Waste of time

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Plot is much similar to Special Forces (2003). It is based on US special forces in a former soviet country trying to rescue a journalist. This movie is likely to be a remake of Special Forces (2003). Actors are well suited to portray the roles of Special Force soldiers, specially with the beard, as many armies allow their special forces to keep their beard unshaven.

A reporter is kidnapped by the Taliban resulting in the Special Forces taking a trip to Afghanistan to get her out. Things don't go as planned forcing them to survive on foot crossing the desert, always under attack.This was well done. The film is French but the version I seen was dubbed in English. I think it would be better watched in the original language. It was a French Behind Enemy Lines or Courage Under Fire. The cinematography was stunning as you went from the snow to the deserts. The sound was amazing as you could hear the bullets flying by and sometimes even see them when they slowed down some shots. They go all out with the helicopters, guns and major explosions.There are lame scenes like when someone dies another person will clutch onto the body, then look up to the sky as dramatic music starts to play and gets gradually louder as the camera pans around them. You know the ones. Other than that quite an enjoyable film.

I'm not a big fan of war flicks or movies about military but I can be drawn in if it's well written and suspenseful enough. One of my favourite TV shows was The Unit. I was worried this would be rubbish tho because so many in this genre are but it was actually pretty good. Sure there are some problems with believability but I don't expect movies to be "real" - only real enough to make it work. In fact I often find "realistic" movies boring as bat guano and wonder why they didn't just call it a documentary & be done with it. Anyway, back to the point. I think this is worth renting as long as you don't have too high expectations. It's fun, action packed, has it's drama and pathos, gives some great insight into the politics & life in that region and is sympathetic & intelligent in it's treatment of local people struggling under the rule of the Taliban. The main actors are mostly good, I particularly like the dude who is in charge of the rescue team. Good acting from him and Diane Kruger. Diane was so good she actually made me seriously dislike her character in the first half of the movie. I just thought the woman was a complete idiot who caused the death of a bunch of people unnecessarily. By the end of the movie tho I felt more kindly towards her. SO the point of this rambling review is, don't worry about the negative reviews. The movie has enough action, authenticity and good production/cinematography to get it past the down sides such as ridiculous behaviour of the "elite" forces & cheesy dialogue. LOVED the last scene (After the titles) so make sure you stick around for it.Have fun and don't take stuff too seriously ;)

Once you have seen a lot of other based on reality special forces movie/re-creations, this movie no longer strikes you as unrealistic. Real strike special forces have lost the specialness in tactic, strategy and autonomy- so like in this movie they are extra tough real troops with lots of firepower acting in tough missions that easily goes way over other their heads if the slighted thing goes wrong (as in this movie -one shot to their radio). I was watching the movie in Japanese with out subtitles so I can't judge the acting but it seemed alright. Its not a propaganda for French special forces as they don't come out alive like they should have with good planning and abilities.