[This could fit in GQ, CS or even elections, but I figured it would wind up here anyway.]
I haven’t seen this and probably won’t unless it comes up on Netflix and reading the reviews, I couldn’t tell if was intending to deliver a partisan message or what. The various Republican candidates for President apparently think it’s the greatest thing since, I don’t know, The Passion of the Christ, with the Donald renting out a theater in Iowa and showing the film for free. However, given that it’s a Michael Bay movie, I don’t know if it will deliver the message that “the fuckin’ Secretary of State sold us out” that they seem to hope for. I expect it will be more along the lines of “Navy SEALs are total badasses.” No argument there, but not exactly a partisan sentiment.
Has anyone seen this who can enlighten me and save me $10?
The reviews I have seen indicate that it is an action flick rather than a propaganda piece. I will give this thread a while to see whether an actual viewer can comment on its political messages, if any. If it does not appear to be an actual political message, I will send this thread to Cafe Society.
Kids these days, don’t know real propaganda! Back in the day, we had Green Berets, with John Wayne! Now, there was an all-American war movie! All the elements: cynical (liberal, probably) reporter sees the light, comes around to the right way of thinking. Goldbrick sees same light, dies for his country like a real man! South Vietnamese Army brave and totally love love love their American friends! A bright shining lie.
George Takei would probably prefer not to be reminded.
That Bay fellow, he made Black Sails? Probably lots of really great…cheekbones. Like Adrian Barbeau, really great cheekbones.
Haven’t seen it, only heard reports about how upset some people were that it cratered. Maybe somebody did go broke overestimating the vulgarity of the American people! If so, goody gum drops!
The movie is not that bad reviewed (for a Michael Bay movie,at least) and the cast is quite nice. The main theory is that the problem wasn’t the movie’s quality, or Bay’s uber-patriotic political leanings- it was the title. People thought it was a boring documentary.
The Fox News website is acting like it proves beyond doubt that Obama and HRC deliberately let those guys die. They seem to think that Hollywood action movies are first-person documentaries.
I’ve seen a few reviews and interviews about the movie recently.
What I’ve taken away from these is that the BASIC facts of the movie are correct.
Yeah, the explosions probably look better. The gunfights all Hollywooded up. Some guy that probably looked like a Porkins version of a SEAL was probably played by some macho pretty boy.
Plan to see it soon.
But if the guys that were there say what really happened and that is portrayed in the movie…then somebody in the State Department was a dumbass(es).
The title is awful, one of the most ill-chosen titles I’ve seen in quite some time, and frankly the marketing campaign wasn’t very good. I’ve seen one trailer for it and it did a poor job of highlighting the stars or explaining was it was about except “Boom!” The movie also has no A-list stars so it doesn’t even have a name than can draw.
It may be a really solid movie but (read this next bit in the movie trailers guy’s voice) in a world where… there are a lot of compelling movies to watch, and you can Netflix or stream a whole crapload of movies that just got Oscar nominations, and you’re releasing your movie in January, you’d better do a REALLY good job of selling your product.
Am I wrong? I thought it wasn’t about SEALS, but those stupid mercs, the Blackwater types. That THEY were the True Heroes ™, not those commie liberal soldiers, who actually follow rules. And shave.
Plus, the movie seems to paint everyone NOT one of the team to be interchangeably evil no-name Ay-rabs. Subtlety is not the movie’s strong suit. It’s a movie for 12-year-olds.
It is. But they’ve made great movies about gangsters, soldiers in Hitler’s armed forces, and various other persons of questionable moral standing. I don’t think you can attribute the movie’s lack of success to the employment status of its characters.
I didn’t mean to imply it was. And I love The Wild Geese! But that movie did not cover an actual event, was not portraying the mercs as True American Heroes, the only ones willing to Do What Needed To Be Done, nor was it intended as a political ad for the GOP.
But mostly I was correcting the OP’s statement that they characters were SEALS at the time of the events of the film.
I’ve seen it. It’s a good movie, and it is devoid of any political preaching or influence. Hillary Clinton is never mentioned and the real “villain” is portrayed as just the usual clusterfuck of desk jockeys thinking they know better than the people in the field, and the usual bureaucratic ineptitude that has people saying “no, we can’t do that, just because that’s the rule, and I’m afraid to take responsibility.” The guy in charge of the CIA outpost is portrayed as the one who keeps saying no to helping the people under attack, and he comes off as the real cause of the deaths.
The heroes of the story were ostensibly Blackwater-type contractors who were later revealed to be CIA employees.
The movie absolutely does NOT “paint everyone NOT one of the team to be interchangeably evil no-name Ay-rabs.” Quite to the contrary, the movie shows how one of the biggest challenges during the crisis was trying to figure out which locals were the enemy and which locals were your allies. The Americans depended quite a bit on local “Ay-rabs” to help defend the compounds and the climax of the film has friendly locals rolling in to save the Americans when they thought all was lost. Plus, one significant character in the story was a local who served as a translator for the Americans; he was portrayed admirably as brave and dedicated not to just helping the Americans but dedicated to his own country as well.