He is highly regarded as arizonas hero, a central figurehead that the state rallies behind and whose memory is celebrated annually with a very popular run in his honor. Last week, we showed you the poster for the upcoming documentary the tillman story the film is about the coverup involving the death of u. And when the government tried to turn his death into war propaganda, they took on the wrong family. Army ranger, pat tillman, in the war in afghanistan, the.
The tillman story, directed by amir barlev and narrated by josh brolin, is a scathing indictment of how tillmans death, aided by complicitous media coverage, was cynically manipulated by. The movie could be an opportunity for reality to break through. Born in 1976, patrick tillman was an allaround athlete from the san jose, ca area recruited as a linebacker for arizona state universitys football. My comments friday about the lack of a pat tillman biopic as an example of a heroic story about either the afghanistan or iraq wars generated a fair amount of emails like this one from reader. The tillman story 2010 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. He was the subject of michael lewiss book the blind side and the 2009 film of the same name. The tillman story, a documentary by director amir barlev my kid could paint that explores the attempt to cover up the true story of the final minutes of pat tillmans life. The tillman story is ferocious filmmaking, but it wouldnt have half the force it does if the director didnt also get at the complicated man pat tillman was.
But as erica hill reports, the story told by the government. A documentary film, the tillman story, was shown at the sundance film festival on january 23, 2010, and was released in august 2010. Amir barlev tried to compress three movies into one. Pretty much everyone knows the basics of the tillman story. From her home in northern california, pats mother, dannie tillman, led the familys crusade to reveal the truth beneath the mythology of their sons life and death. With pat tillman, josh brolin, mary tillman, russell baer. The film is a great introduction to the pat tillman story. Former arizona cardinals safety pat tillman makes the decision to leave the nfl and serve his country following the events of september 11th. The film is about the death of football player turned u.
The most profound ad lib in director amir barlevs film, the tillman story, comes from a seasoned military special ops guy. The tillman family refused to cooperate with any attempt to tell any pat tillman allamerican phony story. Tillman story sad tale of a military coverup reuters. You cant blame the tillmans for being angry, especially after watching the tillman story, a striking portrait of their singleminded search for the truth behind pats death in afghanistan in. Tillman was the nfl star who gave it all up to join the military cause in afghanistan after being inspired by 911 to do something for his country. Pat tillman gave up his professional football career to join the army. The tillman story is infused with the righteous anger and stunned disbelief of tillmans crusading mother and father, who worked tirelessly to receive a full account of the events that led to the loss of their son. An interesting story, but as a film it provided almost no knew information. Learn more about the hero who inspired the creation of the pat tillman foundation and is the source of its mission to help veteranscholars carry on his legacy of service. There always was a dark cinematic thread to the story of pat tillman. Football star pat tillman skyrocketed to national fame in 2002, when, eight months after 911, he turned down a multimilliondollar contract with the arizona cardinals to enlist in the u. Amir barlev, who was behind the sundance hit my kid could paint that a few years back, returns to the festival this year with a documentary about pat tillman, the former arizona cardinal who was killed in afghanistan in 2004 after leaving behind his nfl career to enlist. If, on the other hand, you want to learn the truth about pat tillman and what happened to him and his family, see the tillman story.
Pat tillman and his brother kevin in the tillman story. The story of football great and army ranger, pat tillman, still weighs heavily on the u. I found the tillman story both convincing and damning. Pat tillman was a much more interesting man and more of an actual hero. In the 2010 documentary film, the tillman story, the story of pat tillman and his tragic death at the hands of friendly fire is retold. Select any poster below to play the movie, totally free. Pat tillman, hero and victim, by amir barlev the new. Professional football player pat tillman joined the army after 911 and was killed in afghanistan by friendly fire during a gun battle. Pat tillman gave up his professional football career to join the army rangers in 2002 and became an instant symbol of patriotic fervor and unflinching duty. But, provocative and colorful as the film is, it does the very thing it denounces massaging the facts to seize tillman for a political agenda. I knew there were myths around his death, barlev says, but what began to intrigue me was when we found out.
The fact that the military manipulated his tragic death in the line of duty into a propaganda tool is. The studio behind the tillman story, a documentary about the life and death of pat tillman, who died in afghanistan in 2004, is appealing r rating assigned by the classification and rating. The opening scene of the documentary the tillman story shows pat tillman taping a promotional video while still a college football player at arizona state university. On imdb tv, you can catch hollywood hits and popular tv series at no cost. Since this film was released pat tillmans mother has published a book with further details that raise even more questions.
A documentary about pats life, called the tillman story, was released on august 20, 2010. The film, narrated by josh brolin, tells how members of the tillman family would not let the story rest. As mary tillman says in the film, the truth is more powerful than the lies. But the truth about pat tillman is far more complex, and ultimately more heroic, than the caricature created by the media.
His choice to leave a multimilliondollar football contract and join the military wasnt done for any reason other than he felt it was the right thing to do. The tillman story recently received an r rating from the motion picture assn. Pat tillman decided to leave a multimilliondollar professional football contract and. Pat tillman as an nfl star he was a safety for the arizona cardinals who died in combat in afghanistan. Pat tillman was born on november 6, 1976 in san jose, california, usa as patrick daniel tillman jr. Filmmaker amir barlev examines pat tillmans unusual life and times, the facts about his death, how and why the military created a cover story to hide the truth, and his familys battle to bring. Amir barlev, director of the tillman story, was no great insider to his subject, postnfl athlete and us corporal patrick tillman, when he began making his film. Living in arizona, even a decade after it happened, you are still constantly reminded of the story of pat tillman. Directed by amir barlev, the film centers on the coverup surrounding pat tillmans death. The tillman story is a 2010 american documentary film directed by amir barlev. The title for amir barlevs wellresearched, deeply moving documentary about pat tillman is just fine as it is, since the story part of the tillman story refers in part to the attempts to turn the friendly fire death of the former nfl star and army ranger into proenlistment mythmaking. Army ranger pat tillman in the war in afghanistan, the coverup of the true circumstances of his death, and his familys struggle to unearth the truth. An alternate title for this cleareyed, gutwrenching docu might be the tillman coverup, since it focuses on the armys misrepresentation of facts surrounding the 2004 combat death of corporal.
Tillman story, which received its world premiere at the 2010 sundance film. But the truth about pat tillman is far more complex, and ultimately far. The tillman story hits theaters on august 20th, 2010. Pat tillman gave up his professional football career to join the army rangers in 2002and became an instant symbol of patriotic fervor and unflinching duty. Trailer for the documentary the tillman story collider. Lets go to that because mary tillman says in the film that she feels that pats eventual death was the result of an overtestosteroned military force that just really wanted to shoot things and. Army with his younger brother kevinand to his untimely and hideous death in 2004 at the age of 27in khost. The film by director amir barlev covers the amazing life of pat tillman. The films more immediate drama lies in the tillman familys refusal to let pat be used in death as he refused to be used in life, as a propaganda chip, the gungho face of the bush wars. So if you want entertainment and fantasy, see a typical hollywood film. Passionate, angry, and insightful, the tillman story offers a revealing portrait of its.