Objectively as a person who reviews thousands of films, I have to say this was a terrible movie.On the one hand, while I knew about stop loss already as everyone who signs the dotted line does, I found it to be unconstitutional as a concept.On the other hand, this movie was pure propaganda from bleeding hearts. It has the clichés running straight through it from start to finish, and it wouldn't have been so bad if the directing, script, dialog were any good.I think the actors did a decent job with what they had to work with, and there were some intriguing ideas, but they weren't new ones and they weren't done skillfully.In the end we wonder what he learned if anything from his actions. It seems it was all full of sound and fury signifying nothing.If you want to see my favorite movie about war, watch The Deer Hunter. Now that's a movie that will change your life.

Stop Loss has an important message for those disconnected from the US military: our servicemen are being asked to do more combat tours than ever before in the history of the US military. Since the end of the Draft after the Viet Nam War all combat operations are carried out by the limited number of volunteer GIs. Okay, they volunteered, but with the numbers in the Army, National Guard, Reserves, and Marines, they are being asked to do too much time in combat; hence the massive numbers suffering from PTSD, ballooning suicide numbers, spousal abuse, and other problems experienced by and caused by returning servicemen.Stop the senseless wars that should not be fought and are not worth the sacrifice of our young volunteers or our nation's resources. And, bring back the Draft so the whole nation feels the pain when we go to war. Stop Loss makes this case.

This film is about three US soldiers who goes back home after the war in Iraq. One of them gets redrafted back to the army on the day he is supposed to be discharged from the army.I did not know about the plot of "Stop-Loss", and hence I was in for a shock. "Stop-Loss" is so different from other war films, as it portrays the other side of war. It does not tell how glorious wars are, but the physical and psychological traumas that entails from these gruesome wars. The portrayals of the trauma are very real, ranging from physical disability, flashbacks, difficulty adjusting to civilian life and disrupted social relationships back home. These problems are so real and authentic, making the plot so engaging and effective. I did not like the ending though, as I do not quite understand the psychological processes behind Ryan Philippe's character's decision.It is refreshing to view the life of a soldier from a different perspective, and I am pleasantly surprised by "Stop-Loss".

My mistake for thinking this was a serious war-is-hell movie prior to seeing it. That all ended seconds into the film when the "MTV" logo appeared. It might as well been called "National Lampoon's Sexy-N-Loose." And it did play to the "MTV" crowd; the movie that followed those comical first few seconds played like the music videos they used to play 40+ years ago. At least Disney was smart enough to ship its Rated R stuff over to Touchtone and allowed us to take it seriously. Okay, I'm being harsh; it wasn't that bad of a film. However, it definitely has its share of overacting and the film is extremely biased/one-sided. Admittedly, I'm not a war movie buff. I can't watch 'Platoon,' 'Full Metal Jacket' or 'Saving Private Ryan' more than once. Sure they were good movies, but they're not my forte and they all seem to blend in after awhile to where I wouldn't be able to distinguish one from the next. Following a tour in Iraq, Phillippe plans life after the war but is drawn back in due to a clause in his contract. Or, at least, that's the military's plan until he goes AWOL and the characters speed cross-country on a few bucks amazingly never caught. No, I haven't been in any war, nor to Iraq, nor do I agree with it. I also don't have all the knowledge when it comes to recruitment or signing their contracts. I can say this: though I am sorry they're drawn back into this conflict, I can't feel too much for someone so dumb not to read the fine print. It's like someone on their deathbed leaning over to finally read the Surgeon General's warning on their box of cigarettes and say, "Oh, they're what? Deadly? I'll sue them!"