12 Strong

The 12 Special Forces (SF) men who went into Afghanistan were accompanied by USAF Combat Controllers (CCT) who were the actual men calling in the decisive air strikes. For some reason they were excluded, though they were right there, on the horses, riding with their Army brethren. To leave them out turns this story into more of a fictional portrayal of what really occurred. The courage that the SF troops showed was indeed worthy of telling in this format, but it is remiss in not telling the whole story and recognizing all the men on the ground. I enjoyed the movie but couldn't get past the parts where the SF troops were calling in air strikes. I give it 6 stars for the action though.

On a side note, the CCT personnel accompanying the A teams are highly trained in many facets of special operations, and complete a 2 year training program, which includes required graduation from Military Freefall and Combat Diver, among numerous other courses. These men also earned the right to be recognized for their contributions in breaking the back of the Taliban.

Perhaps not the best war movie ever made and a bit predictable, but a truly well done and well acted insight into the first response to 9/11. Yes we win. Guess what? We won in real life too. It's about the journey not the well known destination. It's a ride, on horseback. Enjoy it for what it is. The one star reviews are simply ridiculous. Somewhere between a 6-8 is reasonable and rationale.

Greetings again from the darkness. During the movie, Afghanistan is referred to as "the graveyard of many empires". Traditionally, January is the graveyard of most new movie releases, so it's a pleasant surprise when we see an entertaining, well-made and historically interesting film, and it's still mid-January! Doug Stanton's book "Horse Soldiers" is the source material for director Nicolai Fuglsig's first feature film, and it's anything but a disappointment.

The film opens on September 11, 2001 and subjects us, yet again, to those horrific images seared into the minds of anyone alive on that day. What most of us didn't know, was that about a month later, a team of U.S. Army Special Forces (the Green Berets) were being dropped into the rough and mostly unfriendly terrain of Afghanistan. This ridiculously courageous team of 12 men had one mission: secure Mazar-i-Sharif to prevent a takeover by the Taliban.

An early scene tells us this won't be the usual blind patriotism we often see on screen. One of the soldiers, Hal Spencer (Michael Shannon), is told (with a bit of anger) by his wife, "I'll love you when you get back." This contrasts to the usual loyal and stiff-upper-lip military wife we see in most war movies. Another wife scrubs the oven rather than snuggle with her man, while yet another coerces a taboo pledge to come home to her.

Chris Hemsworth (THOR) plays Captain Mitch Nelson, the intelligent but not-yet-battle-tested leader of a special ops team. The plan is for Nelson and his team to connect with General Dostum, an Afghan War Lord in charge of the Northern Alliance, and fight together to gain control of Mazar. After arriving at a local outpost nicknamed "The Alamo" (34 miles from town), the team gets their first surprise ... they must split up and cover the ground on horseback. Filmed in New Mexico, the journey is miserable and filled with danger - an ambush could occur at any moment, or perhaps they are being set-up by those they have been ordered to trust.

Horseback riding, caves, the weather, and the elements of the terrain are all challenges, but none of it compares to facing the Taliban forces which number in the thousands, and feature tanks, rocket launchers and an endless supply of weaponry. Director Fuglsig utilizes a "Days in Country" counter so that we can get some semblance of time and ongoing misery being fought through by the Americans. But no day is normal when the soldiers are on horseback while being attacked by tanks. The odds seem insurmountable.

One of the more fascinating aspects of the story and welcome approaches of the film is back-and-forth between Captain Nelson and General Dostum. Initially, Dostum shows little respect by telling the young officer that he lacks "the eyes of a killer" and isn't yet a warrior, and he spends a great deal of time lecturing and philosophizing on Nelson's behalf. Of course, the lessons may be frustrating in the moment, but aren't lost on Nelson as there is a huge payoff at the peak of the key battle.

The battle scenes come in all sizes - small skirmishes and massive, large scale assaults. Each is intense and dramatic and well-staged, though there are some moments where we shake our head in disbelief. At least we do until we remember that this is a true story, and despite that, it is truly unbelievable. The supporting cast includes Michael Pena and his snappy punchlines, Trevante Rhodes (MOONLIGHT), William Fichtner with a shaved head, Elsa Pataky - Hemsworth's real life wife as his screen wife, Taylor Sheridan, Geoff Stults and Jack Kesy. Rob Riggle plays Colonel Max Bowers, who was Riggle's commanding officer when he served in the Marines. The previously mentioned Michael Shannon is a bit underutilized, but the film's best moments are those with Hemsworth and Navid Negahban (as General Dostum). You likely recognize Negahban as Abu Nazir from "Homeland". It's their exchanges that show how the line between allies and enemies is not always crystal clear - even if they are fighting for the same thing.

Writers Peter Craig (THE TOWN) and Ted Tally (Oscar winner for THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) do a nice job of character development, and the camaraderie of the 12 men of ODA 595 seems authentic - despite some schmaltzy moments over their 23 days of Task Force Dagger. Early on, we are informed that the most important thing to take to war is "a reason why", and then towards the end, Dostum explains that the United States is in a no-win situation: we are cowards if we go, and enemies if we stay. It's chilling commentary on a war that has dragged on much too long ... despite the heroic efforts of the 12 horse soldiers.

The book and story upon which this Hollywood flock is based is awesome, and even important. The movie is a fairly standard Hollywood-version military exercise, and I can't fully fault the production team or actors because they have to tell a big story in 2 hours about a major event that should be well known to Americans and Afghans alike, let alone the rest of the world. Plus, no one behind the special effects or acting or script or direction were there. Much like Lone Survivor it's a pretty decent depiction of a true story for a film production, but also much like Lone Survivor, I wish it had taken the source material a tad more seriously, and attached much more telling and brutal realism (like Saving Private Ryan and The Hurt Locker) in terms of mood and dialog and acting, and even equipment and battle scenes. I don't want a Tears Of The Sun fairy tale with my war movies. I want something that transports us there. More realistic tactics, weapons that fire and report realistically, bombs that aren't full of fireballs all the time, etc... All could have been done here. But many would have lost interest in the drama... It's been dumbed down, and 90% of the audience will have no idea.

Maybe I demand too much, or am too picky, or just don't accept the "average" like "average" Americans who don't look any deeper at stuff like war other than action films and headlines. I feel like our veterans deserve better.

Meanwhile, the negative reviews here are by folks who really have no idea what they're talking about, especially when they call it "propaganda". Politics produce propaganda. This is a story based on actual accounts...as in: it happened. Doesn't matter what your politics are. Read the book Horse Soldiers. Talk to more vets. Talk to some Afghani people who know a bit about their own country and the Taliban.

This movie could have been WAY better, but it was sinply "good" as what we've come to expect from Hollywood most of the time. I think it was wasted on misguided and detached production values and sensationalism that can only be provided by limited knowledge and devotion. Had Spielberg made this flick? Might have been an all-time great. And I say MIGHT, because it would be almost impossible to bring the reality and education to the screen that the book was able to portray and provide, and the reality on the ground these men experienced. Why we settle for pop culture education on important matters and historical events as our ONLY education is beyond me. But it seems the American audience wouldn't know the difference if REALITY ran over them in the form of a stampede of horses with a team of US special forces and Afghan militia on their backs. So I guess there's no real hard done, right?

I don't understand all the negative and one liner reviews- most be trolls. The absurdity of mounted cavalry attack against a T-72 speaks volume of OEF. A few errors such as glowing NVGs and a tad weak Mk82 bombs.