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13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
A (INDIA)
2016
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13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Positive Reviews
89
Negative reviews
47
Average Rating
2.7
/5
ridiculous
patriotic
exhausting
american
All
Positive
Negative
2.8
On an ideological level, the movie is an ode to doing it for the money; in Bays brand of filmmaking, theres nothing more American.
Av Club
1.5
When he forgets to laugh at himself, hes thunderously uninspired.
Den Of Geek
2.5
The majority of 13 Hours exhausting 144 minute runtime is spent watching a squad of ex special operatives blow away enemy combatants, with on the move ..
We Got This Covered
2.5
A weird mix of pseudo jingoism and Bays usual bombastic firepower, 13 Days ends up being a straight up war film without an actual war in it.
Austin Chronicle
3.0
Michael Bay loses the robots and comes up with an unexpectedly effective real life war film.
Time Out
2.5
Yet for all the sound and fury, this almost feels like a personal film for Bay.
Screen Daily
3.5
The fire fights are bloody and will get you right in the gut.No effort is spared in depicting the realities of a prolonged gun battle spread out over ..
ETimes (TOI)
3.5
But the Obama administration copped to getting that wrong once its own investigative committee did its job a long time ago.
Vulture
1.3
Scotts film chronicled the horrors of what happened, the heroism of those that fought and the combination of mistakes, misjudgments and plain bad luck ..
Rogerebert
3.0
These are actual people and not just sounding boards for CGI robots in disguise or dull action heroes along for the ride.
IGN
3.0
Its possible to abhor the films mounting skill, especially for the way it casually blows Arab bodies to smithereens while treating every one of its so ..
Telegraph
1.0
But 13 Hours demonstrates a new low in Bays ability to command cinematic grammar.
The Young Folks
3.0
As such, we jump headlong with them on this ride knowing as much as they do about whats going on.This makes one of the most overused tropes of modern ..
Cinema Blend
4.0
Not everyone makes it out alive, as reported at the time.And while theres no overt agenda or politicizing, one cant watch 13 Hours and wonder where wa ..
Ny Daily News
3.5
For the most part, this is a straightforward action adventure and as such should be palatable to a relatively broad audience.The atypical action cast ..
JoBlo
2.5
Indeed, 13 Hours is more mature than most of Bays recent work solely because the bar has been set so low; thus, while some filmgoers will enjoy 13 Hou ..
Screen Rant
2.5
Trust Hollywood to turn the notorious Benghazi into the occasion for much American heroism.
The Globe And Mail
3.1
That may be how the Marine Corps veteran looks at it, and it may be how Bay the subtle craftsman behind the Transformers franchise and the testosteron ..
Philly
3.5
The fire fights are bloody and will get you right in the gut.No effort is spared in depicting the realities of a prolonged gun battle spread out over ..
2.5
Brash, loud, corny and especially toward the close cheesy in its use of special effects, represents a sincere effort to be true to the facts that unfo ..
One Guys Opinion
2.5
Action auteur Michael Bay handles the Battle of Benghazi like the political hot potato it is, turning this tale of the attacks on US facilities there ..
Rogers Movie Nation
2.5
10 1 5 / 10 The last time director Michael Bay lunged for legitimacy, he unleashed 2001s Pearl Harbor on the world, laboring to locate the fine line b ..
Blu Ray
3.0
Theres a concerted effort to depoliticize the storyneither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton is mentionedbut the movie will find a warm welcome in the ..
Chicago Reader
3.1
Hogans screenplay omits vital context ... and Bays typical style of visual overload ... does no favors for the logistics of what is happening.
Mark Reviews Movies
3.1
CLOSE The true story of the 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Libya that left an American ambassador dead.VPC John Krasinski stars as an ex military s ..
Usa Today
3.0
take some of the most ridiculous dialogue and make it believable.
You Tube
1.0
Yep, Michael Bay, the testosterone fuelled synapse splitting director of the Transformers franchise, turns his attention to the Middle East and this i ..
The Times
3.5
Laramie Movie Scope: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Soldiers versus bureaucrats by Robert Roten, Film Critic January 19, 2016 There have be ..
Lariat
3.5
Like a lot of war movies, this one doesnt have a purpose beyond thrilling us with bloody combat and brave heroism, no themes deeper than we have to ki ..
Eric Ds Nider
3.0
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is Bays best film yet.Is it the great film this true story deserves
News Review
3.0
Aside from mawkish family flashbacks, this wonky tribute to heroic courage works best when being visually dynamic and brutally immersive in its sensat ..
Radio Times
3.0
Bays good at helming spectacle, but this sort of film needs more heart than its given.
Screen It
2.0
Its undeniably spectacular in its own juddering, pyrotechnical, Armageddon ish fashion, but its also a film that leads a very rancid taste.
Independent
1.0
But this one does so by reducing everything else to cardboard, its Libyan villains merely faceless aliens in need of vanquishing.
Rolling Stone
2.0
The Nature of Imitation is the sound of Dorian Concept systematically deconstructing various genres, stripping them back to the bones underneath and t ..
Pop Matters
2.3
But as bombastic, shoot em up spectacle, 13 Hours is a visceral, well paced and often beautiful action thriller.
The Wrap
2.5
Here, Bays action sequences are as riveting and technically beautiful as ever, but his reductive worldview is also on display.
News Day
3.2
For many movie critics, Michael Bay, the director of the Transformers movies and Pearl Harbor, is Public Enemy No. 1 the auteur you love to hate.I don ..
Cs Monitor
2.5
That sound you hear while exiting the theatre as 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi rumbles to a finish is something like relief.Because the la ..
Film Journal
2.5
But it doesnt even come close.It has none of the gritty realism of Ridley Scotts film.
Hindustan Times
2.0
For the most part, Bay seems to be aiming for the nihilism of Ridley Scotts Black Hawk Down, which effectively conveyed the chaos of its real life sub ..
The Guardian
2.0
The title should give you some idea of how long this two and a half hour film really feels.Actually, watching it is like playing Call of Duty for 72 h ..
The Guardian
1.0
Abhorrent politics aside, its also a terrible movie.The dialogue is atrocious, the performances rote.
The Guardian
3.0
Its when bullets fly that Bay is at his best. He stages the battles well, and builds tension effectively and at times inventively.
Az Central
2.0
Also in accordance with genre convention is the portrayal of the Islamic militants as an anonymous horde with no motivations worthy of scrutiny.
Smh
1.0
It is a film filled with noise and firepower and shameless bombast.
Mountain X
2.5
Its the faintest of praise to call 13 Hours one of Bays best works, given a resume dominated by Transformers movies, but his narrow perspective and fi ..
Npr
2.5
The films limited focus is in some ways a good thing.All it looks at is the fog of war.
Star Tribune
3.0
With all that smoke swirling around our six heroes, all bearded, all muscle bound, its almost impossible to tell them apart. So which of them died was ..
Daily Mail
2.8
Theres a real story of American heroism somewhere in here, but its diluted by Bays worst tendencies.
Ew
5.0
The result, much to my surprise, is one of the most politically astute films about Americas foreign politics in years, purely on the strength of what ..
Slate
1.0
Sadly, the real life women involved in this situation are all but ignored.
Flim List
3.0
Bay squanders the potential to explore the nuances of a politically sensitive issue and instead descends into a gruesome display of war porn.
Empire
2.0
Problem is: while this $50 million thriller allegedly relates the attack on the diplomatic compound in Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christophe ..
Susang Ranger
3.0
13 Hours is the kind of film thats entertaining for sure, but its likely to upset you in any number of ways.
Movies
2.5
Its long, downright dispiriting, enjoyable only sometimes, and yet theres a feeling of authenticity.Its neither bad nor good, but interesting.
Sf Gate
2.5
Despite its incoherent editing and overall dubiousness, 13 Hours reveals Bay in relatively more mature form than ever.
Slant Magazine
1.5
However, as far as bucks for bangs goes, 13 Hours doesnt disappoint.
The New Indian Express
3.1
As an action film, it is intense and gripping.As a drama, it is bombastic and unsubtle.
Washington Post
2.5
Mr. Bay likes to go bold and likes to go bonkers, fattening his often outrageous material with crazed visual strokes and thunderous explosions, helter ..
The New York Times
2.8
Dion Beebe lensed the film, and a slick veneer of grime is the prevailing visual aesthetic of 13 Hours.
The Film Stage
3.1
Bays latest is a mixed up blend of truth and distortion.Parts of it deliver a punch, and a jolt, and ripples of earnest (and even complicated) emotion ..
Chicago Tribune
3.1
This could go interesting places if a filmmaker with more brains than brawn were involved.
Boston Globe
2.8
Laura: Well, this ones sure to cause a lot of controversy, just like the tragedy itself.
Reeling Reviews
3.5
Its a movie that, all things being equal, is probably less corny and ridiculous than Lone Survivor or American Sniper.
Uproxx
1.5
This is not propagandizing America but rather a tiny slice of America, the slice that recognizes gun toting anything and for profit everything as the ..
Flickfilosopher
1.0
That makes as much sense as anything else in the movie.Unsurprisingly, survivors of the incidents depicted have dismissed the film as utter nonsense.
The Irish Times
2.8
But no one actor truly gets to shine as all are overwhelmed by Bays style.
Blogs Indie Wire
2.5
But like other recent true story inspired military action movies (American Sniper, Lone Survivor, Act of Valor), 13 Hours has a tone of such extreme h ..
Las Vegas Weekly
3.8
The movie is imperfect and overlong but its never boring. And, although aspects of its factual accuracy can be called into question, it does a decent ..
ReelViews
2.5
Unlike American Sniper, this film doesnt bring up, much less explore, the tension within many men between the lure of danger and excitement and the lo ..
Hollywood Reporter
2.5
Amid the action, there are touches of bleak humor from the ensemble, who are uniformly solid, macho, and very bearded, but theres little sense of huma ..
The Atlantic
4.5
It is a hard 2+ hours to sit through, knowing what we know, but it never lags for a second.What makes it more gripping than watching a Batman movie is ..
Tony Medley
3.5
The film wants us to feel, as one of the men they protect says, Im proud to know Americans like you, but were never really given the opportunity.
Los Angeles Times
2.5
The emotional component is cheapened, at least partially, inserting a level of bad taste into the proceedings I found difficult to get past.
Movie Freak
3.2
Michael Bay takes on the 2012 Benghazi attack but is only interested in flag waving, not finger pointing James Badge Dale plays Tyrone Rone Woods in 1 ..
Detroit News
2.5
He may not have made a remotely great or definitive movie about Benghazi, but hes surely earned a few points for good behavior.
Variety
2.5
Bay takes a serious, divisive piece of recent history and weirdly turns it into escapist entertainment.
Aisle Seat
3.5
n excellent film and Michael Bays finest achievement. ...o matter your party affiliation you will probably find it to be compelling and emotionally en ..
Forbes
3.0
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is a thrilling and intense action thriller that hides its politics in plain sight.
Forbes
3.0
If youve already written off this filmmaker for previous cinematic crimes committed in his name (Pearl Harbor, the Transformers series), then so be it ..
Herald Sun
0.5
Bay employs jump scares and an unhealthy sense of paranoia in simplifying true combat into an us vs them harangue.13 Hours has hate in its heart.
Consequence Of Sound
0.0
There are many sequences in the movie that feel as though they couldve either been seriously edited down or eliminated altogether, and as a result, Ba ..
Reel Film
2.0
That said, the finale is touching in parts, as Bay manages to remain on the right side of sentimentality.
Hey U Guys
2.5
The restraint is laudable but in dramatic terms, 13 Hours is almost as vacant as most of Bays films.
The Star
3.5
The challenge for Michael Bay was to make a compelling drama from a story whose ending is neither Hollywood happy nor unknown.
Urban Cine File
1.0
Based on Mitchell Zuckoffs book of the same title, Michael Bays (Transformers) celluloid adaptation is as ideologically facile as one might expect it ..
Film Ink
3.5
Political grandstanding aside, 13 Hours is a capable action thriller full of explosive action, charismatic performances, and outsized tension.
Ner Dist
3.5
13 Hours is not a political film, but will be treated as such by those with an agenda.
Maki At The Movies
2.5
To Bays credit, the director doesnt.Though Lone Survivor and American Sniper teetered into propaganda, 13 Hours is adamantly apolitical unless you thi ..
La Weekly
3.0
Visceral and energetic it may be, but thoughtful and intelligent it most certainly is not.
Mirror
3.8
As it turned out, democracy doesnt arise from long distance best wishes.
New York Post
2.0
This is a wearily familiar cliche in war movies, but the reliance on such hackneyed emotional ground only points up the spiritual vacuum at the heart ..
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
1.0
But even as a visual spectacle, theres little in 13 Hours that manages to make what is essentially a protracted gun fight over a big wall feel urgent ..
Lw Lies
2.0
But forget any talk of this thriller transforming the Transformers mans reputation for explosive spectacle, rather than nuanced drama: 13 Hours is a f ..
Digital Spy
2.0
As a result, the film feels epic and beefy, but is impossible to engage with.
Contact Music
2.5
Instead, Benghazi is just a framework to find actors buffed up and breathing heavy while explosions and shaky cam cinematography measure out the mayhe ..
Film Racket
2.5
Bay chooses instead to just barrel heedlessly through the rubble, shooting off as many red, white, and blue fireworks as he can. Any illumination they ..
Vanity Fair
5.0
Its a Hollywood action spectacular, with all the cinematic firepower of the genre, that also lays claim to quasi documentary status: This is a true st ..
Wsj
2.0
Is it a surprise to find this in an action film that seeks to give its viewer the experience of a first person shooter video game
Killer Movie Reviews
2.5
Theres plenty to cheer about and nothing really to reflect upon or celebrate. Save for the fact that, Bay had good intentions while making this movie ..
FilmFare
4.0
Bay seems enraged by the military industrial complex youd expect him to embrace. It feels like a major tipping point. It also still feels like a Micha ..
The Filmy Ap
1.5
But while it celebrates American heroes, 13 Hours is not that movie.
Patriot Ledger
3.0
Director Michael Bay is best known for making films that feature massive explosions and little else.13 Hours contains a lot of those, but this time th ..
Scmp
3.2
Given the focus is on battle sequences as opposed to character development, the 144 minute running time feels unnecessary. Fans of Michael Bay may thi ..
The Film Pie
4.0
Youre Next is a much more satisfying horror/thriller about intruders that also piles on twists, but in a way thats fun, clever and inventive.
Nyc Movie Guru
1.0
This kind of work requires an almost transcendental level of moral clarity.
Straight
1.0
It stinks to be a soldier (especially when you get left hanging).
Sandiego Reader
3.5
David Ayers semi recent Fury stands above all, but Bays entry is no slouch, confidently telling a mostly true story in a visually appealing, frequentl ..
Cinemix Tape
3.5
There are some fun moments between the characters and a lot of humor.
ComingSoon
2.0
Instead, this is just another excuse for the director to have fun playing with many loud explosions.
Straits Times
1.0
Its about how to portray a real life tragedy without turning it into another explode y action blockbuster.
Metro New York
5.0
13 Hours is one combat movie that doesnt blinkand it doesnt gloat, either.Like Ridley Scotts Black Hawk Down, its the rare contemporary war film in wh ..
Film Comment
4.0
Yes, its still patriotic explosions but Michael Bay has matured, Benghazi showing a more nuanced and balanced perspective from the bombastic director.
One Room With A View
1.0
Even taken purely on those terms, its still garbage punishingly paced, flimsily constructed, tackily executed with the subtlety and panache of a third ..
Flavor Wire
3.1
Bays Benghazi a patriotic mix of horror, video game devices hello TV comedy actor John Krasinski beefs up to play a CIA contractor in Michael Bays act ..
Daily Herald
2.0
But at least the circumstances of the real life story and the fact that John Krasinskis beard provides genuine heart throughout it all means that the ..
The Shiz Nit
2.5
13 Hours is exhausting and overblown and yet it feels sincere, and its not bad in its construct.
Crave Online
2.5
Theres been plenty of public sneering about the idea of Michael Bay, director of the Bad Boys and the Transformers films, bringing his semi coherent s ..
The Verge
2.5
Bays frenetic action sequences are terrifying and dizzying, even if choppy editing makes the chaos unintelligible.
The Daily Beast
4.0
But if 13 Hours must ultimately be deemed a failure, its because its not a particularly efficient thriller or action flick.
The Ooh Tray
3.0
Bay view of the military is blatantly sentimental... Yet when it comes to the combat scenes, and to the nerve shredding suspense sequences leading up ..
What So
2.5
The movie doesnt rise to the level of Zero Dark Thirty or American Sniperits short on character exploration, among other thingsbut its more than run o ..
reason
2.5
Bay knows how to do action, and unlike the Transformers movies, 13 Hours doesnt look like it was shot inside a trash compactor.It actually has a kind ..
Lainey Gossip
2.5
13 Hours is a good Michael Bay movie but its still a Michael Bay movie.If youre capable of indulgently rolling your eyes through the Bay ish bits, you ..
The Mary Sue
2.0
As any film from the firecracker guru, Bay sells every gunshot with kinetic style.
Fresh Fiction
4.0
Its not always an easy movie to watch, but it is certainly one that is worth watching.
Fat Guys At The Movies
3.2
Michael Bay might be a corrosive, destructive influence on our national characterthere are times in his movies in which I have legitimately wondered i ..
New Republic
3.2
This is a straight up action spectacle, and Bay delivers the goods in that regard.
From The Balcony
2.5
Mind you, Michael Bay is no Clint Eastwood or, if you like, Eastwood is no Bay.
National Post
2.0
Synopsis When a vulnerable US compound in the bandit Libyan port of Benghazi is attacked by insurgent militias, the only hope of extracting the Americ ..
Sky
2.5
There could be a better movie buried somewhere under this confused and confusing compromise and theres certainly a more important story but Bay hasnt ..
Winnipeg Free Press
1.0
Michael Bay may well have intended to make a film that simply celebrates the heroism of the US soldiers it depicts, and to an extent he has done th at ..
Fan The Fire Magazine
4.5
War is scary as hell and the cast makes sure that mask of horror is front and center.
Media Mikes
3.0
But this is a ham fisted slice of pro American story telling that manages to escape the overtly political underpinnings.
Daily Film Fix
3.5
Will film professors laud it as an example of exquisite filmmaking No. Will there be scuffed DVDs of it in Navy SEAL, Delta Force, and Marine lockers ..
Theepoch Times
3.0
Krasinski convincingly makes the transition from class clown to gritty soldier; Dale proves yet again why hes one of the best character actors working ..
Blog Bullz Eye
4.4
Its like Michael Bay realized the stakes are so much higher with 13 Hours than simply bringing cool toys to life. And he channeled his gifts appropria ..
Hollywood Into To
3.8
This is an important story that deserved to be on the big screen and fortunately for us, Bay has done it justice in this strong drama.
Johnhanlon Reviews
3.0
The film, while not without its share of real flaws, certainly offers something more than the usual big dumb Bay business.
3.0
Finally, Bay pauses for thoughtful reflection; appraising the body count of the attacking force and the bloody grief of wives, mothers and families st ..
Graffiti With Punctuation
3.4
13 Hours is a ripe action movie and a messy portrait of American fighters.
Thril List
2.5
And while its not on par with either of those movies, it is more thought provoking than the straight up chest pounding of Lone Survivor, the Taliban h ..
Cambridge Day
3.5
Its sobering in its relentless details and single minded in its purpose.
Honey Cutts Hollywood
2.5
But while it celebrates American heroes, 13 Hours is not that movie.
Review Journal
2.5
Could have been a fascinating and timely study of men juggling their jobs with complicated families lives but instead it is just another Michael Bay m ..
Richard Crouse
3.1
But that doesnt mean that the film isnt, by its very existence, political.
The Dispatch (Lexington, N ..
3.8
A moving tale of heroism and sacrifice wrapped in an explosive package that will quicken your pulse, 13 Hours is sure to appeal to the audiences that ..
Free Beacon
1.0
Its moments like this where the film could have achieved unintentional comedic value but instead it becomes another Bay endurance test.
Impulse Gamer
3.4
I loved this movie not just as a American or as a military brat; its a stunningly well made portrayal of the horrors of war and a study of the bravery ..
Schmoes Know
3.8
The movies main drawback is that its main characters are surprisingly ill defined.
Seattle Times
3.1
The message is not just that war is hell but that politics is absurd.
Commercial Appeal
2.8
In the case of saying something the movie fails again and again.Its blind belief in the heroism of the American soldier and inability to get out of it ..
Flixist
3.5
Exciting and patriotic, its like John Wayne saving the day one more time.
Huffing Ton Post
3.0
But its better elements just about outweigh its worst, making this a much better movie than a lot of people would have predicted.
Indie London
4.4
But this also is the Michael Bay who delivered The Rock and Armageddon.
Reel Bob
2.0
13 Hours isnt good; its exploitative.And any claims its filmmakers could make to patriotic certitude fall away when you realize the movies most humanl ..
Houston Press
3.5
Bay allows this story to unfold, giving the audience the opportunity to understand the tragic circumstances of this horrendous attack.
The Hollywood Outsider
3.1
Theres a lack of pretension in the casts characterizations that youll wish translated to Bays filmmaking style.
M Live
0.5
13 Hours is a typical Bay disaster, full of what would be called rookie mistakes had they been made by anyone else.
Memphis Flyer
3.0
Bay is much more concerned with recreating the visceral combat of Benghazi and honoring the men involved than delving into the politics, and for that, ..
All Movie
2.5
As it is, 13 Hours has no impact: it is far too enervating to do much of anything other than be annoying.But you can see the good film inside of it.
Reviews Antagony Ecstasy
2.5
There are few horrors of war that cant be reduced to blockbuster shtick.
Bk Mag
1.5
The CIA doesnt listen, insisting that theyve got the situation in hand.
About Boulder
3.0
Whenever I give myself to a Michael Bay film, I prepare for the absolute worst.
Flickering Myth
1.9
Having already brought texture and intelligence to true stories of Americans saving the planet from an asteroid (Armageddon) and evil robots (Transfor ..
Trib
3.0
The film highlights the contributions and sacrifices of the private armies of security people who work in the Middle East in exceptionally dangerous c ..
What She Said Radio
2.5
It does, indeed, seem like hell out there.The director of the CIA annex is played by David Costabile and if you thought Costabiles role as ill fated c ..
Baltimore Magazine
3.0
If youre looking for political nuance or moral examination, this isnt your film.
3.1
The writing isnt there as Hogan provides bland, simple thoughts instead of anything evocative or provoking.
Dcw50
2.5
You could argue that its best to experience 13 Hours as hyperkinetic Hollywood spectacle sheer blood, oil, and testosterone, like a seventies exploita ..
Signature Reads
2.5
In many respects, 13 Hours is surprisingly good the swooping, frenetic camerawork that defines most of Bays films is largely missing here.
Sojo
0.5
For Bay, a filmmaker whos often faced accusations of sexism in his work, this caricature doesnt help mitigate that perception.
Miamiartzine
3.8
Of course, this being a Michael Bay movie, there are moments when deadly battles are given the glorious, slow motion treatment and lit like fireworks ..
Entertainment Sun Times
2.0
A fading superpower trades on its still existing military power while trying to figure out its purpose.Whatever movie audiences expected to emerge fro ..
The Federalist
1.0
Politics aside, 13 Hours is just a dull and poorly assembled grab for ticket sales.
Cinematic Essential
2.5
As a piece of war movie action filmmaking, its simply astounding.
Popular Mechanics
1.5
With invincibility even perceived invincibility excitement cannot exist.
Oklahoma Gazette
2.0
A small contingent of ex Special Forces security personnel and a couple of dozen American workers at a CIA connex in Benghazi, Libya find themselves t ..
War Movies
3.8
What 13 Hours does brilliantly is recreate the absolute chaos and stifling options of urban warfare in the third world, the best film to do so since B ..
Hono Lulu Agonizer
2.5
Instead 13 Hours is a bombastic, vulgar and often thrilling exercise in red, white and blue machismo that relies too much on romanticized video game a ..
Nw Herald
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13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi