The movie did not AT ALL target talk-radio fans, Benghazi specialists, and people who hate Obama/Hillary.
The underlying subject matter is INTENSELY political, but it seems they went out of their way to remain neutral and try to also bring in libs and young people for a sandy, shoot-em-up film.
We can only hope that they, too, will ponder the questions we pour over here at FR —maybe a few of them will.
Aside from the brief shots of F-16’s standing unused at Ariana, or the exasperated sighs of combatants pondering the (low) possibility of air-support they really did not slam The Political Establishment.
It’s like there’s a silent Hollywood requirement to “hold your fire” if there’s a good possibility a Lib will be hit, particularly in a run-up to an election.
I still enjoyed the film, as it showed the unselfish bravery of them men in the face of long odds.
Black Hawk Down - want to reach the men, but can’t
Lone Survivor - want to hear from the men, but can’t
13 Hours - want desperately to not hear from the men, not help the men, better if they die, since there’s a re-election
They show Chris Stevens scribbling in his diary, but don’t touch on the content, in which in fact he repeatedly decried his increasingly vulnerable circumstances.
Stevens was repeatedly predicting his own death.
Things were so bad the IT guy admonished to his online gamer group that he DOUBTED they’d survive that very night.
And he didn’t.
NONE of that was in the movie, which I do think all here (and all in the country) really should see.
If Nixon had tried to get everyone killed on the Watergate floor those guys broke into, could we have relied on Hollywood to leave all those parts out..?
Yet that IS what we have, here.
It was based on the book written by some contractors about what happened to them. Apolitical, and they were there during the shooting of the film to make sure their story was told.
The book 13 Hours too was also very pointedly NON political. They tell their story. And it is some story. I am hoping to get babysitting to get to the movie today. I wanted to finish the book first.
If any FReeper doesn’t or can’t go to movie theaters, definitely get the book. It’s a must read. These guys deserve it.