Soldiers in the British Army undertake the hardest course there is to join the The Airborne Brigade and become paratroopers.
Ian Taylor
Charles Thompson
Mathew Simmons
Desmond Seal
Steven Phillips
England
COMMENTThis film follows the highs and lows, although admittedly mostly lows, experienced by soldiers on the Airborne training course. The Airborne Brigade is an elite group of paratroopers who excel in physical and mental strength. The men are trained to be able to carry heavy packs across long distances with speed, but by the end of the second week of training, all have back sores and injuries. They swallow painkillers like smarties to be able to carry on with the course.
The men are placed under the intense psychological pressure of being tested all the time. The log event is the hardest in the final test week when the remaining soldiers must carry a heavy log through the hills. One man collapses from exhaustion. It's a brutal environment, one young man decides to go ahead with a course despite his injury not knowing that he has already failed the course.
The film works well because it is a specific event filmed over a set amount of time with natural highs and lows of the men involved in the course.
