** Gunner Palace is director Michael Tucker’s intimate portrait of the lives of American soldiers in Iraq. A living history to be shared with the entire family, Tucker spent two months living with soldiers in one of Uday Hussein’s former “pleasure palaces,” and the unprecedented footage he obtained takes viewers beyond the evening news reports and reveals what life is like in a war that rages on even after the conflict is declared officially over. The special features on the DVD include additional interview footage not included in the theatrical film, unedited freestyle performances from several of the soldiers, as well as three audio tracks of Gunner Freestyles, including a mix from underground hip-hop artists DJ Chops and Lt. Dan.

Gunner Palace is a unique portrait of the fragmented, chaotic and stress-filled existence of American soldiers at war in Iraq. Filmmaker Michael Tucker captured the lives of the members of the 2/3 Field Artillery, AKA the “Gunners”, whose living headquarters are housed in Uday Hussein’s Azimiya Palace, situated in the middle of Adhamiya, the most volatile area in Baghdad. Four months after President Bush declared the end of “major combat operations,” this troop of US soldiers continues to live and die through what they jokingly call “minor combat.” Their residence, a bombed out palace complete with swimming pool and putting green, provides a surreal backdrop to their stories. Tucker filmed the troops over two one-month periods, slowly gaining their trust while he lived with them in the once royal residence now fondly known as “Gunner Palace.” With total access to all unit operations and activities, captured in his own distinct vérité style, filmmaker Tucker provides a rare series of intimate “snapshots” that reveal the complex realities of a war that has to be seen to be understood.

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