12 Strong (2018)
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A team of U.S. Army Special Forces must navigate a perilous mission in Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks.
The story
On September 11, 2001, as news of devastating terrorist attacks breaks, Captain Mitch Nelson and his elite team of Green Berets, ODA 595, volunteer for a high-stakes mission in Afghanistan. They are tasked with supporting the Northern Alliance in the push toward Mazar-i-Sharif. The team is inserted covertly and must coordinate with local forces while navigating the complexities of a brutal conflict against the Taliban. Amidst the chaos of the early days of the war, the soldiers must balance their military objectives with the unpredictable nature of their allies and the harsh reality of the terrain.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Following the September 11 attacks, Captain Mitch Nelson leads ODA 595 into Afghanistan to join forces with Northern Alliance leader Abdul Rashid Dostum. The team is split to cover different areas, with some staying in a fortified camp while others move toward Mazar-i-Sharif. Nelson and Dostum initially struggle with mutual distrust but eventually form a bond while fighting the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. After a period of cooperation, a political rift occurs when it is revealed that another U.S. unit is supporting Dostum's rival, leading Dostum to temporarily abandon the Americans. Left behind, ODA 595 faces a massive force of enemies and is nearly overwhelmed until Dostum returns with his forces for a cavalry charge. They successfully defeat the opposition and Dostum kills the brutal leader Mullah Razzan. Despite a final confrontation with a rival leader at Mazar-i-Sharif, the mission is successful. All twelve members of ODA 595 survive and return home after 23 days of continuous fighting.
- Original title
- 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers
- First release year
- 2018
- Runtime (minutes)
- 129
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Nicolai Fuglsig
- Writers
- Ted Tally · writer; Peter Craig · writer
- Cast and characters
- Chris Hemsworth · Captain Mitch Nelson; Michael Shannon · Chief Warrant Officer Hal Spencer; Michael Peña · Sergeant First Class Sam Diller; Navid Negahban · General A. R. Dostum; Trevante Rhodes · Sergeant First Class Ben Milo; Geoff Stults · Sean Coffers; Thad Luckinbill · Vern Michaels; Ben O'Toole · Scott Black; William Fichtner · Colonel John F. Mulholland; Rob Riggle · Lt. Colonel Max Bowers
- Genres
- action; war
- Tone and mood
- serious; intense
- Premise and plot tags
- military; historical; action
- Source material / true-story basis
- Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the cast and action but criticized the by-the-numbers execution and lack of insight of the War in Afghanistan.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 54 · scale: 100 · review count: 43; CinemaScore · score: A · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 81% · scale: percentage
- Production trivia
- The film was shot in New Mexico using real locations like White Sands National Monument.; The production used 20 structures leased from a private manufacturer for military encampments.; The real-life General Dostum became Vice President of Afghanistan in 2014.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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