A few years ago, director Kathryn Bigelow was the talk of Hollywood with The Hurt Locker. Well, very much in the same vein of that film, word arose some months back that she would be working on an action-oriented story about the final days of Osama Bin Laden. Her film, titled Zero Dark Thirty is based on the true events surrounding the raid on his complex by the Navy SEAL Team 6. This teaser gives us even less info about the famous historical event but is worth a look. So feast your eyes on the cinematic beginning of the end for the al Qaeda leader.
Directed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow (does anyone remember her sitting right in from of Cameron when she cleaned Avatar’s clock at the Oscars?), Zero Dark Thirty stars a stellar cast including Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Chris Pratt, Kyle Chandler, Mark Strong, Jason Clarke, among many others and is slated for release this Fall on December 19th, 2012.
7 Comments
CastorTroy
I was really disappointed by the lack of realism in The Hurt Locker and I really hope Bigelow won’t fail to address the issue in this movie or it’s going to be atrocious. Not much to go on at this point with this teaser so not much else to say…
Andrew Crump
Lack of realism in The Hurt Locker? That movie is all about realism. That’s part of its appeal, I think.
CastorTroy
In terms of military situations depicted, it wasn’t. The movie has long been derided among servicemen for its complete lack of realism. Basically nothing that happened in the movie would have happened in real life.
CastorTroy
I posted a really long list of all the issues back when the movie came out but here are a few:
– You see Jeremy Renner and his pals driving around Baghdad by themselves like it’s Kansas City. This would absolutely NEVER happen in real life. A group of 4 vehicles or more would be the strict minimum for the men’s safety
– You see the three men securing entire buildings and streets all by themselves. In real life, there would be dozens if not hundreds of soldiers to do that for them.
– You see cars and potential hostiles drive up to the American soldiers like it’s nothing. In real life, all these people would be shot to pieces, civilians or hostiles, if they were to be that foolish.
– You see Anthony Mackie pick up a 50 cal rifle and start lighting up insurgents a mile away like he’s done that all his life. These guys are supposedly EOD experts, he would have no clue how to properly use that weapon
– The 50 cal jams because there is a bit of blood on the bullets? LOL
– Jeremy Renner ventures into Baghdad by himself at night and actually makes it back alive. This would never happen in real life. He would likely be dead if he tried, either by insurgents or by friendly fire while creeping around the perimeter.
– The three fools start chasing insurgents in the alleys of Baghdad, all by themselves!!!! AHAHAH Do that in real life and it’s a guaranteed no-return ticket
– Jeremy Renner walks back into the base and there is absolutely consequence to his folly…
– And seriously, Jeremy Renner cowboy’s attitude? In real life, his men would have shot him rather than risk their lives going outside the perimeter with him.
Andrew Crump
Basically nothing that happened in the movie would have happened in real life.
But that’s why it’s a movie. “Realism” doesn’t always mean portraying reality in the most accurate, truthful way possible. Neo-realism might mine drama out of real life, but THL isn’t a neo-realist movie, so even it uses heightened dramatics– but it still treats it subject with a realist aesthetic even if it plays loosely with complete accuracy.
Matt Gallagher also wrote a piece for AOL News in ’10 about what the film gets right and what it gets wrong. Well worth reading.
Dan
Going by the trailer it reminds me a little of the recent TV series Homeland. That series was excellent, can this film match that? Time will tell.
Andrew Crump
This looks…I don’t know. The styling here is really interesting, and I’m all for Bigelow doing another film in the vein of The Hurt Locker. But there’s something about the trailer and the project as a whole that concerns me, even if it looks neat aesthetically.