Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Afghanistan. War correspondent Elsa Casanova is taken hostage by the Taliban. Faced with her imminent execution, a Special Forces unit is dispatched to free her. In some of the world’s most breathtaking yet hostile landscapes, a relentless pursuit begins between her kidnappers who have no intention of letting their prey escape them and a group of soldiers who risk their lives in pursuit of their single aim – to bring her home alive. This strong, independent woman and these men of duty are thrown together and forced to confront situations of great danger that inextricably bind them – emotionally, violently and intimately.
Special Forces (2011) is a competent but fairly formulaic French military action-thriller. Its plot follows a well-worn hostage-rescue template with few surprises, and its narrative beats are predictable. The acting is solid across the board, with Diane Kruger and Djimon Hounsou lending credibility to their roles. The film's standout quality is its cinematography — the rugged Afghan and Pakistani landscapes are captured with genuine grandeur and kinetic energy, giving the film a visceral, almost documentary-like quality. Novelty is low; the premise and execution follow genre conventions closely without offering a distinctly original perspective on the material. The ending is reasonably satisfying in its emotional payoff without being especially memorable or subversive.