Posted on 05/17/2018 6:56:15 PM PDT by Mariner
The newest ode to the American warrior is 12 Strong (subtitle: The Unclassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers), which follows a dozen Special Forces soldiers who are surreptitiously choppered into northern Afghanistan less than two months after 9/11. Their mission was incredibly perilous, but they werent on the ground to fight. Their job was to embed themselves with warlords in the Northern Alliance; ride on small-ish, mountain-ready horses through the yawning passes; and radio coordinates of Taliban strongholds to U.S. planes that had previously been bombing blind. Securing the north and the key city of Mazar-i-Sharif would set up the U.S. and its allies for a full-scale invasion of Kabul. Until then, those 12 Americans were alone in a land they didnt know amid tribes whose actions they couldnt predict and with tens of thousands of nearby Taliban fighters itching to carve them up, slowly.
(Excerpt) Read more at vulture.com ...
And this is the very best "professional" review I could find.
Apparently the critics hated it. Most certainly due to it's pro American and Pro Soldier theme.
But don't be dissuaded by those a$$holes.
This is a GREAT movie. The mounted cavalry combat scenes will not be forgotten. Just like the men who accomplished this amazing feat.
Rent it!
Who else has seen it?
Loved it but I had a single technical objection:
Our guys proved able to land almost ALL shots, single-handed, from a horse running at tippy-top speed.
Anyone who has shot from a moving vehicle even with GREAT suspension and BOTH hands free knows hitting anywhere near your target is a toss-up:
How much more difficult is it with one hand on the reigns on a HORSE..?
A pretty picky objection to an otherwise great movie.
It was a movie lol
The good guys ALWAYS are better than the bad guys.
Besides, all 12 DID return home.
Whoops!
Another:
No scene showed the truth of our guys having to put up with routine boy-rape, “dancing boys” stuff.
The big question of heroin and drug addiction there was also set aside.
Instead most Northern Alliance guys were depicted as duskier, bearded would-be Americans, more or less —pretty romanticized.
The trajectory of the Americans is a smooth one, from culture shock to happy mutual trust.
Realistic..? :/
In fact a lot of guys come away from their tours highly ambivalent about the Afghanis, with the seeminly ever-present risk of Green-On-Blue killings, etc.
Still a good movie, though.
a horse at full gallop is a pretty smooth ride.
I went to a speech given by some of the real legion guys and they had a lot of laughs about that. Hollywood
Ever watched a jousting tournament? Kids snag a 1/4” ring at the end of their lance riding at a full gallop.
You’d enjoy reading “My Sixty Years on the Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting” by W. T. Hamilton. It’s a first person account of a mountain man who set out with a mountain party when he was 18. His tales of shooting from horseback at full gallop are amazing.
Extremely well done war movie and an incredible story.
All it was missing was George Peppard, Mr. T., and a lunatic who can fly anything with wings.
Awesome movie
Good movie. Just assume and get over the Hollywood embellishments as to shooting, etc. and get to how amazing the core story is. These men provided a much needed service at a critical time in our nation’s history.
The movie did not cover all aspects of combat operations in Afghanistan. The poster was referring to the twelve men under the command of the movies main character. I believe all those did return alive.
I used to do mounted shooting. I’ll have to watch the movie.
You would be surprised what a good rider/shooter can do.
.........I watched it several weeks ago on either Amazon or Netflix. I forget which.
I gave it a 9 on a 10 scale. Like everything coming out of Hollywood it’s pcbs was off the charts. But for that, it would be a ten.
Haven’t seen the movie. Just read the book.
Excellent portrayal of the hard men who protect us.
Shooting is easy on horseback. It is reloading that is a hassle. I’ve used a lance on horseback too. Once the basics are learned it combines riding and balance to perfect the art.
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