Rabu, 23 November 2011

A serious look

Thirty Blu ray Combo UltraViolet Digital

Thirty Blu ray Combo UltraViolet Digital

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) is the best movie that I've seen in 2013. The story is gripping, the acting is outstanding, and you walk away feeling that you've witnessed something significant and moving.

Jessica Chastain plays Maya, an intelligence officer obsessed with finding Usama Bin Laden ("UBL"). Maya spends about ten years of her life chasing various meandering leads, pressing her superiors to follow her research and hunches, and finally, as we know, all the zealous effort results in a monumental and historical raid and kill. Chastain is great as Maya; you won't recognize her in comparison to her performance as the ditzy, blond stay-at-home wife in The Help. The access that the filmmakers must have had to CIA and other intelligence personnel to create Maya's character made the story and character true to form, even if some of it turns out to be false.

The torture scenes during the first � of the film are over-hyped. I was expecting much worse. By today's movie violence standards, the torture was tame and not gruesome. The unwarranted controversy that Zero Dark Thirty has created stems from the implication that torture led to information, which led to UBL's comeuppance. That implication is clear, but I did not walk away thinking that this film condones torture or "enhanced interrogation techniques." On the contrary, later in the film it becomes clear that the intelligence community's use of such tactics has been criticized publicly and politically, actually jeopardizing the license to conduct an all-out manhunt by any means. To say that a message of this film is that "torture works" is incorrect.

UBL is only in a few minutes of this film, but Maya's obsession with finding him makes him a of pot of gold or trophy. We learn a lot about how Al Qaeda ran its operations in the 2000s, relying upon some very primitive means of communication (basically person-to-person) to spread messages between key operatives and their underlings. UBL was at the top, but he was in deep hiding for years after 9/11. The interspersing of scenes of other terrorist acts linked to or credited to Al Qaeda builds the drama and importance of bagging the trophy, UBL.

The portrayal of the raid of UBL's fortress in Pakistan is brilliantly executed. It is believable. It is terrifying. It is, ultimately, gratifying. Knowing that things went wrong during the raid (a helicopter crash, for instance), leaving the top folks in U.S. government on pins and needles for dozens of harrowing, nail-biting minutes, this portion of the film has a tinge of dread throughout. You are just waiting for a Navy Seal to get shot, stabbed, or maimed. When they "get their man," the reactions of relief, disbelief, pride, and a continued focus on completing the mission are great acting and filmmaking.

See this film. It may not be a History Channel documentary and, therefore, its accuracy is not beyond question, but as entertainment it is top notch. You can't ask much more of your movie than to build human drama, create procedural suspense, and execute fast-moving action in a carefully constructed package.

Get your Thirty Blu ray Combo UltraViolet Digital Now!

8 komentar:

  1. I thought this was an outstandingly crafted and riveting film to watch. It suffered at the Academy Awards because of the political brouhaha that surrounded its release. But I would urge anyone who wants to see a dramatic and realistic portrayal on America's War on Terror post 9/11 (and it is a war) should see this movie. It is a bit of a Rorschach test for what your beliefs are on torture and targeted killing. Plus the movie allows for virtually no moral high ground for anyone but I thought that it was incredibly well done and well acted. Katherine Bigelow was robbed of a Best Director award (not even nominated!!). This is not a traditional action thriller, but well worth it for those who want to think about how our actions and responses as a country define us. Brava, Ms. Bigelow, brava!!

    BalasHapus
  2. I bought this movie for my husband, who is a history buff...current and past. He loves this movie so much that he watches it almost every day. This movie is based on actual facts, which makes it all that much more intriguing. I highly recommend this movie to those that are into this type of story. It's not just a man's movie...I like it too as a lady. I saw the actual story on the History Channel and it featured some of the real people involved. This movie was a perfect match to the actual events that took place as the History Channel showed what really happened from actual file footage.

    BalasHapus
  3. Great story of frustration, tenacity, and courage. The first three quarters of the movie covers the struggle to find Bin Laden, the last part is more action packed. I enjoyed all of it.

    BalasHapus
  4. This isnt an 'entertainment' type of movie. It isnt about action sequences or seeing OBL getting his head blown off at the end. Its a serious depiction of the hit-or-miss and seemingly impossible nature of tracking OBL down, and just the sheer doggedness of certain people to see it through. Treating this like any old action picture is extremely ignorant IMO. Go and rent the Bourne Legacy if you're that damn narrow minded about being entertained. What happened was real. The effort was real. And the Boston bombings point the kind of havoc would be happening ALL the time if it werent for what happens behind the scenes. I cant believe people put being entertained by action movies ahead of the reality of the world we live in. This is a serious movie about a serious subject.

    BalasHapus
  5. The attention to accuracy in every detail is excellent. If you read "One Long Day" by the Seal who was there, it follows exactly. CIA and SEAL interviews for the movie were extensive. Reality may be tough for those who live in the I'm OK your OK world and think as long as we treat people with respect the whole world will reciprocate... Make no mistake, Jihadists want to kill Americans. The movie makes clear the xenophobic religious hatred of the west and drives home the point that defeating them in most cases means killing them before they kill you. If you really want to know what it's like out there, in the real world, watch this movie.

    BalasHapus
  6. Zero Dark Thirty (2012) is the best movie that I've seen in 2013. The story is gripping, the acting is outstanding, and you walk away feeling that you've witnessed something significant and moving.

    Jessica Chastain plays Maya, an intelligence officer obsessed with finding Usama Bin Laden ("UBL"). Maya spends about ten years of her life chasing various meandering leads, pressing her superiors to follow her research and hunches, and finally, as we know, all the zealous effort results in a monumental and historical raid and kill. Chastain is great as Maya; you won't recognize her in comparison to her performance as the ditzy, blond stay-at-home wife in The Help. The access that the filmmakers must have had to CIA and other intelligence personnel to create Maya's character made the story and character true to form, even if some of it turns out to be false.

    The torture scenes during the first � of the film are over-hyped. I was expecting much worse. By today's movie violence standards, the torture was tame and not gruesome. The unwarranted controversy that Zero Dark Thirty has created stems from the implication that torture led to information, which led to UBL's comeuppance. That implication is clear, but I did not walk away thinking that this film condones torture or "enhanced interrogation techniques." On the contrary, later in the film it becomes clear that the intelligence community's use of such tactics has been criticized publicly and politically, actually jeopardizing the license to conduct an all-out manhunt by any means. To say that a message of this film is that "torture works" is incorrect.

    UBL is only in a few minutes of this film, but Maya's obsession with finding him makes him a of pot of gold or trophy. We learn a lot about how Al Qaeda ran its operations in the 2000s, relying upon some very primitive means of communication (basically person-to-person) to spread messages between key operatives and their underlings. UBL was at the top, but he was in deep hiding for years after 9/11. The interspersing of scenes of other terrorist acts linked to or credited to Al Qaeda builds the drama and importance of bagging the trophy, UBL.

    The portrayal of the raid of UBL's fortress in Pakistan is brilliantly executed. It is believable. It is terrifying. It is, ultimately, gratifying. Knowing that things went wrong during the raid (a helicopter crash, for instance), leaving the top folks in U.S. government on pins and needles for dozens of harrowing, nail-biting minutes, this portion of the film has a tinge of dread throughout. You are just waiting for a Navy Seal to get shot, stabbed, or maimed. When they "get their man," the reactions of relief, disbelief, pride, and a continued focus on completing the mission are great acting and filmmaking.

    See this film. It may not be a History Channel documentary and, therefore, its accuracy is not beyond question, but as entertainment it is top notch. You can't ask much more of your movie than to build human drama, create procedural suspense, and execute fast-moving action in a carefully constructed package.

    BalasHapus
  7. My first reaction to Zero Dark Thirty was that it was a near-great film but that it wasn't great because it didn't show that the people who do this work (relentlessly torture, hunt, and kill people) must be able to shelve their own lives/humanity for the time it takes them to accomplish their mission. This film does everything so well that it seemed a shame that director Kathryn Bigelow didn't show that Maya (Jessica Chastain) was in any way conflicted or troubled about the torture she witnessed and allowed. But then it occured to me that the people who do this kind of work do it precisely because they are not conflicted about it. One of Maya's black ops co-workers, Patrick (Joel Edgerton), at one point decides to get away ftom the torture facility and go back to Washington, however, this is not because of any crisis of conscience, but simply because he wants to try something else for a while. So this refusal to show either Maya or Patrick as in any way conflicted about their work is actually the boldest choice Bigelow makes with this film. The people who do this work, especially Maya, are no-nonsense types and Bigelow's no-nonsense style foregrounds that quality. I don't think we can really tell by watching this film just what Kathryn Bigelow's politics might be and so they are never a distraction. I enjoyed Argo quite a lot, but saw this the day after I saw Argo and there is no comparison. Argo consistently entertains, but Zero Dark Thirty will blow you away (regardless of your politics). My revised opinion of this film is that it is a great film. Probably the only reason it didn't win any major awards is because the movie doesn't exactly condone torture but it doesn't condemn it either, it remains neutral so that you can decide for yourself how you feel about it. And this makes some viewers (who are used to being told how to feel---with music and other cinematic devices)feel uncomfortable and uncertain (which is what Bigelow wants). But don't take my or anyone's word for it, just see it. You won't be sorry.

    BalasHapus