by Jack
13 Hours is a must see movie, if not for the political implications, but for the reality of how difficult it is to move quickly when lives are on the line, and you’re caught up in a horribly dysfunctional governmental chain of command.
In this photo provided by Paramount Pictures shows Pablo Schreiber, from left, as Kris “Tanto” Paronto, John Krasinski as Jack Silva, David Denman as Dave “Boon” Benton and Dominic Fumusa as John “Tig” Tiegen, in the film, “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” from Paramount Pictures and 3 Arts Entertainment/Bay Films. The movie releases in U.S. theaters Jan. 15, 2016. (Christian Black/Paramount Pictures via AP)
Speaking from personal experience, the characters were credible, the language was real, the situations, eh, somewhat embellished…but, that’s Hollywood. This is not a documentary, it’s a true story punched up here and there to make it more exciting, but the minute to minute reality didn’t need it, it was exciting enough.
What was captured extremely well was the poor relationship between the CIA station chief and the private contract security team under him. I didn’t feel this part was exaggerated one bit, because it exists in other areas wherever private contractors provide security to US agencies, typically in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve seen friends remark, “Hey, its better they get killed than us.” Implying uniform soldiers were somehow more valuable, because they were just civilian contractors. We were all Americans and it’s unfortunate that they are looked down up, but its a reality that few civilians will ever know about, unless you see this movie.
The movie went to great lengths to point out the almost [comical] confusion between who was a good guy and who wasn’t. The time line of events seems to reflect the narrative of those who were present, almost precisely. Kudos to the director for that1 However, if there was any contradiction between who shot who and under what circumstances, well, that can be chalked up to the fog of war.
Left out, was the numerous formal requests for additional security and exactly what was going on back in Washington that caused these requests to go unanswered. I would have liked to have seen how those in charge of sending security justified their resistance to these numerous requests. And this should have included Hillary’s part, but no doubt for the sake of politics and protecting lefties, this part could not be shown. Maybe it will be if a sequel is made after a Republican is elected to the presidency?
Saw “13 Hours” tonight and thought it was as good as “Lone Survivor,” “American Sniper” and “Saving Private Ryan.”
It followed the book on just about everything. The book didn’t go into detail about the guys families nor did it have all of the joking and banter between the guys. The banter was believable because of the unbelievable amount of stress they were under and because the survivors did work with the director and actors during the making of the movie.
Spoiler alert: I do wish the scene where they are getting on the Libyan plane had followed the book where instead of just laying down napkins to prevent the blood from getting on the carpet the director had shown the stewardess refusing to let them board the plane and the delay it caused before they finally took off.
My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be, so it would have been helpful if the written events, time line and updates had stayed on the screen longer. I missed being able to read many of them completely. Guess I’ll just have to go see it again.
I’d pay to know who “Bob” really is. I understand his attitude towards the security forces is typical. But, I’d love to slap some sense into him just for my own personal satisfaction. Maybe his name will come out in Hillary’s emails as one of the two dozen SAPs stored on her personal computer for the whole world to read. And how the terrorist knew Chris Stevens was going to be there that night.
Anyway, take Kleenex. You’ll need it and then hit the pub for a couple to calm your nerves down and loosen your butt cheeks. It’s a long movie and you’ll be sitting on the edge of your seat.