{"id":78844,"date":"2025-04-11T22:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/04\/11\/warfare-directors-talk-filmmaking-process-capturing-combat-realism\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:50:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:50:31","slug":"warfare-directors-talk-filmmaking-process-capturing-combat-realism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2025\/04\/11\/warfare-directors-talk-filmmaking-process-capturing-combat-realism\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Warfare\u2019 directors talk filmmaking process, capturing combat realism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nov. 19, 2006 is remembered as hell on earth for Petty Officer Ray Mendoza and members of Naval Special Warfare Task Unit-Ramadi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That day, Mendoza\u2019s team was ambushed in a coordinated attack \u2014 a grenade, an improvised explosive device and a hail of small arms fire \u2014 shortly after setting up sniper overwatch in an Iraqi residence. By the time the team was evacuated, an Iraqi Army scout was dead. Two SEALs, including Mendoza\u2019s best friend, Elliot, were severely wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his actions amid the chaos, Petty Officer Mendoza<\/a> would be awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration for combat valor. Now, that harrowing day in November 2006 anchors Mendoza\u2019s feature directorial debut, \u201cWarfare,\u201d a film that unfolds in real time and is compiled entirely based on the memory of those who endured it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do the story justice, Mendoza enlisted the expertise of Alex Garland (\u201cEx Machina\u201d), with whom he had collaborated on the 2024 blockbuster \u201cCivil War\u201d as the film\u2019s weapons advisor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mendoza and Garland spoke with Military Times about the filmmaking process that followed, and everything that went into creating one of the most realistic depictions of combat ever made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read our review of \u201cWarfare\u201d here<\/i><\/a>. Some interview answers have been edited for clarity.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Warfare\u2019 is an intimate look at a major event in your life. How did this project come to fruition after all these years?<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ray Mendoza: <\/b>I\u2019ve pitched it a few times, but in the past it would have meant giving the idea to somebody and trusting them to do it right. I wanted to learn more in this industry, to see one day if it was even feasible to do it. That way, if it failed or succeeded, it\u2019d be on me. So, I was just looking for the right opportunity to do it. Alex helped facilitate that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex Garland:<\/b> We wanted to take an hour and a half and try to recreate an instance of real combat as accurately as possible. Ray and I had worked together before and discussed whether there was a story he wanted to tell. This one had been on his mind for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n