Zero Dark Thirty

[Pat]

Over the weekend, I went and saw Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow’s thriller about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It is one very intense film and an absolute must see. It is incredibly well done in the telling, acting and action. While certainly not for family viewing, I guarantee it will make an impression regardless of your political persuasion.

 

[Chris]

Glad to hear it is a must see. I'm planning on going in a few weeks when the crowds die down a little.

Did you feel there were any parts that revealed too much information or gave away any secrets? It seems like a story like this would normally come out 10 yrs afterwards and not be so close to the actual event.

 

[Pat]

It's hard to say whether they really gave anything away that wasn't already known, especially since the publication of "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden" by former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette, who published the book under the name “Mark Owen.
The interrogation process is very intense and it certainly isn't what the government would like the general population to think they do or did. But it is consistent with what I've read.
They are also open about some of the mistakes the CIA has made.
The movie producers deliberately misrepresented details about the CIA agent's personal histories (e.g. the CIA doesn't recruit analysts out of high school) but you can pretty easily trace some historical events to characters in the film such as the Camp Chapman attack. Director Kathryn Bigelow has stated that she “went to great lengths” not to identify those in the movie on which the characters are based, including not casting people who look like them. Others are public figures or agents whose true identities have already been revealed, but the film still declines to refer to these characters by their full real names. The stealth helicopter is what my guess what one would look like based on other covert craft but who knows?

 

[Randy V]

Sounds like an interesting movie. I would be curious to know how much license they took with the actual story and how much was pure drama...

Glad to hear it is a must see. I'm planning on going in a few weeks when the crowds die down a little.

Did you feel there were any parts that revealed too much information or gave away any secrets? It seems like a story like this would normally come out 10 yrs afterwards and not be so close to the actual event.

A number of years ago, the CIA and NSA (as I recall) had a little chat with author Tom Clancy as his stories were speaking of things that were held in highest confidence and were possibly too close to the truth in terms of capabilities etc.. This was about the time that he released The Hunt for the Red October.. It would seem that sometimes writer's imaginations are either predictions come true or very close to reality... :lipsrsealed:

 

[Chris]

Very interesting. There is an author named Brad Meltzer who used to have a show on the History channel (Decoded). I believe after 9/11, he was asked to be on a panel with other creative minds to brainstorm over possible future attacks on the U.S. I wonder what they came up with.