If you’re a veteran and haven’t heard of Range 15 you may be living under a rock. A rock that lacks internet. Range 15 is the combination of two of the most American, most popular, veteran owned clothing companies in the world. Ranger Up, and Article 15 clothing. Most vets have probably heard of Matt Best and Article 15 clothing through his extremely popular Youtube videos. These Youtube vids include Rap Battles, Pop songs, and a variety of skits that are best understood by veterans. These two American as F*&! veterans got together, pitched an idea for a movie, and rose almost a million dollars to make it.
Finally!
That movie has finally arrived on DVD, Blu-Ray, and Digital download. Range 15 is an irreverent action comedy. The movie wastes no time getting to the zombie apocalypse, which the characters describe as their ultimate dream early on. I’m trying to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, so bear with me.
What follows is a ridiculous, sometimes nonsensical comedy that to truly understand you’ll need to be a veteran, preferably a combat arms veteran. The movie has some military lingo and acronyms, but not so much a civilian couldn’t understand what’s going on. The movie constantly pokes fun at movie tropes while shamelessly using them to great comic effect.
The Veterans of Range 15
Range 15 is also full of real-life veterans. Matt takes a leadership followed closely by the resident straight man Nick. You also have their lovable band of misfits, including ‘I’m big as f*&^” Rocco Vargas, Jack yes that’s a doll Mandaville, and Jarred ‘second fattest friend’ Taylor all make up the main crew. Along the way you see real-life Medal of Honor recipients Leroy Petry, and Clint Romesha. You see a whole lot of Tim Kennedy. You also see cameos by Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, who famously rushed an armed terrorist on a train in Paris. We also get two awesome scenes with Marcus Luttrell of Lone Survivor fame.
That’s just where the cameos begin. Along the way you get William Shatner, Keith David, Ron Jeremy, Randy Couture, Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen, and more I’ve probably missed. Oh yeah, Dale Dye as President Mattis is an awesome one to catch.
To hell with PC
The movie is about as politically incorrect as possible. It pulls zero punches and is not for the easily offended. It takes shots at hipsters, anti-gun zealots, and general jackasses. The movie certainly shares a high level of veteran style black humor. That’s what I love about it. You’ll see vets who are missing limbs make jokes about it, because that’s just what vets do. There is also several examples of casual murder, which are played as jokes, and work perfectly.
The best part comes from the fact it feels like the group of guys are genuine friends, which I’m sure they are. They goof off, make fun of each other, and make the movie feel real in the sense it’s what a group of veterans would really do. As a group, they just click, and it feels like they are just a group of guys in a platoon together, making the best of living in the suck.
There is plenty of things I can pick on, and would do on a normal movie. The acting is occasionally forced, but these guys aren’t actors so I don’t expect Dicaprio. The budget was low, so you understand by necessity the special effects are far from perfect. Overall, for a movie made on a million bucks, with a cast of non-actors it works well. My only real nitpick is there are a few times where the jokes fall flat, and the editing seems disjointed.
Final Verdict
If you’re a veteran go see it. It will bring back some of the best memories you have of being in uniform. If you’re a civilian go see it for the lolz. If you’re a politically correct type, go to your safe space because this isn’t for you. If you enjoy the movie, make you check out Article 15 and Ranger Up .
