In 2024, Alex Garland’s Civil War took a look at a fictionalized conflict. Co-directed with military veteran Ray Mendoza, Garland takes on real battles via 2025’s Warfare.

In November 2006, Navy SEAL platoon Alpha One participates in the Battle of Ramadi during the Iraq War. They take control of a house to use as their base and also as support for an operation executed by the Marines.

Inevitably, complications arise as the mission hits snarls. This places the SEALs in a position of danger.

Traditional Hollywood war movies give us theatrical heroics and basic “good vs. evil” narratives. Warfare doesn’t become that traditional Hollywood war movie.

Unusually, the film doesn’t show us much of “the enemy” at all. We get no leering villains and thus no sense of vengeful satisfaction when our boys take down the baddies.

Warfare sticks virtually entirely with US soldiers, and it doesn’t portray them as the all-conquering heroes we often find in movies of this sort. That doesn’t mean the tale paints the SEALs as weak or cowardly, of course.

Instead, Warfare depicts them as human. We find a bunch of really young guys forced into a violent and chaotic situation that they simply attempt to survive.

Do heroics emerge along the way? Yes, but not in the showy and flashy manner we expect from Hollywood.

Instead, Warfare digs into the nitty-gritty. Co-director Mendoza lived through the events depicted here, and both he and Garland insist on a relentless sense of accuracy.

This actually threatens to become an albatross, as I feared Garland and Mendoza would favor realism over drama. While a truthful view of the characters and situations sounds good, a movie still needs to produce a story that the viewers want to see.

And occasionally this does cause the tale to drag a bit, especially during its first act. The aforementioned Hollywood war movies conditioned us to a certain level of theatrics, so a film without those elements can try patience.

That remains a minor quibble, though. The filmmakers’ refusal to “Hollywood-ize” the narrative ultimately gives the tale greater impact.

All of this adds up to an unusual and compelling project. Warfare gives us a bracing view of combat.

Warfare appears in an aspect ratio of 2.00:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. A native 4K product, this Dolby Vision image worked well.

Sharpness looked good. No obvious softness materialized, so the flick showed fine clarity and accuracy.

Shimmering and jaggies failed to appear, and I saw no edge haloes. The movie lacked source flaws.

In terms of colors, Warfare went with a mix of yellow/amber and teal as well as some reds at times. The 4K UHD reproduced them with good fidelity, and HDR added punch to the tones.

Blacks were deep, and shadows were well-depicted – well, when allowed to be. Some nighttime shots intentionally made the footage pretty dim, but I didn’t fault the presentation for that.

HDR gave extra zing to whites and contrast. The 4K UHD offered a solid “A-” presentation.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack packed a very good sense of action, with active use of the various channels. Effects fleshed out the spectrum in a logical way.

As expected, the military components added immersion to the tale. These worked for the story and added impact to the proceedings.

Audio quality pleased. Speech was concise and natural, while effects remained vivid and full-bodied.

In an attempt at greater realism, no score accompanied the film, though it did provide some music over the end credits. The audio suited the story.

As we head to extras, we find an audio commentary from writers/directors Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza and military consultant Brian Philpot. All three sit together for this running, screen-specific view of filmmaking domains as well as the reality behind the movie’s depiction of events.

Those two sides connect well in this consistently informative chat. I like the discussion of how Garland and Mendoza shared directorial duties as well as the other notes in this solid track.

Courage Under Fire runs 28 minutes, 34 seconds. It brings info from Garland, Mendoza, producer Allon Reich, production designer Mark Digby, special effects supervisor Ryan Conder, costume supervisor Neil Murphy, and actors Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Charles Melton, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Michael Gandolfini, Adain Bradley, Heider Ali, Nathan Altai, Joseph Quinn, and Kit Connor.

The featurette examines story and characters, realism and factual elements, cast and performances, photography, sets, various effects, costumes, audio and the absence of score. Inevitably, some of this material repeats from the commentary, but we nonetheless get a solid little overview.

Finally, the package includes six Collectible Postcards that feature photos from the film. These seem forgettable but inoffensive.

With an approach to conflict that leans more realistic than most films, Warfare provides a fairly effective view of combat. The movie delivers a POV that doesn’t overdramatize, as it lets the violent events speak for themselves. The 4K UHD comes with excellent picture and audio as well as a few informative supplements. Warfare delivers an unusual and compelling tale.