Escape to the Movies: Zero Dark Thirty

[I.Muir]

Where was I when Bin Laden was killed
Well I don't know because I don't remember the date
I'm Australian, it just does not mean as much to me

I was probably annoyed that I could not watch cheese tv or anything but a constant barrage of 9/11 news stories for an entire week back when I was ten or something

Still if the movie is worth watching ill go see it

 

[wearesoneutralthatithurts]

jeah, its strange that the county who hails and preaises themselves everytime about their freedom and contitution and fairness denies it their enemy.

how much is freedom and fairness worth if its just for you? why couldnt he have a fucking trial? i dont get it. so for me it wasnt wohoo moment, because here in germany its in dubio pro reo.
for me it was a facepalm-america shows that freedom and the chance for free trials are pourely for rich americans.. i mena, guantanamo-jears of torture without a trial-well if you look from this pov, the soldiers were nicer to bin laden.

and he never got a fair trial. so i consider him as innocent(i dont say that he wasnt behibnd all this-but it was never 100% proved and i lke the system where a man is first judged and then persecuted...
so.. i dont know if he was behind it-because his part and planning is not proven. and guess whose fault it is?^^

 

[Toy Master Typhus]

Yes. It's still ridiculous.

Yeah, the movie looks like garbage.

I don't see why any well-informed individual would suffer through 2 hours of gung-ho and supposedly "grey moral choices". Grey; read typical immoral American behaviour

Have you bothered to actually see the movie and judge or are you just gonna play armchair-critic with your prejudice feed 'information' on hollywood?

 

[Yojoo]

So, out of all the movies released this year, this one comes out at the end of the year, and it's already getting Oscar buzz? Seriously, what's so special about this movie that it would even deserve an oscar?

Have you ever heard the term Oscar-bait?

Yes. It's still ridiculous.

Tons of movies come out in December every year to try for Oscars. This is not new.

Yes. It's still ridiculous.

Yeah, the movie looks like garbage.

I don't see why any well-informed individual would suffer through 2 hours of gung-ho and supposedly "grey moral choices". Grey; read typical immoral American behaviour

I love how you can get perma-banned on these forums for being the tiniest bit offensive in what you post, but some smug guy like you can call my whole country immoral and nobody will bat an eye.

 

[Coreless]

I believe this movie will get reactions from different demographics similar to The Hurt Locker. What I mean is that after reading a lot about it and talking to a lot of people (to include EOD) I found that:

-Civilians generally liked it.
-Military/defense personnel could like it if able to suspend disbelief
-EOD hated it (they couldn't get over some of the more unrealistic parts)

On that note, based on all I've heard about the movie so far, my prediction for Zero Dark Thirty is:

-Civilians will generally like it
-Military/defense personnel could like it if able to suspend disbelief
-Anyone in the intelligence community will hate it (they won't be able to get over some of the more unrealistic parts)

Of course, I could be wrong and hopefully the portrayal of intelligence work isn't as bad/inaccurate as the trailers make it out to seem, but being an OEF veteran I just can't bring myself to go watch any movies about the current wars (Restrepo, The Hurt Locker, etc)

Pretty much spot on, as a former tank operator for the US Army I agree that the Hurt Locker is one of the most unrealistic and downright insulting portrayals of soldiers in combat that I have seen. The part with the Colonel (A full bird colonel mind you) coming up to a sergeant and praising the main character (calling him a "wild man") who not only put himself and his entire squad in danger is one of the most insulting things I have seen on screen. I could go on all day about the numerous inaccuracies the Hurt Locker has in it, but if Zero Dark Thirty is anything like that then I will stay clear of it because I can't stand watching a movie that puts no time into understanding how real soldiers or military in general operate.

 

[Nghtgnt]

Spoiler

I believe this movie will get reactions from different demographics similar to The Hurt Locker. What I mean is that after reading a lot about it and talking to a lot of people (to include EOD) I found that:

-Civilians generally liked it.
-Military/defense personnel could like it if able to suspend disbelief
-EOD hated it (they couldn't get over some of the more unrealistic parts)

On that note, based on all I've heard about the movie so far, my prediction for Zero Dark Thirty is:

-Civilians will generally like it
-Military/defense personnel could like it if able to suspend disbelief
-Anyone in the intelligence community will hate it (they won't be able to get over some of the more unrealistic parts)

Of course, I could be wrong and hopefully the portrayal of intelligence work isn't as bad/inaccurate as the trailers make it out to seem, but being an OEF veteran I just can't bring myself to go watch any movies about the current wars (Restrepo, The Hurt Locker, etc)

Pretty much spot on, as a former tank operator for the US Army I agree that the Hurt Locker is one of the most unrealistic and downright insulting portrayals of soldiers in combat that I have seen. The part with the Colonel (A full bird colonel mind you) coming up to a sergeant and praising the main character (calling him a "wild man") who not only put himself and his entire squad in danger is one of the most insulting things I have seen on screen. I could go on all day about the numerous inaccuracies the Hurt Locker has in it, but if Zero Dark Thirty is anything like that then I will stay clear of it because I can't stand watching a movie that puts no time into understanding how real soldiers or military in general operate.

Yeah, thinking about this movie and The Hurt Locker, I believe we were spoiled by Black Hawk Down and keep expecting something similar. That was a movie that, while still adding some Hollywood flair, ultimately followed a book that tried to get things as factually accurate as possible - Mark Bowden had unprecedented access to people and information (going so far as to being the first American in Somalia since the troops pulled out), and where two people's accounts of an event differed he left that event out entirely to avoid conflict/controversy. Kathryn Bigelow's movies are most certainly NOT Black Hawk Down, going instead for what will make a "more entertaining" movie for mass consumption.

 

[Blind Sight]

Regarding the controversy - the problem is that the film markets itself as being based on facts, yet the presentation of torture as being crucial to finding bin-Laden has been acknowledged by some military-related officials (including Senator Dianne Feinstein) to be flat-out wrong.

This isn't so much a matter of whether you like torture - it's more a matter of the film director/marketers lying about the accuracy of a crucial, very politically relevant detail.

Not to mention the fact that Maya is apparently based off Alfreda Bikowsky, the woman responsible for authorizing the torture of Khalid El-Masri, who was an innocent German citizen who recently received compensation from the European Court of Human Rights.

This is of course ignoring the constant praise and 'all American heroes' image of the CIA in the film. 'Objective' and 'unbiased' do not describe Zero Dark Thirty. "Everything from the CIA's entirely subjective view, amped up with Hollywood dramatic nonsense" is more fitting.

I mean, it's not like the head of the CIA has admitted that the film is historically incorrect or anything...oh wait, he did: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/22/zero-dark-thirty-not-historically-accurate-cia-boss

 

[Markunator]

Ugh... no thanks. It's not hard to see propaganda from miles away these days. It's like they're not even trying to be subtle anymore. I can't tell whether they just don't care anymore or if people are just so deluded that 'the powers that be' know they can just roll with this shit.

I love how people claim that Zero Dark Thirty is propaganda just because it doesn't adhere to whatever horseshit conspiracy theory is popular at the moment.

 

[BrotherRool]

I like a lot of Britain still find it very creepy how Americans view Osama Bin Ladens death. During that period most of our news coverage was about casting a shadow on all the celebrating and joy.

This sums it up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGdu6XEiZmc

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

Seems like eerily like a propaganda film... plus, I never understood why people were so happy one he was dead.
This whole attitude to his death scared me a little... and this film looks no different.
I also think to call this a happy ending is... just plain wrong.