Zero Dark Thirty

Hi, I recently watched the trailer of Zero Dark Thirty. Unfortunately, I have not had the time yet to watch the movie, so I'd like to ask you what you think about it? Is it worth watching it?
and also, what do you think of all those reviews saying that movie is pro-obama propaganda (I'm not saying that, after all I havent even watched it yet, just quoting what i have heard)

 
Best Response

I thought it was an excellent movie. Jessica Chastain does a fantastic job in the lead role and the way that Kathryn Bigelow directs the takedown of Osama bin Laden is superb. It is definitely worth watching. The only reason I think it didn't win Best Picture at the Oscars was because of the political backlash that would've followed had it won.

The movie is not so much pro-Obama as it is pro-torture (although the filmmakers are adamant in denying this). George W. Bush was the one who presided over the setup of the detainee program, so really I think this movie says more about the Bush administration than it does about the Obama administration. You can pretty much glean from the movie that "enhanced interrogation techniques" made a significant contribution to the killing of OBL, whether that's true in real life or not.

 
design:
I thought it was an excellent movie. Jessica Chastain does a fantastic job in the lead role and the way that Kathryn Bigelow directs the takedown of Osama bin Laden is superb. It is definitely worth watching. The only reason I think it didn't win Best Picture at the Oscars was because of the political backlash that would've followed had it won.

The movie is not so much pro-Obama as it is pro-torture (although the filmmakers are adamant in denying this). George W. Bush was the one who presided over the setup of the detainee program, so really I think this movie says more about the Bush administration than it does about the Obama administration. You can pretty much glean from the movie that "enhanced interrogation techniques" made a significant contribution to the killing of OBL, whether that's true in real life or not.

thank you, good review!

 

I also enjoyed it. Story of resiliency. The torture is obviously present, but as the 1st post said, it helped to ultimately catch Bin laden. If you watch this and enjoyed it, I would also check out the Discovery Channel Documentary on it as well.. about 2 hours and spends a bit more time on the Navy Seal side of things vs. Zero Dark Thirty and the analyst side of it.

All in all though, very good film.

 

Zero Dark Thirty is a must-see movie.

Is it pro-Obama? No. Is it pro-torture? No. Is the film trying to accurately depict the events leading to the takedown of UBL? Yes. Did enhanced interrogation play a pivotal role in pinpointing his location? Definitely. Bigelow's directing is top-notch, and while the movie gets a lot of things right, it also gets a fair amount wrong. For people who don't love espionage movies, the dialogue can get a bit dry and dull. The raid scene is incredibly "noisy", it almost feels like the SEALs aren't taking it seriously. Therefore, it is a completely unrealistic representation of a Tier 1 raid.

ZDT is a great movie nonetheless, and very rare in a variety of ways. For example, it does not depict the CIA as a villainous organization, as many other movies do. Some people have even said that ZDT is so pro-CIA that it almost feels like a propaganda/recruiting film. Does the CIA need more propaganda? Definitely not, try applying for an analyst position and see the competition.

As a big fan of anything espionage/military movies, it is great to see of the rare times the CIA’s SAD/SOG paramilitary arm has ever been shown in film. SAD/SOG is definitely one of the most under-represented (in film) military units of modern history. In reality, SAD/SOG had a much bigger role in the hunt for UBL than depicted in the film. Bigelow should have taken advantage of the talent at her disposal (Edgar Ramirez and Fares Fares who played CIA SAD/SOG paramilitary officers) and expanded their roles.

All in all, I think Bigelow was definitely slighted by not even being nominated for Best Director. Jessica Chastain is an above-average actress (definitely did not deserve to win Best Actress), and while her performance is a little weak at times, she definitely helps you feel the movie. I would have chosen someone with a darker feel if I was in charge of casting (perhaps Jennifer Connolly). Other than that, the casting was spot-on. Case in point: Jason Clarke’s performance was nothing short of stunning. But then again, he is rarely anything but.

Zero Dark Thirty = 95/100. One of the best espionage/military films of the modern era. Must-see.

"Come at me, bro"- José de Palafox y Melci
 

If you can put up with that Hurt Locker-esque "let's examine the humanity of all this" and the way they basically focus on the girl and leave the soldier prep alone it's a good movie. I wouldn't say it's spectacular but a solid 6.5 or 7/10 to me. I didn't think she was as great as a lot of people did, but only because she didn't get the opportunity to be. I think it would have been much better with anyone but Bigelow directing. Still worth seeing, just giving the negatives.

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 

I liked it, but I heard that many of the facts were skewed. This is expected from Hollywood though. For instance: the head strong, independent analyst that that Jessica Chastain plays was actually a dude.

Please don't quote Patrick Bateman.
 
DBCooper:
I liked it, but I heard that many of the facts were skewed. This is expected from Hollywood though. For instance: the head strong, independent analyst that that Jessica Chastain plays was actually a dude.

Not sure where you got that from but from things I've read it was definitely a woman.

 
FinancialNoviceII:
DBCooper:
I liked it, but I heard that many of the facts were skewed. This is expected from Hollywood though. For instance: the head strong, independent analyst that that Jessica Chastain plays was actually a dude.

Not sure where you got that from but from things I've read it was definitely a woman.

I think you're right. I saw an article a few days ago that said that a high level CIA guy stated the main character was based on a guy. I can't seem to find it now, so it was probably BS.

Please don't quote Patrick Bateman.
 

Im in the Army, and I thought I would hate this movie. I honestly thought it was going to be about how SEALs are so badass, blah, blah, blah. I never intended on seeing it until I saw it was up for best picture.

I consider myself a movie-guy, and this is a GREAT movie. Really much more of a spy-thriller than a shoot-em up action flick. On top of it all, the 30 minute raid scene is one of the most realistically depicted military scenes I've ever seen in a movie. I thought it was better than Argo, and I really liked Argo. Also, the movie really leaves you with a lot to think about when its all said and done.

Go see it, you wont be disappointed.

 
MAJMajor12:
On top of it all, the 30 minute raid scene is one of the most realistically depicted military scenes I've ever seen in a movie.

"OSAMAAA. OSAMAA"

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 

I thought it was great. I wish there had been more on the SEALs prep, but even without it, it was pretty epic.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

I thought it was pretty good and Jessica Chastain was great in it but I had higher expectations when I actually got down to see it. This is why I hate reading reviews prior to a movie but for this one it was pretty hard to avoid. This movie was just trying to hard to be an epic because of the subject matter. I would have liked it a lot more if I hadnt heard for weeks on end how fantastic it was.

I enjoyed Argo so much more.

 

If you've seen Zero Dark Thirty, what did you think of it compared to Argo? I watched Argo last night and really enjoyed it. Poster above commented that they enjoyed Zero Dark Thirty more than Argo....

From what I've read, Zero Dark Thirty stays almost entirely on point to the true story of what happened. Argo has some variation, but it was really good nonetheless.

Thoughts?

 
Equities-In-Dallas:
If you've seen Zero Dark Thirty, what did you think of it compared to Argo? I watched Argo last night and really enjoyed it. Poster above commented that they enjoyed Zero Dark Thirty more than Argo....

From what I've read, Zero Dark Thirty stays almost entirely on point to the true story of what happened. Argo has some variation, but it was really good nonetheless.

Thoughts?

Argo was a bit disappointing. Good, but not Best Picture good. Zulu Dong Thirty was much more intense. I really liked it. Only complaint is that Osama overacted.
 

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If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

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