Different tastes. Earl also found one section of it very heavy going, though he liked the movie over all a little bit more than I did. I can't imagine sitting through it again, and I think his reaction was the same.

I'm looking forward to the Earhart movie.

There is also the side issue of how we should react to heroism in an illegal war.

According to Tacitus, Nero ordered Christians to be thrown to dogs, while others were crucified or burned to serve as lights.[19]

He describes the event as follows:

Consequently, to get rid of the report [that Nero had the fire set], Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.

Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty*; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.[19]

Ghulam, you make a very important point. If Sgt James is a hero then so are the terrorists who are making and planting the IEDs.

Gromit said, " they are above or beyond the conflict itself".
That is true. But it is also difficult to separate them from the context.