Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011.

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writer:

Mark Boal

Stars:

Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt

Won 1 Oscar. Another 54 wins & 63 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Clarke	...	Dan
Reda Kateb	...	Ammar
Jessica Chastain	...	Maya
Kyle Chandler	...	Joseph Bradley
Jennifer Ehle	...	Jessica
Harold Perrineau	...	Jack
Jeremy Strong	...	Thomas
J.J. Kandel	...	J.J.
Wahab Sheikh	...	Detainee on Monitor
Alexander Karim	...	Detainee on Monitor
Nabil Elouahabi	...	Detainee on Monitor
Aymen Hamdouchi	...	Detainee on Monitor
Simon Abkarian	...	Detainee on Monitor
Ali Marhyar	...	Interrogator on Monitor
Parker Sawyers	...	Interrogator on Monitor

Storyline

Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.

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Plot Keywords:

Al Qaeda | Navy Seal | Osama Bin Laden | Cia | Interrogation | 

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Taglines:

For ten years one woman never stopped searching for the most wanted man in history

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

11 January 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kill Bin Laden

Filming Locations:

Manimajra Fort, Chandigarh, Punjab, India

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$417,150 (USA) (21 December 2012)

Gross:

$95,720,716 (USA) (29 March 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Annapurna Pictures, First Light Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several important factors in the preparation and execution of the raid, as detailed in the book "No Easy Day", were glossed over or not mentioned in this film. These include, specifically, 1) the debate over whether to bomb the compound or conduct a special forces raid, 2) the construction of a complete training mockup of the compound in North Carolina and repeated drills using the same SEAL teams and helicopters as on the eventual raid, and 3) the presence of backup Black Hawks at a forward staging area during the mission, which proved to be vital to recovering the team after the crash of the stealth Black Hawk during the initial insertion. It is assumed these were left out for dramatic purposes.

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Goofs

Women in Pakistan do not go shopping in saris.

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Quotes

Justin - DEVGRU: So Patrick, be honest with me. You really believe this story? I mean
[turns to Maya]
Justin - DEVGRU: no offense, no offense, I don't.
[turns away]
Justin - DEVGRU: But... Osama bin Laden?
Patrick - Squadron Team Leader: Yeah.
Justin - DEVGRU: What part convinced you?
Patrick - Squadron Team Leader: Her confidence.
Justin - DEVGRU: That's the kind of concrete data point I'm looking for. I'll tell you buddy, if her confidence is the one thing that's keeping me from getting ass-raped in a Pakistani prison I'm gonna honest with you, bro. I'm cool with it.

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Crazy Credits

All of the credits, except for the studio logo, appear at the end of the film, including the title.

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Connections

Featured in 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2013)
Nomination presentation for Jessica Chastain.

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Soundtracks

"Need You Now"
Written by Hillary Scott, Josh Kear, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley
Performed by Lady Antebellum
Courtesy of Capitol Records Nashville
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Ehhh... seriously?

I was honestly expecting a lot more, given the multiple nominations for awards. I really thought this movie was overdone and could have been pared down by at least 45 minutes. In the end, it was just a glorified "we killed bin laden" pseudo-documentary. The character relationships never developed and seemed empty. And I didn't really find the main actress very believable or that great. Scenes of shooting dead bodies also were probably a bit too much -- overall this movie seemed overly nationalistic and simplistic without delivering much in the way of content. I thought Hurt Locker was a significantly better movie. Again, I am somewhat surprised at the number of award nominations this movie received.