Zero Dark Thirty [Blu-ray] [4K UHD]

First off, I never rate movies based on 100% historical accuracy. That just doesn't happen in Hollywood movies; PERIOD! Some may come close, but Hollywood dramatization ALWAYS inevitably overrides facts, so I rate movies based on entertainment value ALONE and NOTHING else.Secondly, I hate it when people leave 1-star ratings based on Amazon viewing problems in place of an actual review of the movie. Those ratings are an unfair representation of the movie, as opposed to an indicator of how good or bad the movie may actually be, and can deter potential viewers from watching. There IS a "feedback" feature that you can correspond with Amazon through in regards to such people, and they are very good about refunding your money when problems are incurred!Now for the movie review. This was not the greatest movie, but it was not a bad movie, and I ended up liking it. Based on some of the reviews, I thought the torture scenes would be extremely disturbing to watch, but I actually found the scenes depicting such to be rather brief and, although uncomfortable at the worst, very mild compared to many, many, much, much worse depictions (refer to the TV series "24"); these were a cake-walk. I don't get how many reviewers believe this movie takes the stance that "torture" is an effective tool either. I've never been a member of the military, nor CIA, so I have no idea what or even IF any such method IS effective or not, and we certainly can't count on either of them to tell us if it actually is ISN'T. Even if the director was "taking a stance", I could care less, but she only hinted at both sides of the issue; barely and very briefly mentioned from the viewpoint of the interrogators as opposed to Obama's stance. On that basis, I can't buy that this movie was simply a "propaganda" ploy against "torture" based on such either. It's just a MOVIE, and this one is simply about the very strong convictions of ONE WOMAN who was determined to find the MOST WANTED MAN IN THE WORLD!!! I have read a few articles that claim the character "Maya" is based on a real-life female CIA agent who was integral to this mission. However, who really knows if that's true or not or just how integral she was? I highly doubt that any government agency will EVER confirm such. There were some details in the movie with parts that contained actual audio, recordings, and new's coverage clips from around 9/11, and in subsequent years, some of which were heart-breakingly sad, and others which were enlightening, therefore interesting to me; as I'd not seen or heard about them previously. I thought the movie did a good job of depicting how utterly and painstakingly tedious it had to be to gather reliable data, as well as how integral every person involved was in gathering any and all of that data and following every lead to attain possible "targets" for interrogation in gaining any useful knowledge necessary to finding UBL; which was in no way, shape, or form because of the work of one woman here; surely it took thousands just to intercept & decipher the sheer volume of "white noise" between other agencies, countries, &/or Al-Qaeda communications, and to sift through all tips received for years after 9/11; despite Chastain being presented as THE driving force and ultimate "hero". If she is based on a real person, however, I wish I had been her. I mean hey....leave it to a woman to search to the ends of the earth and never stop until she's found the man who's really pissed her off or hurt one of her babies, and I know I would've done the same were I in her shoes. However, I found Chastain's (who I'd never seen nor even heard of before but who's acting ability is undeniably good) character "Maya" to be somewhat too serious to the point of being bland, and reserved or guarded thus less stoic than I'd expect, therefore not all too believable as a heroic CIA agent, for about the the first hour or more. Then her much feistier, absolutely determined, side finally erupted and Chastain was in her element. My favorite line from her was "I'm the MF who found the place" in response to Gandolfini's character; then later "One hundred percent in that building; ok...95% sure, cuz I know 100% freaks you guys out." The movie did drag on a great deal in that previous hour or more though (actually kept checking to see how much time was left in the movie - and it's a long one - wondering if it was EVER going to get more promising or end with an explosive climax or not). Then finally, sadly after the loss of a colleague, things started to become more intense, which is when Chastain's character really took on a whole new life. The story was a very good one, though, and AGAIN if even anywhere near factual, probably a historically important movie for everyone to see; although a "factual" documentary would suffice for that purpose, and you could just let this be a good movie to watch as it was entertaining enough for me to bear with and end up enjoying! This was the 2nd of all the movies nominated for Oscars that I've viewed. "Argo" was the first, and I still stand behind my opinion that Ben Affleck and his co-producers deserved the Oscar for it. It was much better paced, and even if not 100% historically accurate (which many reviewers of it found fault with too; nag, nag, nag), it was a great story "based on real events" most of which WAS factually accurate (despite an "unrealistic" scene at the end which I personally thought was very entertaining and added to the suspense despite knowing what the outcome was going to be, contained great humor, was well acted by all, and very intense throughout. I, sadly, did not feel that same intensity throughout this movie as I expected to, so that was somewhat of a let-down. Overall, though, I recommend watching this movie if you don't go into thinking it's gonna be 100% historically accurate, action-packed from start to finish, or very intense throughout; as well as if you're not an amateur critic who feels compelled to over-analyze and tear down every aspect of a movie with descriptions that make you sound like a 2nd or 3rd year drama school student and in terms that I honestly don't even understand or care about, or if your political views run so deeply you can't actually enjoy a simple movie ;)

I watch this movie at least 10 times..

As a former Intelligence Officer I enjoyed the movie even if not everything was explained. Like the reason why the helicopter crashed, which had to do with the fact that during training that the mock up compound had a chain linked fence that allowed for the helicopter wash to blow through and not cause so much updraft like the solid wall. The model of the compound was a great piece and looked just like the three that were actually made. I use to walk pass the one model everyday.I get that this is a Hollywood movie. People will gravitate to a film that is digestible and, ultimately, profitable. And depicting the reality of national security is challenging: much of the information is TOP SECRET, and a lot of it is just not dramatic or sexy at all. Reading thousands of reports and writing reports is just not that exciting.... can't be a profitable movie. If you work in the field you can pick apart a movie all day... I do it when I see gun fights in movies all the time.I could relate to Maya as a mid-level officer, being asked to "backbench" at a briefing—you’re briefing the guy who has to brief the guy—while she knows it’s her analysis that brought everyone together in the room. Supervisors sell this as "top cover" for the lower-level officer, and there is some truth to that. It’s easier for established officers to take a hit over a bad decision than for a new officer, whose career could end on an early miscall. When I became a supervisor, I did the same thing, and dodged my share of hits.The CIA doesn't like to be portrayed badly... and very sure of themselves... Saw this in Afghanistan. Black sites exist and they're not Disneyland.Jessica Chastain delivers a great performance... People just need to take it for what it is.. a great movie that depicts the events that lead up to the best payback we could have given UBL. I watch this movie every 2nd of May... as a remembrance to the co-workers I lost in the Pentagon.

Like: Love the movie. Dislike: No BD, only DVD. My bad, didn't open until too late to return. So if you buy, check immediately. My only reason for 4, not 5 stars. At least it wasn't expensive.

Although Chris Pratt kind of ruins a few scenes, he fortunately is only in a small portion of the film and doesn't talk much. But it's hard to watch him talk. It looked like the other actors didn't really want to hear him talk either. They probably knew he'd botch up the scenes. Which of course he did.But back to the meat of the movie. It is a solid, realistically portrayed (although partially fictional), well acted, and suspenseful movie. The cinematography is very good as well. Unfortunately the music is nothing special.It's fascinating to see the change in political landscape change the opinion of torture. Although it's easy for armchair quarterbacks to criticize the actions taken to protect the country, at the time it was the right thing to do. One interesting thing is that the character the person is based on was responsible for not sharing information on the 9/11 attackers. So it's possible she was hellbent on making up for that huge mistake. None of us will know her motives, but it's amazing that there are people that sacrifice so much to keep the country safe.It was also interesting to watch and read about the suicide bombing of the CIA agents. They really were lax with their protocols in real life as well, and it got them killed. The director made sure that point was subtly made, with a remark by the military present that if the protocols were to work, they needed to be used every time. I'm paraphrasing of course.Overall, this movie was a great combination of subtlety and in your face communication and action. The effective recreation of the house raid is amazing, and how effectively the SEAL team dealt with the despicable people in the house.

As spy thrillers go it's not got all the James Bond action or the Jason Bourne twists. What is has instead is real human endeavor, dilemma, determination, hard grind, understanding deeper view of real world messy complexity. The edge of danger is there. The credibility engages in its own way, more convincingly that the Hollywood fiction. And this has a Hollywood polish, but as a veneer over the gritty and harsh reality. It does not shy from covering torture and we see the eventual shift in political support away from it, from the operative point of view. This is a spy film like post police films are: about the work of policing, not just an action extravaganza.The big bonus is that the build up to the culminating action makes it a lot more credible. It has the advantage in that, of actually being of real events. In contrast to the competing film 'Geromino', this felt much more real all the way through. While both are good, this is the one I'd pick if it were between the two. And it does entertain. Jessica Chastelaine is masterful and the all star cast works well.STRONGLY RECOMMENDED (but you'll have to at least like gritty police genres).

Zero Dark Thirty chronicles the decade-long hunt for bin Laden with profound neutrality. Darkness. A blank screen echoes the desperate screams and howls of innocent civilians telephoning their loved ones before the World Trade Centre crumbled over them. 2,977 fatalities. Over 25,000 injuries. “9/11”, at the hands of Islamic fundamentalist group al-Qaeda, became the “deadliest terrorist attack in human history”. The Bush administration swiftly launching the “War on Terror” to depose the Taliban, after the proposed extradition of leader Osama bin Laden floundered. Future terrorist attacks were imminent, with the CIA employing controversial systematic torture programs known as “enhanced interrogation techniques” to extract information from detainees in undisclosed black sites. Maya, a fictional CIA analyst tasked in locating bin Laden, soon becomes obsessed with potential lead Abu Ahmed that rapidly sends her down a monomaniacal path of danger, with growing pressure to save thousands of lives in the process.Bigelow’s thrilling decade-long depiction of events, in what is claimed as the “greatest manhunt in history”, can only be described as uncompromising scintillating cinema at its most raw. The extremist behaviour of Islamic Group members have been widely reported, detailed and sensationalised by the media for countless years. “7/7” bombings in London. The Camp Chapman attack. The 2008 Mumbai attacks. All co-ordinated actions that drew widespread condemnation. However, dramatising these profound events to stir further hatred for extremist behaviour and imply celebratory national patriotism, are not functionalities for Boal’s succinct screenplay. Both Bigelow and Boal, whom collaborated on ‘The Hurt Locker’, utilise modern history to insight political critique upon the questionable actions of the Bush administration and malevolence of al-Qaeda.A proliferate narrative neutrality that produced an unyielding barrier of risk, querying the legitimacy of bin Laden’s assassination and the gruelling process leading up to that pivotal raid. In the process, supplying sensitive philosophers and cowardly politicians with enough controversial ammunition to fire allegations from every direction. Supposed partisanship with the Obama administration, improper access to classified documents and pro-torture portrayal (more on that later...). These assertions are just that. Allegations. Because Zero Dark Thirty is a stark reminder of how ambivalent America’s contribution to this war was, and that undoubtedly irked “experts” and officials.Putting aside the historical politics for one moment, the essence of Bigelow’s intellectual assertion comes in the form of Maya. A lone female operative shrouded in the masculinity of warfare. Her tenacity and tough-minded persona undeniably receives the most acute character development arcs ever written, acting as an independent pressured employee expending her entire career in chasing bin Laden and a conduit for the narrative’s neutrality. Her initial reserved attitude towards approved “enhanced interrogation” allows viewers to question the permissibility of such authoritative techniques. Then she becomes obsessed, gradually succumbing to the ferocity of her work. Weeks, months, years. A decade passes. The pressure breaking her meticulous persona down, utilising any and all methods in finding bin Laden. Yet Maya combats the systematic ideologies of the CIA consistently to grant her fictionalisation a required neutrality that issues humanity. Chastain’s exceptional performance is littered with nuanced emotive details that gingerly bestow a provocative rage. Commanding, intimidating and menial. Chastain fluctuates her power from quaint whispers to enraged shouts, yet never lets her guard down. Until the final scene. A scene that profoundly reflected the morality and ethicality of all the preceding events that happened over the decade-long manhunt. The first and only moment where Maya exerts emotional fragility. A cluster of overwhelming feelings. Relief. Disappointment. Melancholy. Maya is the representation of the entire Iraq war from an emotional standpoint, and her culminating frame of film is perfect.Bigelow, alongside Fraser’s clinically bleak cinematography, explores the dark side of war. Bolstered by a commendable supporting cast whom exude professional urgency to the matter at hand. From the desolate anticipation of the Camp Chapman attack, to the night-vision filtered compound raid of Operation Neptune Spear. Zero Dark Thirty never dissipates its tension and technical astuteness, despite the chapter segregation that does regrettably disjoint the elongated runtime.Now, the torture interrogations. Waterboarding in particular. Famously generating a mass amount of controversy for its propagandistic nature and pro-torture stance. Makes you wonder why it conjured so much attention in the first place. To add on Bigelow’s response, it is a part of history. It shouldn’t have been, but it was. Consequently these government approved techniques should not be ignored regardless if it lead to bin Laden’s location or not, and it absolutely does question the morality behind such actions. Maya’s inclusion complying with that thought-process entirely. It categorically does not normalise torture, nor does its involvement endorse such issues. It simply provides exposure, arguably creating a statement against torture by implying the antagonistic behaviours of CIA agents.There’s a reason why Zero Dark Thirty was marred with controversy. There’s a reason why Zero Dark Thirty pursues a neutral narrative. It raises a fundamental question. “Was the death of bin Laden worth the price we paid?”. By showing the unspeakable, unflinching and the uncompromising, Bigelow audaciously challenges on an intellectual scale by using modern warfare as her weapon of choice. Producing a near-perfect film in the process.

La traque de ben laden. Un super film à voir et à revoir.

Sehr schöner aber dennoch harter Film.

The fact that I didn't award 5 stars isn't really the fault of the film...rather that I found it hard to be gripped by suspense when I knew the outcome. The characters are well played and direction is good, the horror of torture made explicit and finale completely credible. If you haven't seen it already it certainly is worth a watch!