Full Battle Rattle

Plot Summary

Full Battle Rattle is a revelatory look at the soul of the American war machine - an astonishing journey into a once top-secret military base where U.S. soldiers train to confront a new kind of enemy. In California's Mojave Desert, the U.S. Army has built a billion dollar urban warfare situation - a cluster of towns and villages modeled on counterparts in the Middle East, complete with full-time residents played by Iraqi Americans. With un-restricted access, the filmmakers follow an American Battalion through the simulation as they attempt to bring peace and prosperity to one village perched on the brink of civil war. As the mood in the village shifts from friendly banter to violent clashes, the Battalion struggles to win the respect of the townsfolk and defeat an insurgency played, ironically, by American soldiers.