Netflix Gritty R-Rated War Movie Based On Real Events With Lord Of The Rings Star

Based on Jake Tapper’s non-fiction book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor, the movie is about the Battle of Kamdesh. It tracks the battle at a remote military outpost in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan, known as a notoriously dangerous base.

The base is attacked at night by a much larger force of Taliban soldiers, with the film following the American soldier’s attempts to stave off the attack long enough for backup forces to arrive. 

While there’s only one household name in The Outpost, it has a cast of established actors and some significant cameos from survivors of the real-world battle. The main cast includes Orlando Bloom, Caleb Landry Jones, Scott Eastwood, and Jack Kesy. The film also features cameos from three survivors of the Battle of Kamdesh, Ty Carter, Henry Hughes, and Daniel Rodriguez. 

Director Rob Lurie has had an inconsistent filmography and The Outpost marked his return to film after nearly a decade away from the medium.

While his second film, The Contender was controversial it was critically well-received, earning a pair of Oscar nominations among numerous other awards. After a string of flops, he worked on TV shows like Line of Fire and Hell on Wheels before his return to film in 2020. 

The Outpost was a hit among critics, earning near-universal praise and being hailed as a great modern war movie. With a score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie received overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Critics were particularly favorable towards the film’s action-packed battle sequences and the respectful depictions of the real American soldiers involved in the battle. 

While The Outpost was well-received by critics, its July 2020 release, in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic, resulted in a limited theatrical release and accompanying low box office results.

It managed $2.3 million in its theatrical run but was mostly seen by audiences through its VOD release. Earnings from on-demand purchases aren’t tracked like physical ticket sales, but the movie dominated on-demand platforms like the I-Tunes Store when it was released. 

There’s no way to know how well The Outpost would have performed under normal circumstances, but its success in the On-Demand market seems to imply it should have been at least a moderate hit.

Its success also helped to normalize the premium on-demand model that has become so controversial in the post-pandemic world. That release method may have also hampered the movie’s cultural cache as it has been largely overlooked after release despite its stellar reviews. 

With an emphasis on tension intercut with sudden, realistic, action The Outpost is one of the biggest war movies in years. Fans of the genre will certainly find this retelling of a true battle thrilling. If you missed out on The Outpost in the chaos of 2020 you can watch it streaming now on Netflix.