle. Many are fearful, scared and become soulless to the graphic scenes they see. I like the film and feel it deserves many accolades. A superb story and perfectly captures the feel of war. A solid 8 out of 10

I am a Vietnam Vet who served in an air rescue and recovery squadron in 1969-70. Most war films pathetically fail for me because they're attempting to convey some message or other about wars, but this is one of those which offers the viewer a genuine insight into the ways that soldiers and their families deal with what they've all done (or not done) as well as what has been done to them.

Not only does this fine cast make the most of the script which is based upon a novel, but its cinematography is strongly evocative. Someone here has unfairly characterised the two mothers as being "hotties". I defy any objective person to explain how the appearance or behaviour of Toni Collette is remotely like a "hottie". Aniston was an executive producer who does wear an attractive dress at a party early in the film, but this sets up a stark contrast with her scenes in the second half talking with Collette and later with Alden Ehrenreich.

Based on its low IMDB rating, I had only rented it. However, I will now purchase and add this to my collection of worthwhile war films such as Clint Eastwood's 'Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima' and Oliver Stone's 'Platoon'.

For those who are disquieted by my praise of 'The Yellow Birds', I'd hope you please keep in mind this is merely one very old veteran's viewpoint based upon the ever-vivid memories of my tour of duty. Whether those memories have become distorted over 5 decades, I simply have no idea.

For the first half hour or so I didn't know what to make of this film. The tone was all over the place and I couldn't tell if the filmmaker wanted to make a War film or a drama.

I'll do my best not to spoil anything, but it wouldn't matter if I did, as this film isn't worth your time. It was very clear throughout the film that the writers/filmmaker, either weren't very knowledgeable of the US Army and how soldiers address each other, conduct themselves, or what battle drills are or how they are conducted.

These two young soldiers we follow constantly refer to a non-commissioned officer as "sir". Anybody who has served knows that is a big no no and would earn them a nice smoke session(forced strenuous PT) until they address him properly. This is just one of many issues with the film.

I honestly have no clue when this movie is set. Based on their uniforms I assume it takes place during the early stages of the invasion of Iraq, yet bars and private homes have modern flat screen wall mounted tv sets? Also there is a scene near the beginning, of the two leads meeting each other at a shooting range, but I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be at bootcamp, or at their assigned duty station. This film is rife with this style of poor writing.

The War scenes should've either been cut entirely or presented more ambiguously. Because these actors and the director slept walked right through them. None of it felt earned or organic, which is partially due to the lifeless foley. The rifles, LMGs, explosions, hiss/snaps of incoming fire etc. all sounded like it was meant to be marketed to the elderly, so it wouldn't hurt their ears. I'm surprised nobody stepped in and told this director to get some kind of energy and passion out of the actors.

By about the fifty minute mark it was clear that they were going for a mystery/drama, but even that felt unearned. None of the dramatic scenes felt natural, it felt as though the writer was searching for something to keep the audience invested.

This wasn't the worst War film I've seen, but it's not a good one either. It tries too hard to be multiple different things at once, the acting was average at best, there wasn't enough build up to any of the plot points, the directing was weak for the most part. There is a good movie in here.... Somewhere. They just couldn't find it.

The mechanics of this movie were good, the quality of the movie was good, the acting itself was just OK but a little bit lacking, for that it barely scratches a 5 for me. First let's get a pure aesthetic thing out of the way. If you are going to make a war film, get the actual equipment right. The U.S. Army uses Blackhawk helicopters and have for quite awhile now. Go to the military's public affairs office, find their office that works with Hollywood and the film industry and arrange for some Blackhawks not Huey's. The movie comes off as high quality enough to take that step. Oh, and you are not going to have those gun truck, Humvees with turrets, supporting you without someone in the hatch with some fire power.

Now. The acting here was just OK, not great, maybe good. The scenes though and the whole plot reveal at the end...it is just hogwash. Plain and simple. This is not how soldiers behave and not what I (as a veteran) can tell you, would even be imaginable. The platoon/ company/ chain of command dynamic is completely absent. The squad dynamic is altogether wrong, and those are huge plot holes. The writer has only a small vague understanding of how men and women in our armed forces behave, and interact with each other and how military operations work. I am trying not to give away any spoilers but the incident in the film is something that would be a million to one shot of happening in real life, and the way the follow on was carried out would have even longer odds. That doesn't even get to the odds that soldiers would think in this way, let alone carry out. Frankly, I can't even imagine a scenario where anything like this could actually even be conceived or even began to be carried out without hitting immediate large roadblocks that would cease it immediately in today's military. Again I can give it a 5 on some of it's cinematic merits but ultimately it doesn't overcome huge realistic obstacles. I don't believe it has any political/ideological objectives as far as being pro or anti-war. If it did it fails on that but I'm hoping that there wasn't one. Mostly this just suffers from a real lack of realism which draws in a lack of real connection and feeling. If they changed it into a more entertaining action movie that might make it more passable, but for the drama they were trying to portray it was overall lacking.

I don't know much about any of the characters in this movie. That's a big problem. Because I finished watching it.

Why would I feel anything other than indifference for them? For all I know the shy kid may have been a horrible human being previously. Why is the older one so despondent all the time?

Why would you need two big stars to play the mothers? They hardly said anything about themselves or their sons. Who was the Sargeant ?

Can you say "cliche?" Hopefully, because this one was filled with them. The greenhorn recruit, the gung-ho southern Sargeant. The Humvee driver playing rock music.

Come on. If you're going to do a war film, you must come up with some different angle or perspective. Because it's already been done so many times.

We already know that war is hell, and that every veteran character thinks he has seen the dark side in some unique way that no one can relate to.

But Iraq was not Vietnam. There probably weren't many jungles, tunnels, tigers, water snakes, leeches, humidity.

Land mines, scorpions and body bombs yes. Got that. I understand that the young one would be overwhelmed. Who let him into combat anyway? Don't they have interviews?

As others have said, the crime committed was so illogical that it blows the mind. I don't believe it. I lived through the whole boring mess to find out what happens, and that's what I got? That's unacceptable.

I actually needed to see some obligatory Christians and patriots. Because I know that they exist. Not every soldier is some lost soul looking for a purpose and a paycheck.

Yet I didn't see anyone who understood what the war was about or felt invested patriotically or spiritually. So sloppy.

It's a very sad story and not easy to watch. It aches the heart and make you rethink about how wars affect everyone in reality while most of the people just watch it on TV. It's a sad story , despite it may have some flaws , but if you look at the big picture, it's worth watching .

Two young soldiers Brandon Bartle (Alden Ehrenreich) and Daniel Murphy (Tye Sheridan) become friends in Army Basic Training and end up gong to Iraq together. Brandon had made a promise to Mrs. Murphy (Jennifer Aniston) to keep an eye on Daniel and if anything happens to Daniel she asks to hear it from Brandon first. He agrees. Brandon comes back from the war, but not Daniel. Something happened. All we know is that Murphy couldn't be found. Brandon doesn't say anything and avoids talking to the Army CID (Criminal Investigation Division)

This is a very unique war story, but isn't touted as a true story, but maybe something like this did happen. The story unfolds with flashbacks to Basic Training, combat in Iraq, and Brandon after his return from Iraq.

The production is first rate and the acting all around is spot on. We see Brandon after his time in Iraq being moody, anti social and abusive towards his mother Amy (Toni Collette).

Finally, Mrs. Murphy asks to see Brandon now in the Army Stockade and she is told what happened to Murphy.

Notables: Jack Houston as Sgt Sterling who takes Brandon and Daniel under his wing and also knows what happened to Murphy; Jason Patric as CID Captain Anderson.

The best scenes in here were when a shy Daniel is asked to dance by a nurse, who he had been looking at. I cannot tell who the girl was, but am guessing that she is Olivia Crocicchia as Tess. And they were absolutely the best scenes in here. Kudos.

Nice to see that Jennifer Aniston is going the route of serious movies. She is also one of the Producers of this film.

This just isn't a war movie as it's kind of more than that: a very unique war story.

Oh, I have no idea that the title means. Ha! (9/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Humor: No. Language: Yes. Rating; A

Take Full Metal Jacket, The Hurt Locker, a Six-Pack of Beer and some Hot Moms-Put It In A Blender and Run It On High

Although the concept of the main story might be original, it is lost within the inspirations of other films portrayed here.

The casting of Jennifer Aniston, Jason Patric, Toni Collette and Lee Tergesen is a complete waste of their talents as The Yellow Birds does not carry enough impact to warrant their inclusion. The film spends the majority of it's focus dealing with the effect upon the character Brandon Bartle, leaving all other characters insignificant to the main story.

The Yellow Birds strikes me as one of those 'first time' films, which is close as this is the second full length film directed by Alexandre Moors. What I see as another issue that convoluted the story is The Yellow Birds was burdened by thirty-five producers -that's 35 for you numbers folk.

Skip this film or save it for after you've binged everything else on Netflix.

The movie was OK. Nothing special. I slept right in the middle of it.

Just a remark, It felt weird watching a movie where locals speak Moroccan and it was supposed to be in Irak.

Many people speak many languages, please don't insult us. I speak 5 languages. Makes me remember when actors speak German in movie. Most of the time, it has nothing to do with German.

Can the morons that make these movies try to research a little before the make these inaccurate wastes of our time. Army Soldiers dont call Sergeants Sir, thats the Marines, and the Army has Posts, not Bases, thats the AirForce. The movie was very slow and boring. Maybe OK to watch on free tv or cable, but dont purchase it on Pay Per View.

Tye Sheridan, Toni Collette, Jason Patric and Jennifer Aniston.....

(alden ehrenreich was just fantastic)

There was some nice cinematography and they were able to blend together both the action and mystery elements together quite nicely, however some of the writing and editing choices were awkwardly done. Tye Sheridan once again does a great job at proving he's a star in the making. Toni Collette and Jennifer Aniston were also great. really the whole cast did an amazing job with the material they were giving.

These studios that want to make military movies need to hire advisers, I'm sure there are a million vets out there that will do it just to see that it's done correctly, I would gladly. I got 4 mins into the film before I turned it off. Specialist insignia upside down on uniform, people calling an NCO "sir". C'mon now, it's 2018. There's probably more war vets alive in the history of America than ever before, least you can do is get it right if you're going to portray us!

The acting is great if you can understand what they are saying, I couldn't and kept going back to a few important lines. It is confusing at times since we don't know the full story until the end, even then it is not exactly what it should have been. It's heartbreaking, especially for those that are serving our Country no matter the date or place. The toll is so high for these men and women and often to benefit others that should be there instead. I was disappointed in the telling of this story and the understanding is not that clear. I'm sure to vets it will be and their families.

Just to show how little this country really cares about the Iraq War or its veterans. There were so many horrible mistakes just on the range scene I turned this movie off. Veterans have come home scarred and unemployed and this is how they are dishonored. This movie was filmed in Georgia there is a retiree or veteran under just about every piece of granite and they couldn't ask ONE for advice? The reviewer who called these filmmakers morons was too kind. Routinely the press gets the military wrong but after years and years of watching accurate war movies, at least with reasonably accurate uniforms, somebody made this piece of junk. You ought to be ashamed. People died in that war and you do this. Happy Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy your barbeque.

Not bad, not really good, The Yellow Birds dances somewhat on the line of mediocrity. Production is solid, story told okay, but we don't get much served that we didn't already got, and better made. The weakest point of The Yellow Birds is not the cast nor the production but that going back and forth in the timeline which more or less destroyed the rhythm of the storytelling and finally more or less the whole movie for me. Anyway, you get some well known actors and a few strong scenes embedded in some of those scenes screaming too much "remember, I'm an anti-war-movie". Verdict: for sure not in the same league as movies like Black Hawk Down, Jarhead, American Sniper or The Hurt Locker, but nonetheless watchable for the interested audience, and one day I may even read the novel written by Kevin Powers.

I don´t know if this movie was trying to create another american-hero based stories or just tried to be against war! We´ve seen many times that how HW tries to justify Iraq´s invasion as a helping mission. Or show american soldiers as heroes and enemy as terrorist which is understandable propaganda by US movie industry. But this one wasn´t even clear about that, nor it was clear if it wants to show bad things about war.