Saw this tonight...and it was about like I expected. Its production values are certainly not A-list Hollywood, and if you didn't know these guys were not the real deal, you'd feel like these were some starving B-movie actors.
But we do know those things. So, I found myself looking at this and finding the "acting" more like SEALs playing actors which is clearly not their forte. Knowing that gave it a certain pass as authentic. If they had come off with slick terrific Hollywood performances, it wouldn't feel the same. So, it has a peculiar feel at times like something you'd watch on History as a psuedo-docu-drama. It often appears that rather crude cameras, like DSLRs, were used and there were lingering shots in important scenes that were terribly out of focus. This occurs in an interrogation scene that is one of the more surprisingly entertaining scenes in the movie.
The action pieces are well done, but with just enough somewhat crude production values as to occasionally feel like combat footage as it is recorded today. Perhaps that is because Navy camerman did a good bit of shooting in this. The first action piece of the CIA agent extraction is quite impressive and exciting. The mini-guns on the boats were amazing, and I'd bet this was the live fire portion of the movie. It seems that Hollywood sound mixers can never make mini-guns and the like sound anywhere nearly as loud-impressive as they are.
I read a review that said that the script was terrible, the characters two dimensional, and provided no insight to the complexities of war. I have a feeling that these real-life warriors have just that perspective, and this movie is from their perspective. Theirs is not to ponder or worry over the complexities of war, politics, or emotional drama. I think the movie makes it rather clear that their lives are rather simplistic. There is their real domestic life, and there is their warrior life, and they know their roles and responsiblities in each.
It will be forgotten as cinema almost immediately, but will probably have a significant following by some. I thought it was a simple yet honorable tale.
What'd you guys think?
P.S. I had a fun surprise early in the movie. The ambassador who makes a brief appearance makes an entrance when he steps out of his limo. To my surprise it was a camera assistant who I know and who was on the show. You know the budget is a bit low when crew starts getting recruited for minor roles.
You chose...wisely.
...One thing for sure his movies, whether people like them or not are often pure delight to look at. Like you said, gorgeous eye candy, and not just for Pearl Harbor.
