Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Navid Negahban, Trevante Rhodes, Elsa Pataky, William Fichtner, Rob Riggle
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
War drama directed by Nicolai Fuglsig which is inspired by true events and is set days following 9/11 when a U.S. Special Forces team, led by their new Captain, Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth), is chosen to be the first U.S. troops sent into Afghanistan for an extremely dangerous mission.
There, in the rugged mountains, they must convince Northern Alliance General Dostum (Navid Negahban) to join forces with them to fight their common adversary: the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. In addition to overcoming mutual distrust and a vast cultural divide, the Americans, who are accustomed to state-of-the-art warfare, must adopt the rudimentary tactics of the Afghani horse soldiers. But despite their uneasy bond, the new allies face overwhelming odds, they are outnumbered and outgunned by a ruthless enemy that does not take prisoners.
Best Quotes (Total Quotes: 33)
Maddy Nelson: Are you taking me to school again?
Captain Mitch Nelson: Uh-huh, and picking you up.
Maddy Nelson: Daddy…
[Nelson turns as he hears about the attacks on the World Trade Center]
[referring to the military plane]
Special Forces Solider #1: What is that, part of some drill?
Sgt. First Class Ben Milo: That ain’t no drill.
Colonel Mulholland: Nineteen men attacked our country, the twelve of you will be the first ones to fight back.
Colonel Mulholland: The most important thing a man can take into combat is a reason why.
Captain Mitch Nelson: You’re in this fight, boys, you mark my words.
Captain Mitch Nelson: It’s us, we’re going in.
Colonel Mulholland: I would be remiss if I did not say to you, even in success, the odds of you coming home.
Captain Mitch Nelson: We’re a hundred percent, sir. We’re coming home.
Colonel Mulholland: [to Nelson] This is from the towers. You carry that with you.
Hal Spencer: How do you love your family and leave them to go to war?
Sam Diller: I have two hours, I’ll be really quick.
Lisa Diller: Not a chance. Holding out is the only way I can guarantee you come back to me.
Sam Diller: Sam Diller: War’s going to be over in a week.
Nelson’s Wife: [to Nelson] I don’t care how long you’re gone as long as you come back.
Captain Mitch Nelson: Every step we take is going to be a minefield from a hundred different wars. Odds are we’re not all going to make it out of this.
Hal Spencer: We’ve just been handed the most important mission in the free world.
Hal Spencer: If we don’t take that city The World Trade Center is just the beginning.
Captain Mitch Nelson: We’re teaming up with the general of the Northern Alliance that we know nothing about.
General Dostum: Why these men follow you?
Captain Mitch Nelson: Take me to the Taliban, I’ll show you.
General Dostum: Okay. We take horses.
Captain Mitch Nelson: General, can you show me exactly where we’re going?
General Dostum: One of the mountains, we take horses.
Captain Mitch Nelson: Alright, who’s ridden before, anyone?
Bill Bennett: Summer camp when I was nine.
Fred Falls: Cancun, Spring Break, but I was pretty hammered.
Captain Mitch Nelson: Great, this will be fun.
General Dostum: [to Nelson] Fifty thousand Al Qaeda fighters, and you’re just an army of twelve.
Captain Mitch Nelson: We’re outnumbered fifty thousand Taliban to Al Qaeda fighters. We’re on our own. I can’t order anyone to do this.
Hal Spencer: Do you want to surrender? Keep your finger on the trigger. Just stay there.
Captain Mitch Nelson: Chances are we are not going to make it out of this one. If we quit now what happened back home is going to happen again and again. It’s you who’s got to make this decision.
Sam Diller: Nothing I’d rather do.
Bill Bennett: I’m in.
Special Forces Solider #1: I thought you’d never ask.
Captain Mitch Nelson: There’s no playbook here, we’re going to have to write it ourselves.
Captain Mitch Nelson: I ain’t losing one man on this team.
Captain Mitch Nelson: We’re fighting with horsemen against tanks.
Lt. Colonel Bowers: Hold on, our boys are going to ride into battle on horseback?
General Dostum: The greatest weapon in history is this.
[he points to Nelson’s heart]
Hal Spencer: [to Nelson] If you die, that’s a letter you and your wife you wish you wrote.
[referring to his wife]
Captain Mitch Nelson: I made her a promise I’m coming home.
Captain Mitch Nelson: Where the hell did those come from?
Captain Mitch Nelson: Take out biggest guns first.
Sam Diller: I am your biggest gun, cap.
Captain Mitch Nelson: The only way home is winning.
Total Quotes: 33
What do you think of 12 Strong quotes? Let us know what you think in the comments below as we’d love to know.
Trailer:
The only way home is winning.
Usually, we go for a movie over a weekend as they are considered the best escape from your routine life. But if the title, your favorite actors and time permits, who would abide from grabbing a must watch? At least the freak like me would never.
12 Strong unveils with a fantastic plot, encapsulating for the war lovers, patriots and above all people who have the courage to dare and lead. Chris Hemsworth is a favorite of many and popular as the Thor man. We get to watch him into a new avatar, with heroism and daring attitude as he plays the character of captain Mitch Nelson. The story unfolds the fact that life is never a barren land where there is no opportunity. Indeed, at times you may not get the things moving in a way you assume them to be. But, surely you get a chance to prove your capabilities and that is where you need to pull yourself. In the movie, Chris often gets a setback while his peers get a go. But, he did not takes it as his defeat, he has been consistent in his approach to knack the opportunity and he wins. He becomes he captain of the troupe on his way to “mazar-e-sharif”, in Taliban.
The puns in the movie keep you in smiles at frequent intervals. And this makes it a little more interesting on several notes. Trevante Rodes who plays the funny yet emotional strong character of Ben Milo. His stunning performance with deep emotions for a child who struggles with the explosive hazards makes him outperform.
All the characters in the movie tried to do justice to their roles. But it was not quite well portrayed. Title says 12 Strong actually revolves around Mitch.
Cinematography of the film left a mark in many scenes. The “killer eyes” of Chris in the movie were well shot.
The freshness of the movie owes more to its characters than the story line.
The story relates with our own life’s reality where we need to take a decision with a stronger heart. Remember its now or never !
Rating: 4/5