Me too. Unfortunatly the raid it self was a bit crappy quality. Gonna gave to wait for a real deal dvdrip.
'Zero Dark Thirty' hunts for Bin Laden -- and more
- Thread starter Ravage
- Start date
My 0D30 review for anyone who cares:
- The story is almost too formulaic. Maybe that's how things happened, but the main character started out appalled by "torture"* and by the end was ordering it. She had the obligatory cat fight with the only other female who later became her BFF over wine. The heroine/ Sort of Hot but Overrated Redhead was the plucky "I know I'm right and no one will believe me" zealot, fighting against the suits for the assets needed to break the case. She even resorted to strong-arming the Islamabad station chief in one scene. I helf expected an 80's music video montage.
- Torture? I think one scene had a guy being punched. The rest was either already admitted to (waterboarding, sleep deprivation, etc.) or straight from Abu Ghraib which made me question it a little. Maybe it happened like that, maybe it didn't, but it seemed odd.
- The president was mentioned twice; once in passing, the other as being thoughtful and analytic. In that regard it was apolitical.
- Tony Soprano played Leon Panetta
- The CGI of Bagram sucked dog balls. They made it cleaner, better organized, and nicer than it actually is. They made it look like a base and not a trailer park on a runway.
- At one point some important guy says that the team in Pakistan was the only one tracking Al Qaeda and working on finding them, protecting the homeland, etc. I found that hard to believe, but okay.
- Area 51 makes an appearance, the SHOR tells the DEVGRU guys that she didn't want to use them because of their "dip and gear", but had no choice. They were her "canaries" (for you young people, canaries were used in mines. The birds would die first if the oxygem levels were too low and so miners used them as an indicator to evac the mine) and she just wanted to drop a bomb. She was a total bitch in the last few scenes, particularly with the SEALs. Given the revelation about her Reply to All email earlier in this thread, I have ot think she's..."difficult to be around" if she doesn't get her way.
- They even used the phrase "We've got a Blackhawk down." Don't know if it was said, but it felt tongue-in-cheek.
-Mil Spec Monkey should make a mint off of the product placement. I think every one of them had one of his patches.
- At one point Panetta has lunch with SHOR and she tells him that she was recruited out of high school. Um, okay.
- Maybe my copy, maybe not, but the entire raid was very dark. Yeah, I know it took place at night, but at times you couldn't tell what was going on. The raid also felt rushed. You could kind of tell it was tacked on at the end of filming after the mission. It seemed like an afterthought, but overall was done well.
- One of the SEALs was listening to Tony Robbins on the flight in. I don't recall that detail from Bisonette's book, but the guy says he "has plans for after all of this" and "Mark Owen" was the first thing I thought of.
It was a good movie. My copy clocked in at 2 1/2 hours. The opening minute or so were 911 calls from 9/11. I don't know if those were actually calls or not, but they were very chilling. I see why the movie is in line for some awards. The story seemed too formulaic and "perfect" at times, SHOR was nearly killed in about every other scene I think, but it was done well and entertaining. I have a rule: if I'm not hooked in the first 20 minutes I'll turn it off and the movie kept me entertained.
I can't speak to the authenticity of all of the scenes, but it was entertaining and I think worth a look.
- The story is almost too formulaic. Maybe that's how things happened, but the main character started out appalled by "torture"* and by the end was ordering it. She had the obligatory cat fight with the only other female who later became her BFF over wine. The heroine/ Sort of Hot but Overrated Redhead was the plucky "I know I'm right and no one will believe me" zealot, fighting against the suits for the assets needed to break the case. She even resorted to strong-arming the Islamabad station chief in one scene. I helf expected an 80's music video montage.
- Torture? I think one scene had a guy being punched. The rest was either already admitted to (waterboarding, sleep deprivation, etc.) or straight from Abu Ghraib which made me question it a little. Maybe it happened like that, maybe it didn't, but it seemed odd.
- The president was mentioned twice; once in passing, the other as being thoughtful and analytic. In that regard it was apolitical.
- Tony Soprano played Leon Panetta
- The CGI of Bagram sucked dog balls. They made it cleaner, better organized, and nicer than it actually is. They made it look like a base and not a trailer park on a runway.
- At one point some important guy says that the team in Pakistan was the only one tracking Al Qaeda and working on finding them, protecting the homeland, etc. I found that hard to believe, but okay.
- Area 51 makes an appearance, the SHOR tells the DEVGRU guys that she didn't want to use them because of their "dip and gear", but had no choice. They were her "canaries" (for you young people, canaries were used in mines. The birds would die first if the oxygem levels were too low and so miners used them as an indicator to evac the mine) and she just wanted to drop a bomb. She was a total bitch in the last few scenes, particularly with the SEALs. Given the revelation about her Reply to All email earlier in this thread, I have ot think she's..."difficult to be around" if she doesn't get her way.
- They even used the phrase "We've got a Blackhawk down." Don't know if it was said, but it felt tongue-in-cheek.
-Mil Spec Monkey should make a mint off of the product placement. I think every one of them had one of his patches.
- At one point Panetta has lunch with SHOR and she tells him that she was recruited out of high school. Um, okay.
- Maybe my copy, maybe not, but the entire raid was very dark. Yeah, I know it took place at night, but at times you couldn't tell what was going on. The raid also felt rushed. You could kind of tell it was tacked on at the end of filming after the mission. It seemed like an afterthought, but overall was done well.
- One of the SEALs was listening to Tony Robbins on the flight in. I don't recall that detail from Bisonette's book, but the guy says he "has plans for after all of this" and "Mark Owen" was the first thing I thought of.
It was a good movie. My copy clocked in at 2 1/2 hours. The opening minute or so were 911 calls from 9/11. I don't know if those were actually calls or not, but they were very chilling. I see why the movie is in line for some awards. The story seemed too formulaic and "perfect" at times, SHOR was nearly killed in about every other scene I think, but it was done well and entertaining. I have a rule: if I'm not hooked in the first 20 minutes I'll turn it off and the movie kept me entertained.
I can't speak to the authenticity of all of the scenes, but it was entertaining and I think worth a look.
Awesome review, Free. Thanks for taking the time to write it.
I LOL'd at your description of Bagram. I gonna assume it's OpSec to provide an aerial view of any base, but in case it's OK can you post a pic? :)
I LOL'd at your description of Bagram. I gonna assume it's OpSec to provide an aerial view of any base, but in case it's OK can you post a pic? :)
Free and I spent some time at the same base in Afghanistan (he much more so than I). His description was accurate. However, he left out a mention of the plywood. 
De nada.
Go to Google Images, type in bagram air base b-hut or these:
This is actually a "positive" view of Bagram in that it almost looks orderly and well thought-out. Look closer and you'll see that there's no real pattern. "Oh, we can drop 5 trailers here, let's do that" is a common motif.
Next we have this deceptive photo. It kind of looks like it was taken by the old Army aviation area, but could be a few other places. Note the stellar condition of the wood and the patchwork of new plywood. B-huts were built from 03-05 and were supposed to be removed/ burned by 06-07. Guess what we're still using ALL OVER the base? Also note, the professionally installed coax and CAT5. Clearly, this wasn't done due to expediency or laziness, this was done to facilitate troubleshooting, snow collection, and to create tripping hazards. Also note the fire extinguishers. In the event of a b-hut fire these are about as useful as buckets on the Titanic. Lastly, note the shredded mound of sandbags. These are to "protect" against rocket attacks. I said that with a striaght face because I'm almost numb to the stupid here.
I found this lovely site which clearly thinks PERSEC is for the weak, but I digress. I'd say these were taken around 04 or 05 based on the uniforms and 25th ID patch.
http://sailing.wardspond.com/Afghanistan/
Disney Drive, the main, I'm sorry...the ONLY way of driving around base has changed little over the years. Note those trees telling anyone who walks by to GFY, they clearly live in contempt for mankind and this country. So, when you watch 0D30 and see the few scenes of "Bagram" please don't think this place is as nice as what you see in the movie...because it isn't close.
http://sailing.wardspond.com/Afghanistan/
Disney Drive, the main, I'm sorry...the ONLY way of driving around base has changed little over the years. Note those trees telling anyone who walks by to GFY, they clearly live in contempt for mankind and this country. So, when you watch 0D30 and see the few scenes of "Bagram" please don't think this place is as nice as what you see in the movie...because it isn't close.
Aren't those trees gone now? Or am I thinking Balad?
Are those the photos you submitted to "Better Shitholes and Hovels"?
Chop, no one would believe some of the crap I've seen here. Before anyone thinks that's hyperbole...spend a few months in this country and you'll know what I mean.
PattyW
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yea the nice, brand new looking metal buildings that they showed as "Bagram" were definitely not there when I was in 2011. Some of the things that bugged me are...Wasn't it in the report that the SEAL's put 2 in the chest 1 in the head when they took out OBL?....the movie they clearly put 6 bullets into him. I mean only the guys that were there know what really happened but that's pretty far off. Another thing is when the character "justin" says he smoked the dude and her wife and shes gonna bleed out. Why not give that grimey bitch some medical care? Not saying I didnt like the movie, I thought it was entertaining and one of the better OIF/OEF movies Ive seen.
Place looks more like a construction yard from a civi point of view.
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De nada.
Go to Google Images, type in bagram air base b-hut or these:
This is actually a "positive" view of Bagram in that it almost looks orderly and well thought-out. Look closer and you'll see that there's no real pattern. "Oh, we can drop 5 trailers here, let's do that" is a common motif.
This reminds me of Camp Butmir and Eagle Base in BiH.
I thought in Bissonette's book he mentioned that they shot the bodies again after they fell. I mean, it was a sentence or a part of a sentence and he didn't mention it again.
One interesting thing the movie showed, which book covered but now you can "see" it: Here are these die hard "Death to America" jihadists, helos land, breaching charges galore, everybody's clearly awake...and they didn't even try to fight. The movie would have you believe the SEALs even called to them and they came willingly to their deaths thinking the SEALs were good guys.
I know Bissonette mentioned that "They wouldn't fight because they were pussies" bit, but when you see it play out on screen it really drives home the point.
Kinda like, the higher the food chain you go, the less are they willing to walk the walk?
I still think Osama needed to go down in American gunfire to secure his status as a martyr. He had outlived his usefulness as a "commander" and "leader of the faithful." The best thing that could have happened to his movement, and to his legacy, is to have gone down "fighting" the Americans.
pardus
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- 10,534
Why?
