Above the Best

2019 • 80 minutes

About this movie

The Above the Best Film is based on the #1 Best Selling book South of Heaven using the real footage to create an unprecedented immersive documentary-narrative film. The film tells the story of Apache Fighter Pilot Dan Flores and his year deployment to the most dangerous valley in Afghanistan. A stunning, eye-popping glimpse into the life of an Apache gun ship pilot during his year in the fight in the Hindu Kush Mountains and the Korengal Valley. Through actual, aerial combat footage and corresponding video from soldiers on the ground, the film will bring the audience in the cockpit and on the ground at the same time like no other film in history. See why Army Aviators say they fly "above the best" and the lengths these folks will go to protect each other in the most dangerous place on Earth.

Ratings and reviews

I really enjoyed this film and I'll tell you why.. I walked away from it feeling good. Sometimes war documentaries or movies can be overly graphic or negative, but David Salzberg doesn't do that here. I felt this film did a great job of providing an authentic depiction of what Apache pilots like Daniel Flores went through in Afghanistan. The archival footage made watching the film feel like it's own experience, and isn't that what documentaries are supposed to do? These pilots clearly love our country based off of what they do to protect their brothers and sisters fighting on the ground. Would highly recommend

Having only before watched Hollywood war films such as Saving Private Ryan and Hacksaw Ridge, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from a documentary like Above the Best. However, I was immediately engaged and continually captivated by the film’s authentic and unified tone. Through raw archival footage and candid interviews, the film weaves together a cinematic experience that feels just as exciting as a feature film, without any unnecessary gore or flare.

On the line of action in Above the Best, some men and women’s true colors were shown as they valued other soldier’s lives above their own. American soldiers have an endless amount of respect and love for their fellow brother or sister soldiers. I found that to be such a redeeming quality. Not only are they representing and protecting their country, they are fighting for each other. Hearing US Army Chinook Pilot Kristi Hickey’s perspective in the beginning of Above the Best was specifically emotive. Waiting for her friends to “come home… but they never came home.” Those relationships and close bonds between US Army personnel make their fight so much more personal. Above the Best is definitely eye-opening piece that changed my perspective on being an American.