As a film I felt it was excellent, a worthy successor to Kathryn Bigelow's last one in terms of how it held my interest. Despite all the mud being slung back in forth in the media by the involved parties in the film (gov't, CIA, Military, Film production team etc), I think it is a great piece of work and a superb way to kick off 2013 for the motion picture industry. The final few scenes in the building really match up to what the SEAL's who were there wrote in their books regarding the incident...I appreciated the film makers really focusing on the final seconds they way they did, and that they strove to make at least that part of their film match up to what the public has been told be the operators who actually did it. As for the rest, who cares, it is quite entertaining, gripping, and moving. 9.5/10 from me, and a 10/10 from the wife (girl power theme won her over).
Kathryn Bigelow is my kind of woman. She has an insatiable interest in the military and the men and women who make it work, and has made several excellent films on various subjects now. If you haven't seen K19 The Widowmaker in a while, go back and re watch it now, it's on Netflix in most countries. I hadn't watched it in years until recently what with all the hype over Bigelow and this new movie. It ranks as probably the best submarine movie I've seen, right up there with Hunt for Red October, and blows Crimson Tide out of the water. It's probably in my top 5 cold war themed films as well. Also, Point Break, Bigelow's "breakout" movie, is incredible even today still, a timeless movie that could have been released last week and still look current. Gary Busey, Keanu when he was actually interesting still, and Patrick Swayze may he rest in peace....superb film.
