Bravo Two Zero (1999)

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A different way of telling a story

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Cheap-as-chips BBC war movie is hopeless from the start thanks to a ludicrous lack of realism, despite McNab's presence as military adviser behind the scenes. It strikes me that the excellent book by McNab was only skimmed superficially and then filmed, and certainly this television film barely resembles the riveting book which inspired it. In fact the only good thing about the whole production is Sean Bean's casting as McNab, once again Bean puts in a bravura performance, and his convincing turn here is the only nugget of gold in a whole mess of a production.I reckon the BBC blew their budget on location filming in South Africa and the SAS training undertaken by the crew; everything does look cheap here, and for a film in which the effect largely depends on the realism, that isn't great. When the film can't even show you the guys getting out of the helicopter you wonder what you're in for. The African locations only barely resemble the original Iraqi landscape, for a start its far too flat and the BBC just didn't have to money to portray convincing below-zero temperates and unexpected snowfall. The camera cuts in close and stays close to the actors' faces, giving a claustrophobic feel even in the desert scenes, and something has definitely got to be wrong with that.For some reason, Vince, Legs and Bob (the three who did not survive the mission) have their names changed to Ray, Baz and Tony, but seeing as they are named properly in the book you wonder just who this is protecting. The rest of the cast don't get much of a look in, but the characters don't come across at all and the actors are crap – Stan is portrayed as an idiot, Vince is played by a 16-stone guy who would never even some close to passing the selection process, and Chris is some long-haired chap, completely self-obsessed and arrogant. There are a couple of decent action sequences in the movie, done well on a low budget, with plenty of shooting and explosions, and I was glad that the film didn't shy away from the more gruesome and disgusting moments (like when Andy has to eat excrement). But because of length, whole swathes of plot and important detail is just cut out, leaving a choppy, poorly-edited mess of a film.Lastly, the thing that really got to me was the lack of realism displayed here, in comparison to the book. I know it's a film and you have to hear what's going on, but having the characters shouting to each other whilst hiding in the wadi is just plain dumb; did the producers forget this was a covert mission, covert meaning stealth, not shouting like you're at a football match? There are other ludicrous moments like when we see Chris walking down a paved road to freedom, hmm, lucky he didn't get captured then, I thought he went cross-country necessarily to avoid being spotted. The biggest and most laughable flaw has to be Andy and his mates eating a bag of boiled sweets in the prison; I found that watching Bean crunching away on a sugary bit of confectionery, after reading in the book how McNab had his teeth smashed out so that it was painful to even breathe, simply and astoundingly inept.

After I read the book I was so eager to watch the movie... I must say that I was rather disappointed with the movie. Not because it was low budget, but it seemed to leave out too much of the emotion that I felt in the book. While reading I could really feel the pain and suffering they were going through. I wanted to connect with the characters more in the movie, i suppose it is also down to budget, time etc, but i would have liked to get deeper into the minds of the soldiers, and see how they were effected mentally, challenged physically and how they needed each other to survive. The book shows this well, the movie not so much. Andy McNab is a badass, looking forward to reading his other books.

Based on the book of the same name by Andy McNab, a pseudonym for the squad leader of a real life, ill-fated SAS patrol during the Gulf War, Bravo Two Zero tells the story of several soldiers stuck behind enemy lines. They're outnumbered, hopelessly ill-equipped, and surrounded by the Iraqi army, conveniently standing in the way of their extraction point. Patrol leader Andy McNab (Sean Bean) elects to go to Plan B, make a 160 km trek to the Syrian border through the freezing desert as Iraqi forces close in. What ensues is a desperate struggle for survival. The group gets split up, frost bite sets in, skirmishes transpire... It's a story of heroism and courage. But it's more than that. We also see how these men are only human, how in spite of their bravery they make a series of significant, occasionally deadly mistakes. Many claim McNab changed or exaggerated parts of the story to save face and look good, but I'm mostly indifferent to the controversy. Whether or not parts were fabricated or the enemy kill count was embellished, the movie as it stands is a terrific modern warfare film boasting realistic tactics, believable characters, and the depiction of an immeasurable will to survive. 9/10

I am American. My biggest complaint with this film is that the actors all speak with British accents. Now, that is authentic, of course. After all, the real men were British. However, a lot of the talking seems mumbled, and probably slangy and often with background noise (helicopter rotors, for instance, or vehicles) occurring simultaneously. Even with a loud sound setting and multiple views, I still could not figure out some of the dialogue.Also, except for Sean Bean, I couldn't keep track of who was who, although I guess that really doesn't matter. But toward the end, several of the men are in highly disheveled states with dirt, blood and everything else all over their faces and again, except for Sean Bean, it is nearly impossible to differentiate them for one another.On the good side, the combat seemed well done and authentic.Despite not understanding what was being said, the film still managed to hold my attention - probably because I already had a basic understanding of the plot.