12 Strong (also known as 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers) is a 2018 American war drama film directed by Nicolai Fuglsig and written by Ted Tally and Peter Craig. The film is based on Doug Stanton's non-fiction book Horse Soldiers, which tells the story of CIA paramilitary officers and U.S. Special Forces, in addition to USAF Combat Controllers, sent to Afghanistan immediately after the September 11 attacks. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Navid Negahban, Trevante Rhodes, Geoff Stults, Thad Luckinbill, William Fichtner, and Rob Riggle.
Principal photography began in January 2017 in New Mexico. The film was released in the United States on January 19, 2018 by Warner Bros. Pictures, in standard and IMAX theaters. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the cast and action but criticized the by-the-numbers execution and lack of hindsight of the War in Afghanistan.
Video 12 Strong
Plot
Mitch Nelson (Hemsworth), a US Army Captain with Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 595, is moving into a new home with his wife and daughter on September 11, 2001. Nelson had previously been assigned to staff duty under LtCol. Bowers (Riggle) but volunteers to lead ODA 595 into Afghanistan. CWO5 Spencer (Shannon) was scheduled to retire but volunteers for an additional deployment. After leaving their families, ODA 595 travels to Uzbekistan on October 7, 2001. After receiving a brief from 5th Special Forces Group Commander, Col. Mullholland (Fichtner), ODA 595 is selected to fight alongside the Northern Alliance leader, Abdul Rashid Dostum.
After covertly traveling aboard an MH-47 Chinook, ODA 595 arrives 30 miles south of Mazar-i Sharif, and meets Dostum. Six of the 12 members, led by Nelson, leave with Dostum to the mountains, while the other six remain in a fortified camp nicknamed "The Alamo." Dostum is attempting to capture Mazar-i Sharif, a critical city in northern Afghanistan, from the Taliban. After several battles, Nelson accuses Dostum of acting carelessly with the lives of his men; Dostum replies that Nelson, and America, do not care for the future of Afghanistan, and are unwilling to sacrifice for it. The two reconcile, with Dostum telling Nelson about losing his family in the civil war. The remainder of ODA 595, led by Spencer, travels to the mountains to support the Northern Alliance. After several tactical victories, Dostum is making significant progress towards Mazar-i Sharif. Nelson reveals to Dostum that ODA 555 is supporting Atta Muhammad, another Northern Alliance leader who is Dostum's political rival. Enraged, Dostum and his men abandon ODA 595.
Following Dostum's departure, Nelson plans to take Mazar-i Shariff with just 12 men. Encountering heavy resistance, ODA 595 struggles to destroy Taliban weapons; Spencer is critically injured by a suicide bomber. Dostum returns, and the combined forces repel the Taliban and kill their leader. After Spencer is medivaced, Dostum and Atta Muhammad peacefully meet in a captured Mazar-i Sharif. Spencer ultimately survives, and ODA 595 returns home after spending 23 days in Afghanistan.
Maps 12 Strong
Cast
- Chris Hemsworth as Captain Mitch Nelson, team commander, inspired by Mark Nutsch.
- Michael Shannon as Chief Warrant Officer 5 Hal Spencer, assistant team leader, inspired by Bob Pennington.
- Michael Peña as Sergeant First Class Sam Diller, team intelligence sergeant.
- Navid Negahban as General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the leader of the Alliance and later Vice President of Afghanistan
- Trevante Rhodes as Sergeant First Class Ben Milo, one of the members of Mitch's team
- Geoff Stults as Sean Coffers, one of the members of Mitch's team
- Thad Luckinbill as Vern Michaels, one of the members of Mitch's team
- William Fichtner as Colonel John Mulholland, 5th Special Forces Group Commander
- Rob Riggle as Lieutenant Colonel Max Bowers, Commander of 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group
- Elsa Pataky as Jean Nelson, Mitch's wife and Maddy's mother
- Austin Stowell as Staff Sergeant Fred Falls, an American soldier on the team.
- Ben O'Toole as Scott Black, one of the members of Mitch's team
- Austin Hébert as Master Sergeant Pat Essex
- Kenneth Miller as Kenny Jackson, one of the members of Mitch's team
- Kenny Sheard as Sergeant First Class Bill Bennett, one of the members of Mitch's team
- Jack Kesy as Charles Jones, one of the members of Mitch's team
- Numan Acar as Mullah Razzan, Taliban military leader
- Ali Olomi as Afghan Man
- Fahim Fazli as Commander Khaled, one of the soldiers of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance
Production
Development
On December 2, 2011, it was announced that producer Jerry Bruckheimer had taken out the script by Ted Tally and rewritten by Peter Craig with Nicolai Fuglsig attached to direct, which was bought by Walt Disney Pictures in 2009 for Bruckheimer, based on Doug Stanton's non-fiction book Horse Soldiers. On March 29, 2016, Deadline reported that Bruckheimer had officially hired Fuglsig to make his feature film directorial debut, which would be co-financed and produced by Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill through Black Label Media, along with Bruckheimer's Jerry Bruckheimer Films.
Casting
On September 30, 2016, Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon were cast in the film, and later on November 1, Michael Peña also joined the film. On November 3, 2016, Trevante Rhodes was cast in the film. On November 14, 2016, Austin Stowell was cast in the film to play Staff Sergeant Fred Falls, an American soldier on the elite U.S. Special Forces team. Lionsgate would handle the film's distribution. On November 15, 2016, Austin Hébert was cast to play SFC Pat Essex, the intellectual and engineer of the team, and the same day it was reported that Ben O'Toole had also been cast for an unspecified role. On November 17, 2016, Variety reported that Navid Negahban was cast to play General Abdul Rashid Dostum in the film. Elsa Pataky was revealed to be appearing in the film in December 2016, while on February 3, 2017, Deadline reported that Rob Riggle joined the film to play Army Lieutenant Colonel Max Bowers, under whom Riggle actually served while he was a Marine Captain.
Filming
Principal photography began in early January 2017 in New Mexico. Mines near Orogrande, New Mexico, were used. Later the shooting took place in Socorro, where it ended on January 26 after eight days of filming. The film was also shot in Alamogordo, using the White Sands National Monument as shooting location. The scenes involving military encampments were filmed using 20 structures leased from AKS Military, a private manufacturer of military shelters.
Reception
Box office
12 Strong grossed $45.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $20.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $65.8 million, against a production budget of $35 million.
In the United States and Canada, 12 Strong was released on January 19, 2018 alongside Den of Thieves and Forever My Girl, as well as the wide expansions of Phantom Thread, I, Tonya and Call Me by Your Name, and was projected to gross $15-20 million from 3,002 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $16.5 million, similar to the $16.1 million that war film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi opened to in January 2016, and finished second at the box office behind Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. According to ComScore, 55% of the opening weekend audience was male, with 79% being over the age of 25. The following week dropped 45% to $8.6 million, finishing 6th at the box office.
Home media
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released 12 Strong digitally April 10, and on Blu-ray Disc and DVD May 1. Blu-ray extras include the featurettes "12 Strong: The Making of an Impossible Mission" and "Monumental Effort: Building America's Response Monument."
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 54% based on 140 reviews, and an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "12 Strong has a solid cast, honorable intentions, and a thrilling, fact-based story -- all of which are occasionally enough to balance a disappointing lack of depth or nuance." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on reviews from 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave an 81% overall positive score and a 63% "definite recommend".
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying, "...with a running time of two hours and 10 minutes, 12 Strong has at least 20 minutes of scenes that are either unnecessary or repetitive...[it] winds up being an almost-good film about some great American soldiers." Matt Bobkin of Exclaim! gave the film a 4 out of 10, calling it "a lazy attempt at injecting something fresh into the 9/11 narrative."
Related links
- 5th Special Forces Group
- America's Response Monument
References
External links
- Official website
- 12 Strong, Warner Bros. website
- 12 Strong on IMDb
- 12 Strong at AllMovie
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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