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12 Strong

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12 Strong
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNicolai Fuglsig
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRasmus Videbæk
Edited byLisa Lassek
Music byLorne Balfe
Distributed by
Release dates
  • January 16, 2018 (2018-01-16) (Jazz at Lincoln Center)
  • January 19, 2018 (2018-01-19) (United States)
  • January 26, 2018 (2018-01-26) (International)
Running time
129 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Afghani
Budget$35 million[2]
Box office$36.8 million[1]

12 Strong (also known as 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers) is a 2018 American war drama film directed by Nicolai Fuglsig and written by Ted Tally and Peter Craig. The film is based on Doug Stanton's non-fiction book Horse Soldiers, which tells the story of CIA paramilitary officers and U.S. Special Forces, in addition to USAF Combat Controllers, sent to Afghanistan immediately after the September 11 attacks. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Navid Negahban, Trevante Rhodes, Geoff Stults, Thad Luckinbill, William Fichtner, and Rob Riggle.

Principal photography began in January 2017 in New Mexico. The film was released in the United States on January 19, 2018 by Warner Bros. Pictures, in standard and IMAX theaters. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the cast and action but criticized the by-the-numbers execution and lack of hindsight of the War in Afghanistan.[4]

Plot

Task Force Dagger is sent to Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks, a team that includes CIA paramilitary officers and US Army Green Berets Operational Detachment Alpha 595 (ODA 595).[notes 1] They join forces with General Abdul Rashid Dostum of the Northern Alliance to help conduct unconventional warfare against Taliban forces.[5]

Cast

  • Chris Hemsworth as Captain Mitch Nelson, team leader, Jean’s husband, Maddy’s father and inspired by Mark Nutsch,[6]
  • Michael Shannon[7] as Chief Warrant Officer 5 Cal Spencer, assistant team leader.
  • Michael Peña[8] as Sergeant First Class Sam Diller, team intelligence sergeant, Lisa’s husband, who leads the group attempting to cut off the Taliban’s supply line.
  • Navid Negahban as General Abdul Rashid Dostum,[5] the leader of the Alliance and is now Vice President of Afghanistan
  • Trevante Rhodes[9] as Sergeant First Class Ben Milo, one of the members of Mitch's team
  • Geoff Stults as Sean Coffers, one of the members of Mitch's team
  • Thad Luckinbill as Vern Michaels, one of the members of Mitch's team
  • William Fichtner as Colonel John Mulholland, 5th Special Forces Group Commander
  • Rob Riggle as Lieutenant Colonel Max Bowers,[10] Commander of 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group
  • Elsa Pataky[11] as Jean Nelson, Mitch’s wife and Maddy’s mother
  • Austin Stowell as Staff Sergeant Fred Falls,[12] an American soldier on the elite U.S. Special Forces team.
  • Ben O'Toole as Scott Black,[13] one of the members of Mitch's team
  • Austin Hébert as Master Sergeant Pat Essex[14]
  • Kenneth Miller as Kenny Jackson, one of the members of Mitch's team
  • Kenny Sheard as Sergeant First Class Bill Bennett, one of the members of Mitch's team
  • Jack Kesy as Charles Jones, one of the members of Mitch's team
  • Laith Nakli as Commander Ahmed Lal, one of the soldiers of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance
  • Yousuf Azami, as Fakir, one of the soldiers of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance
  • Numan Acar as Mullah Razzan, Taliban military leader
  • Fahim Fazli as Commander Khaled,[15] one of the soldiers of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance
  • Peter Malek as Habib
  • Allison King as Marcha Spencer, Cal's wife
  • Lauren Myers as Lisa Diller, Sam's wife
  • Arshia Mandavi as Najeeb
  • Taylor Sheridan as Brian

Production

Development

On December 2, 2011, it was announced that producer Jerry Bruckheimer had taken out the script by Ted Tally and rewritten by Peter Craig with Nicolai Fuglsig attached to direct, which was bought by Walt Disney Pictures in 2009 for Bruckheimer, based on Doug Stanton's non-fiction book Horse Soldiers.[16] On March 29, 2016, Deadline reported that Bruckheimer had officially hired Fuglsig to make his feature film directorial debut, which would be co-financed and produced by Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill through Black Label Media, along with Bruckheimer's Jerry Bruckheimer Films.[17]

Casting

On September 30, 2016, Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon were cast in the film, and later on November 1, Michael Peña also joined the film.[7][8] On November 3, 2016, athlete turned actor Trevante Rhodes was cast in the film.[9] On November 14, 2016, Austin Stowell was cast in the film to play Staff Sergeant Fred Falls, an American soldier on the elite U.S. Special Forces team.[12] Lionsgate would handle the film's distribution.[12] On November 15, 2016, Austin Hébert was cast to play SFC Pat Essex, the intellectual and engineer of the team, and the same day it was reported that Ben O'Toole had also been cast for an unspecified role.[14][13] On November 17, 2016, Variety reported that Navid Negahban was cast to play General Abdul Rashid Dostum in the film.[5] Elsa Pataky was revealed to be starring in the film in December 2016, while on February 3, 2017, Deadline reported that Rob Riggle joined the film to play Army Lieutenant Colonel, Max Bowers, whom he actually served under while Riggle was a Marine Captain. [11][10]

Filming

Principal photography began in early January 2017 in New Mexico.[11] Mines near Orogrande, New Mexico, were used. Later the shooting took place in Socorro, where it ended on January 26 after eight days of filming.[18][19] The film was also shot in Alamogordo, using the White Sands National Monument as shooting location.[20][21] The scenes involving military encampments were filmed using 20 structures leased from AKS Military, a private manufacturer of military shelters.[22]

Reception

Box office

As of January 28, 2018, 12 Strong has grossed $29.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $5.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $35.2 million, against a production budget of $35 million.[1]

In the United States and Canada, 12 Strong was released on January 19, 2018 alongside Den of Thieves and Forever My Girl, as well as the wide expansions of Phantom Thread, I, Tonya and Call Me by Your Name, and was projected to gross $15–20 million from 3,002 theaters in its opening weekend.[2] It ended up debuting to $16.5 million, similar to the $16.1 million that fellow Middle East war film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi opened to in January 2016, and finished second at the box office behind Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. According to ComScore, 55% of the opening weekend audience was male, with 79% being over the age of 25.[23] It dropped 45% to $8.6 million, finishing 6th at the box office.[24]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 54% based on 122 reviews, and an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "12 Strong has a solid cast, honorable intentions, and a thrilling, fact-based story - all of which are occasionally enough to balance a disappointing lack of depth or nuance."[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on reviews from 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[26] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[23]

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying, "...with a running time of two hours and 10 minutes, 12 Strong has at least 20 minutes of scenes that are either unnecessary or repetitive...[it] winds up being an almost-good film about some great American soldiers."[27] Matt Bobkin of Exclaim! gave the film a 4 out of 10, calling it "a lazy attempt at injecting something fresh into the 9/11 narrative."[28]

Notes

  1. ^ ODA 595 also had an attached USAF Combat Controller assigned to control the air strikes, but it is not shown in the movie.

References

  1. ^ a b c "12 Strong (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Faughnder, Ryan (January 17, 2018). "Afghanistan war film '12 Strong' to battle 'Jumanji' reboot for top box-office spot". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Film releases". Variety Insight. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  4. ^ Jeff Giles (January 18, 2018). "12 Strong is a Little Flimsy". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Kroll, Justin (November 17, 2016). "Chris Hemsworth's Afghanistan War Drama 'Horse Soldiers' Adds 'Homeland's' Navid Negahban". Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  6. ^ Williams, Brian Glyn (2017-01-04). "The Hammer and the Horse. Chris Hemsworth (Thor from Avengers Movies), CIA, Green Berets and Afghanistan's Most Feared Warlord Unite for Epic Movie". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  7. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (September 30, 2016). "Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon to Star in Afghanistan War Drama 'Horse Soldiers'". Variety. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  8. ^ a b McNary, Dave (November 1, 2016). "AFM: Michael Pena Joins Chris Hemsworth in 'Horse Soldiers'". Variety. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Kit, Borys (November 3, 2016). "'Moonlight' Star Trevante Rhodes to Join Chris Hemsworth in 'Horse Soldiers' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  10. ^ a b Jr, Mike Fleming (February 3, 2017). "Rob Riggle To Play His Former Army Commander In 'Horse Soldiers'". Deadline. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  11. ^ a b c Symonds, Kristy (December 7, 2016). "Hemsworth's love spills on to screen". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  12. ^ a b c N'Duka, Amanda (November 14, 2016). "Austin Stowell Cast In 'Horse Soldiers'; Rahart Adams Boards 'Pacific Rim' Sequel". Deadline. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  13. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (November 15, 2016). "'Hacksaw Ridge's' Ben O'Toole Joins Chris Hemsworth in 'Horse Soldiers' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  14. ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (November 15, 2016). "'Horse Soldiers' Recruits Austin Hébert; 'Papillon' Remake Adds Nina Senicar". Deadline. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  15. ^ "Fahim Fazli with Chris Hemsworth "Horse soldiers"". Youtube. 22 December 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  16. ^ Jr, Mike Fleming (December 2, 2011). "Jerry Bruckheimer On The Pitch Circuit With Afghanistan War Tale 'Horse Soldiers'". Deadline. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  17. ^ Jaafar, Ali (March 29, 2016). "Jerry Bruckheimer Taps Nicolai Fuglsig To Direct Afghan War Pic 'Horse Soldiers' For Lionsgate". Deadline. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  18. ^ Turner, Scott (January 26, 2017). "Horse Soldiers to wrap up here". El Defensor Chieftain. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  19. ^ Turner, Scott (February 2, 2017). "Show biz booming: State pulls in film industry dollars". El Defensor Chieftain. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  20. ^ "'Horse Soldiers', starring Chris Hemsworth, is set to begin filming at New Mexico's White Sands National Monument, as well as at the Los Lunas Volcano in Los Lunas, from late January to early February". On Location Vacations. January 13, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  21. ^ ""Horse Soldiers" film still searching for extras". Las Cruces Sun-News. January 7, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  22. ^ "Movies That Have Featured Alaska Structures Military Systems". AKS Military. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  23. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 21, 2018). "January Slows As 'Jumanji' Takes No. 1 For 3rd Weekend With $19M To $20M; Older Guy Pics '12 Strong' & 'Den Of Thieves' In Mid-Teens". Deadline.com. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  24. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 28, 2018). "Fox Controls Close To 40% Of Weekend B.O. Led By 'Maze Runner' & Oscar Holdovers; 'Hostiles' Gallops Past $10M". Deadline.com. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  25. ^ "12 Strong (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  26. ^ "12 Strong reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  27. ^ Roeper, Richard (January 17, 2018). "The war horsemen ride to Afghanistan's rescue in cliché collection '12 Strong'". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  28. ^ Matt Bobkin (January 17, 2018). "12 Strong Review (2018)". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
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