Zero Dark Thirty (the movie)

Anybody seen it yet?
It's nominated for Best Picture...
I have, and instead of giving out a long drawn out review...I'll say it's about 3.5 out of 4 stars.
There is some controversy as "torture" is depicted in the film as an important method in acquiring intel which ultimately led to finding Bin Laden's hide-out.
A few Democrats are upset that it puts them in a poor light as opposers of water boarding, and other controversial methods of detainee interrogation.

My only beef...
this actor, Mark Valley...plays a C-130 pilot in the movie and frankly real C-130 pilots are much better looking.



If you've seen it, or plan on seeing it , or will never see it... talk about it here.

 

I'll probably check it out...

As far as Best Picture noms, you should check out Argo...

It was phenomenal...

And, lol @ your comment about 130 pilots...

I'm no mind reader, but, I believe I'm picking up a hint of bias...lol

 

I have not seen Argo, but your recommendation is duly noted. To accurately depict a C-130 pilot in any film...at least from the traditional Air Force Reservist
perspective. The actor or actress would need a double chin with mustard stains on their flight suit...not a guy straight out of soap operas.

 

lol...

 

I was very disappointed in Argo. Not what I expected. Rather dry, slow and pondering. It did have a "real" sense to it---guess I like a bit more embellishment.

 

Not going to watch it out of spite. It glorifies the assassination of an individual by a government which, prior to Obama, was illegal. Bigelow is a talented director. I liked Point Break and The Hurt Locker, however, gotta put my money where my mouth is.

 

I might check it out but I don't like the idea of waterboarding. The movie seems to give the impression that torture works, when it doesn't.

 

I saw it last night. Absolutely awesome !!!

Originally I was really afraid this movie was going to be a pro-Obama propaganda piece. Turns out, Obama played a 0% role in the movie.

They spend all the time how the CIA put the puzzle pieces together, dramatized through the painstaking work of one particular female agent.

The movie concludes with the raid and successful kill and return of Osama's body.

Theatre was full, and when the movie ended people began clapping. I can't recommend it enough !!!

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah that's your opinion, obviously it has worked as well as failed.

 

'Zero Dark Thirty' at the top o' the box office...

'Zero Dark Thirty' captures No. 1 at box office
Jan 13,`13 -- "Zero Dark Thirty" hunted down the top spot at the box office - and easily won it.

 

Just saw the movie today. Outstanding. On the edge of your seat.....even though we ALL know how it's going to turn out. Very well done and acting is superb. I agree.....my ex-C130 pilot husband thought the same thing you did! Pilots are always SO vain!!!!

I wasn't sure of the political slant of the movie before going.....but clearly it is FACTUAL as it makes the case FOR the torture tactics which DID, in fact, work. BTW, when my husband was in the Air Force is was sent to Survival School and each of these methods was done on him. He got a taste of the water-boarding; the box, food and sleep deprivation, and the loud music and standing in place for hours treatment. Of course, the difference was he KNEW it would end for him and he was not in enemy hands.....but still, he had to go through it. None of these terrorists died.....but MOST DID eventually talk. And it IS where we got the initial lead that eventually led us to bin Laden. Thanks to the CIA woman who is STILL at the CIA and undercover....and who for 10 years would NOT led this go.....even though the political tides were turning with the new adminstratration. We finally got him. Thanks to our CIA who has the stomach to do the hard stuff that keeps us all safe. The trail to bin Laden clearly began in the middle of the Bush administraton.....and this woman CIA agent who was the star, was the one who put it all together....BASED on what was gathered during harsh interrogations....... and she stayed on top of it when others wanted to quit.

The movie clearly had a pro-Bush slant and an anti-Obama slant as far as views concerning enhanced interrogations. Everyone should see it. And I applaud some in Hollywood for giving us the TRUTH.

 

Yes, and in actually portraying the woman that was responsible for the whole thing going down. The pilots are great of course but she is the star of the movie and was very instrumental in finding porn slut Bin Laden; that should not be ignored.

 

The military screwed the pooch at Tora Bora in Afghanistan allowing Bin Laden & Company to escape into the wasteland of the Hindu Kush mountains and into Pakistan. They knew where he was and to be politically correct wanted the Afghanis to lead the mission, for fear of reprisal by Islamic fanatics. You can't wage a politically correct war. A decade later, they did the right thing... terminated Bin Laden with extreme prejudice.

 

Zero Dark Thirty was an amazing movie. Argo on the other hand was a very good movie, but felt like the tension was artificially heightened... like the true story was not dramatic enough?! Zero Dark Thirty just felt real... gritty... like I imagined it really happened.

 

Shouldn't we caution ourselves about deriving historical/any facts from movies? The TRUTH, lol. People believed the same thing about Gone With The Wind.

This movie was partly funded by the military (federal government) and even let the produces use real life props like military planes and such (C-130), but only if they had a voice in the editing. Safe to say, things might have been added and things might have been left out.

It might be a good movie, but please, don't take a movie as TRUTH. I'm beginning to think the people who are saying that the public has replaced education from books for stimulation from video clips was right.

.

 

Factual or not, it was still a piece of glorified American propaganda. They shoot a guy dead, then shoot him some more for good measure. She shot a woman who was probably innocent, just because she was in the way of the other dad guy they killed. They scared the (*)(*)(*)(*) out of some innocent little kids, and they tortured some poor bastard at the start of the film.

Yeah, maybe such barbaric torture worked - this time. But what if it doesn't? You all have to consider that the people you are waterboarding may not actually know anything, but I don't expect anyone to actually care about that.

That other woman who refused to security check a car because she didn't want to scare off her source - well, she went out with a bang. I cannot believe that someone in such a high position could have been so stupid.

That lead actress was great, but then she is a good actress.

I liked the movie, but I hated the torture, hated the pointless shooting people who were already dead, and the whooping and high fiving at the end. Disturbing.

 

You're still leaning on the movie too much for facts. We don't even know if that's really how the event took place. This is how the movie displays the event.

Still, you got to admire the media's ability to swirl heads. A movie about the CIA and bin Laden gets interpreted as fact because it's "gritty and real". And oh, it...er...based on a true story, lol.

 

He should get the reward that was offered for Osama...

'Nightmare' at home for SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden
February 11th, 2013 - He's the man who rolled into a bedroom in Abbottabad, Pakistan, raised his gun and shot Osama bin Laden three times in the forehead.

 

It raises an important moral question, that's for sure, for me I'm not sure it really answered it, but then the best movies make don't make you certain, they make you think. Please everyone remember this was a movie, not a documentary. There have been a lot of good political movies lately, this was one of them.

 

Oops!...

Esquire article wrongly claims SEAL who killed bin Laden is denied healthcare
February 11, 2013 - Esquire magazine claims “The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden ... Is Screwed.”

 

That's sort of the point, though. It's not really a piece of American propaganda - it paints the American characters as broken, foolish, or sociopathic.

It just shows torture in as honest and open way possible. I felt like it was saying "Here's what torture looks like. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Make your own mind up." It didn't seem to have any agenda, nor was it attempting to make any commentary on the issues.

Still, I thought Argo was better.

 

Just watched the movie. Was mesmerized by the raid on Bin Laden's compound. The female lead was great. 10/10 in my book.

 

Can you please provide some evidence for your claims?

 

The movie producers themselves admit it. The lead actress in the movie said it in a Daily Show appearance. It's not top secret information, it's just a movie.

 

Okay, then give me some evidence.

 

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/01/11/us-zero-dark-thirty-and-truth-about-torture

http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/01/17/jon-stewart-on-zero-dark-thirty/