Special Forces

Tears of the Sun in the French style - even the unit commander is rough and bald (not Bruce Willis, but rather Djimon Hounsou). The first hour is full of quite well shot and gripping shootouts, the members of the unit have plenty of sarcasm and poke fun at each other, and the Taliban are not outright scary, but they do at least command respect. The second half, with the trudge through the Hindu Kush, during which it is fortunately (for the viewer) revealed that the armed tough guys are not nearly as immortal as they pretend, is sensational too, though in a very different way. Diane Kruger was excellent, even more beautiful than usual without make-up. (2013-03-28)

Part of French cinema has always admired overseas production and clearly drew inspiration from Hollywood and its commercial trends. Some films simply cannot deny their ambition to catch up with and surpass their models, and Special Forces clearly draws from American patriotic and militarism-saturated films about perfect war professionals who love their country and are always willing to stand up against overwhelming odds to save democracy, innocent orphans, or fragile women. I don't think this fairytale is, in fact, not offensive because its dullness did disturb me a bit and I considered it a perfect waste of time in the end - and I certainly didn't have high expectations. It's a dull shooter saturated with sentiment and, above all, an enormous amount of pathos, and it's poorly shot and edited with distinctly black-and-white characters. It takes itself deadly seriously, while the only chance to sell this abomination would be to lighten it up because it truly cannot be taken seriously. I didn't like the Rambo films even when I was a teen, and over the years, that feeling only intensified. Overall impression: 10%, mainly for the presence of Diane Kruger. (2018-02-10)

A film about how it's good to save one person, even if it means many others might die in the process, just to save that one. Does such an action really make sense? Apparently so, although I'm not really sure what the point is. Could it be Diane Kruger's beauty? The film didn't provide an answer, so the only thing to appreciate is the good action scenes, which however only involve a few people; otherwise, it wouldn't have been manageable. (2016-12-07)

A decent war film with Taliban starring a likeable Diane Kruger and the cool Djimon Hounsou. France has shown it can handle this genre too and it's not too different from an American production. There's quite a lot of shooting, but it bothered me that the film isn't R-rated and the shootouts aren't that exciting. But the second half switches more into survival and that also decided the final four stars. 70% (2017-11-08)

And they say that the French can only wave the white flag. There were moments when I was willing to give a full four stars to this purely male spectacle, which sells all the clichés, plot crutches, and predictable situations with such irresistible guilelessness. However, there are just too many moments when you put your hand on your heart and know that it's just a tad higher in intelligence than an episode of "Call of Duty." It is not the poor man’s version of The Way Back, but as a promising debut from a promising director, I have no objections. 3 ½, thumbs up, and if you're encumbered by genre, go for it. (2012-02-08)