Bravo Two Zero (1999)

Simply Perfect

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

A different way of telling a story

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This movie is one of the most realistic Military movies that I have ever seen. Of course there are the overly powerful grenades and M-72 Rocket Launchers, but other than small Hollywood type explosions this movie shows great detail about a military patrol from the weight of a Rucksack, to the drills used to break contact with the enemy, Section attacks, how to re-organize going into a defensive position. But what the movie captures the best is the interaction between the soldiers. For those of us who have been, or currently are, this movie captures the comradery, the sense of humour that is quite unique to the military, and most importantly the bond between each of us that drives us to not quit on each other.

It took the BBC to tell this gripping story honestly and with authenticity. And what a story. As the Gulf War got underway in early 1991 an eight-man SAS patrol was dropped behind Iraqi lines. Its mission: destroy mobile Scud missile launchers and the lines that carried instructions from their crews.History shows how it all went wrong. Their communications equipment failed. The weather closed in. They were discovered and fought a series of running battles with overwhelming Iraqi forces. Finally half the patrol was captured and endured weeks of torture and interrogation at the hands of the Iraqi secret police in Baghdad.The story of Bravo Two Zero - the patrol's call sign and the title of this terrific British television movie - puts most Hollywood movies to shame. It is a story of courage, resilience, guile, resourcefulness and black humour. It also offers up a fascinating insight into the workings of Britain's special forces and the reality of the Gulf War.There are those who consider the film one-sided, and it is. What war film isn't? How much objectivity goes into the average war film? The answer: precious little. Bravo Two Zero is based on the book by Andy McNab, the SAS sergeant who led the patrol. Consequently it tells the tale from his point of view. But McNab doesn't come out of this a whiter-than-white superhero. He makes mistakes. He is human, fallible and, locked in a Baghdad prison, frightened out of his wits. For Sean Bean, it was the type of gritty, realistic and believable role that most actors would kill for. Throw in the authenticity of the soldiers' kit, jargon and reactions under fire - they were trained by real soldiers while McNab himself was the film's on-set consultant - and Bravo Two Zero leaps to the top spot in the (albeit limited) annals of Gulf War movies.And the Iraqis? They are depicted as McNab saw them: peasant farmers, ill-equipped and poorly trained conscripts, goat herders, grieving parents and, occasionally, gentleman officers.There is no agenda to Bravo Two Zero. Instead it seeks to present a soldier's story. And while there is another side to the story - patrol survivor Chris Ryan, who was separated from his comrades and fought his way across Iraq to the Syrian border, and freedom, also wrote an account - this is simply one man's version of events. McNab presents it as he saw it: a botched mission, eight desperate men, a series of bloody firefights and skirmishes, capture and torture and, finally, repatriation.If the Iraqis come across as thuggish, brutal, dim and sadistic, then history has shown that Saddam Hussein's regime was built on such people. That was McNab's experience, and Bravo Two Zero puts it on screen.What the film does not seek to do is present McNab and his patrol as trigger-happy killing machines. When they are spotted by an Iraqi child they spare his life rather than kill him to ensure his silence. As McNab says, it's a matter of common sense: kill a child and they will eventually face the wrath of the Iraqi people if they are caught. And, he adds: "We're not into that anyway".Compromised by an elderly shepherd, they talk to him, make friends and let him live. On the outskirts of Baghdad the patrol hijacks a taxi. They spare the occupants. Consider this: would the average Saddam Hussein loyalist have done the same to an elderly Yank or Brit? Bravo Two Zero is a superb document of a military debacle. It shows how professional soldiers, caught in a disaster, try to fight their way out. As soldiers, that's their job. And they do it exceptionally well. As the motto goes: Who Dares Wins. McNab and his men dared. Bravo Two Zero is a magnificent tribute to them.

As a soldier and something of a war movie buff, it's refreshing to see a good story turned into a film that doesn't add the Hollywood effect of lack of realism. Bravo Two Zero tells the story of a Special Air Service patrol in Iraq during the Gulf War as realistically as possible, right down to the amount of gear they lug and what difficulties lie in tactical operations.Having "Andy McNab" as a military advisor seems to have paid off in spades, as everything you see in the movie is how it really works, down to the textbook section attack they execute against the Iraqis.If you haven't read the book, do so. Then read Chris Ryan's "The One That Got Away", which tells his side of the story. Then read Peter Ratcliffe's "Eye of the Storm" and Michael Asher's "The Real Bravo Two Zero" and decide how much of the tale you actually believe. Worth a look.

As a fan of both Sean Bean and Andy McNab, I can say that this is one of the best adaptations of a true war story I've ever seen. It captures the essence of the men without dramatizing the plot. From what I've read, as far as McNab's book and declassified documents, everything is as it was.