1747 – Shadow in the Cloud (2020)

timespace coordinates: August 1943 Auckland, New Zealand > Samoa

Shadow in the Cloud is a 2020 American-New Zealand fantasy adventure action film directed by Roseanne Liang, from a screenplay by Liang and Max Landis. It stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Taylor John Smith, Nick Robinson, Beulah Koale and Callan Mulvey. Its plot deals with a World War II air force service woman who is on a mysterious mission, only to have a gremlin attack the bomber she is riding on. (wiki)

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The animated segment at the beginning of the film is based on Private Snafu, a series of adult-oriented instructional shorts meant to educate enlisted personnel on army discretion, hygiene, combat readiness and daily life. They were produced between 1943 and 1945, and given they were not meant to be public, were free from censorship restrictions. The title character, parodied in the film, come from the military acronym “Situation Normal All Fucked Up”.

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1713 – Monsters of Man (2020)

timespace coordinates: 2020’s Cambodia

A robotics company vying to win a lucrative military contract team up with a corrupt CIA agent to conduct an illegal live field test. They deploy four weaponised prototype robots into a suspected drug manufacturing camp in the Golden Triangle, assuming they’d be killing drug runners that no one would miss. (Official Website)

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1711 – The Longest War (2020 documentary)

This documentary feature unpacks the human stories and drama behind America’s involvement in Afghanistan, now the longest war in U.S. history.  (imdb)

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1710 – Afghanistan: The Great Game (documentary | TV mini-series 2012)

Afghanistan: The Great Game – A Personal View by Rory Stewart is a 2012 documentary in two parts written and presented by Rory Stewart that tells the story of foreign intervention by Britain, Russia, and the United States in Afghanistan from the 19th century to the present day. (wiki)

imdb   /   The_Great_Game

1709 – The Outpost (2020)

timespace coordinates: 2006, PRT Kamdesh – later renamed Combat Outpost Keating – one of several U.S. Army outposts established in Northern Afghanistan. Located in a remote valley surrounded by the Hindu Kush mountains. The base was regarded as a deathtrap; the troops stationed there faced regular Taliban attacks, culminating in one of the bloodiest American engagements of Operation Enduring Freedom. The film tells the story of the 53 U.S. soldiers and two Latvian military advisors who battled some 400 enemy insurgents at the Battle of Kamdesh.

The Outpost is a 2020 American war film directed by Rod Lurie, based on the 2012 non-fiction book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by Jake Tapper, about the Battle of Kamdesh in the war in Afghanistan. It stars Scott Eastwood, Caleb Landry Jones, Orlando Bloom, Jack Kesy, Cory Hardrict, Milo Gibson, Jacob Scipio, and Taylor John Smith. (wiki)

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1558 – Class of 1999 (1990)

spacetime coordinates: In 1999, special areas known as “free fire zones” have discouraged police from entering out of fear. Seattle‘s Kennedy High School is in the middle of a free fire zone, thus the Department of Education Defense (D.E.D.), a pilot special government agency, has been notified. Working with MegaTech head Dr. Bob Forrest, an experiment begins where three former military robots have become android educators.

Class of 1999 is a 1990 American science fiction action thriller horror film directed by Mark L. Lester. It is the director’s follow-up to his 1982 film Class of 1984. (wiki)

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1553 – The Old Guard (2020)

spacetime coordinates: 2019 (/2024?) South Sudan >  Afghanistan > France > England

The Old Guard is a 2020 American superhero film directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Greg Rucka, based on his comic book of the same name. The film stars Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and follows a team of immortal mercenaries that go on a revenge mission. (wiki)

The graphic novel that originated the film, The Old Guard: Force Multiplied, has four issues, so fans can expect this movie to have sequels. At least a second one is already in Netflix’s pipeline, with signed contracts by the main characters.

imdb   /   Scythians