15 Minutes of War

The 5 members the GIGN in this film were like a bunch of amateurs. The team leader wore glasses covered in dust. The most part of this film was wasted in small talks, jokes, insults among them. The so-called General was an arrogant jerk. Non-stop blah, blah and blah. The five member team carried one aluminum water bottle without any food when they sneaked out into the wildness, and these morons drank up their limited water supply without any idea how to only sip their water periodically instead of gulping down. These morons just made me sick. There was only one guy who was quite and looked more serious to carry out the mission, and he was the only one kept cleaning his weapons anytime available. Love the female actor, a very talented one, not just pretty. All the roles she'd played were great and quite believable.

This is a loosely scripted lousy film, not just insulted the GIGN but also the audiences. I pity those kids who had to play the hostage under the harsh desert sun in a metal bus.

Don't get me wrong, the movie is gripping, but seems the director/writer did not want to get into the muddy motivation of the bad guys. The hostage takers always cut short to state their experience with colonial "powers". We see the horror of children as hostages, but never shown the horrors of Djibouti children under occupation - which is the motive behind the saga. Welcome to 2019!

Good action sequences in this though tepid French war drama inspired from actual events. But acting and directing - except in action sequences - are forgettable, if not laughable. Those French militaries look too much like superheroes for some one like me. Look out on the way they can shoot one hundred hostiles as targets in a side show without even be hit themselves- excet in the foot for one of them. The overall topic is OK, only some directing flaws mess up the whole. The director Grivois had already made another film about marksmen.

Based on true events that took place in February 1976. Somali rebels hijack a school bus carrying 21 French children and their teacher in the city of Djibouti. Newly created elite French forces (GIGN) are sent. At date they were somewhat ridiculed and viewed with disbelief. With this mission they prove their value in tactical special missions and today they are one of the most reputable police forces in France.

The film is good, managing to escape the trap of being too documentary. With good cinematography, a humorous and not overly dramatic script.

It works well not only from a historical point of view, but also as a modern and actual action thriller.

I recommend.

If you are expecting a Marvel Movie then this isn't for you. This is a very "Munich" or " Argo" like movie with a long, slow buildup, and tells a story from another time along the lines of "siege of jadotville", all of which I was spellbound by. Probably won't be enough artificial sweetener CGI to entertain most people, but I certainly couldn't stop watching ( and reading - subtitles ). I rate it highly.