'Masterpiece' war movie hailed as 'one of the best I've seen' now on Netflix

A "masterpiece" war movie hailed as "one of the best" films ever is now available on Netflix. 9th Company follows young Soviet Army recruits as they are deployed to 1980s Afghanistan, and thousands of stellar reviews have hailed the film for its emotional depiction of war through brilliant acting and direction.

After training in the Fergana Valley, the unit is sent to Afghanistan where they are tasked with defending a remote mountain outpost. Cut off from support and surrounded by Mujahideen fighters, they face overwhelming odds and, as the novice conscripts become hardened by their drill sergeant and the harsh realities of combat, 9th Company follows their journey from inexperienced to battle-weary soldiers.

The war film was a hit when it was released in 2005. According to IMDB, it was nominated for 22 awards, winning 13 in total.

One viewer, Radu_95, deemed 9th Company an "impressive successor of famous Russian war films" and an "excellent masterpiece".

He wrote on IMDB: "I was really surprised about this film. Perfect acting, spectacular special effects, costumes and different point of view on war. All of these made this film superlative.

"And something more. I felt something strange after the end of this film. It was mix of feelings like anger, sympathy and sorrow."

Another viewer, dusan-22, simply stated: "This is one of the best war movies I have ever seen."

He added: "What is so well done are the thorough and catchy analysis of the social and psychological features of the soldiers, from the time they entered the barracks as civilians to the time of their final battles as soldiers."

He concluded: "This film deserves at least 10 out of 10, if you ask me."

Directed by Fedor Bondarchuk, the original title of the Russian film is 9 (9 rota), which translates to 9th Company.

It is now available on Netflix and Prime Video.