{2jtab: Movie Review}

Zero Dark Thirty - Movie Review

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5 Stars

Much like the actual midnight raid that resulted in the discovery of and immediate killing of Osama bin Laden, Katheryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty sneaks up and packs a mighty powerful emotional wallop upside the head.  It’s an unsuspecting final result, to be sure, and maybe it’s from weary itself.  The decade-long hunt for Bin Laden makes for a surprisingly tense movie that features a meaty role for Jessica Chastain as a CIA operative who simply won’t give up the hunt.  We already know how the story ends but that doesn’t stop Bigelow from asking some really tough questions.

Without judgment (and certainly without the pro-torture controversy some critics are condemning the movie as promoting), Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal take the true story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden from its beginning - opening with a deeply moving black screen as emergency phone calls from the 9/11 attacks come pouring in - to the torture of sleep-deprived Iraqi prisoners of war and, finally, to the hills of Pakistan as the ten-year hunt for the person responsible for the attack concludes with a midnight decibel-killing chopper ride with Seal Team Six.

It’s an edge-of-your-seat ride that produces some pretty thrilling sequences of CIA close-calls as one agent, Maya (Chastain), chases down one suspect after another in search of the elusive Abu Ahmed and the information that will, as she only believes, lead her to the world’s most dangerous man.  All around her are walls.  From her gender to her own co-operatives (actors Jason Clarke and Kyle Chandler), she’s constantly having to prove herself until respect is gained.  She even has to compete with her own sex as she operates in a foreign country.  Are we all on the same side here?

From torture to the agony of disinformation and false leads in the midst of ultimate truths, Mya’s journey to the prime target is expertly portrayed by Chastain.  This is an impressive role for her to manage as it has to be played close to the chest and her performance, making each moment of her journey believable, is worth every ounce of praise she is garnering from critics and peers alike this awards season.  Mya’s a ticking time bomb, operating as if she’s emotionally ready to blow at any second from within and yet maintains a cool exterior that betrays all around her.

Bigelow (director of The Hurt Locker), once again flexing her war machine muscles, is in fine form handling the top secret information that is at the core of Zero Dark Thirty.  It could have easily been a fluff piece in the style of Act of Valor but it is not; it’s tough, ballsy, and completely in the face of whatever predisposition you might have prepared yourself for from a mostly liberal Hollywood.  It’s procedural without being too sterile.  Direct without being invasive.  It’s poised without pontificating the threads of what’s true and what’s fiction in response to a national tragedy.

Zero Dark Thirty is a bullet to the heart of the matter.  And it leaves us with a burning question.  Ten years down the road and the journey for revenge ends with two bullets in the dark of night.

Was it worth it?

{2jtab: Film Details}

Zero Dark Thirty - Movie ReviewMPAA Rating: R for strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language.
Runtime:
157 mins.
Director
: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer
: Mark Boal
Cast:
Jason Clarke; Jessica Chastain; Reda Kateb; Jeremy Strong; James Gandolfini; Joel Edgerton
Genre: Action | Drama
Tagline:
The greatest manhunt in history.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Can I be honest with you? I am bad news."
Distributor:
Columbia Pictures
Official Site:
zerodarkthirty-movie.com
Release Date: January 11, 2013
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
March 19, 2013
Synopsis
: For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. Zero Dark Thirty reunites the Oscar® winning team of director-producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer-producer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) for the story of history's greatest manhunt for the world's most dangerous man.

{2jtab: Blu-ray Review}

Zero Dark Thirty - Blu-ray Review

Component Grades
Movie

Blu-ray Disc
5 Stars

4



Blu-ray Experience
4.5 stars

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - March 19, 2013
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English, English SDH, Spanish
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit); English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kbps)
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); UV digital copy; Digital copy; DVD copy
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

The Blu-ray release of this film is a beautiful example of how to utilize the HD medium. The 1080p AVC transfer is simply brilliant on screen. The studio maintained the film grain with no edge enhancement or flaws and has a natural and gritty look to its presentation. The transfer captures the beauty of the Middle East and the color tones in the clothing worn in the film. With most of the film shot against a dusty, arid background with mostly sand, the coloring of beiges has a clean contrast against both people and the sky.  The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 codec is pristine. The transfer and the film makes great use of all the channels – including the bass – and has a very strong soundtrack.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None.  This is getting to be a bad habit from some of these studios.

Special Features:

One of the most acclaimed films of 2012, director Kathryn Bigelow’s riveting Oscar-nominated, fact-based dramatization, arrives in home-entertainment packaging with several behind-the-scenes bonus features. “No Small Feat” examines the challenges of making the film as realistically as possible; “The Compound” reveals the intricate detail of bin Laden’s fortified complex, meticulously re-created to scale, inside and out, for the movie’s nerve-rattling, climactic raid; “Geared Up” shows the cast training with authentic Navy SEAL gear; and another mini-documentary looks at Chastain’s role and its roots in a real-life character.  A digital copy and a DVD copy of the film are both included with this two-disc release.

  • No Small Feat (4 min)
  • The Compound (9 min)
  • Geared Up (7 min)
  • Targeting Jessica Chastain (5 min)

{2jtab: Trailer}

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