A somber, but important story

Rating: 9/10 (15 February 2016)

This film is well made. I doubt anyone will dispute that. The sound, visual effects, and acting are all well above par. Bay tells a compelling story of a group of men that, when the chips were down, rose the occasion and defended what they knew was right. That said, what I've just described sounds like the next Die Hard. But 13 hours has something that i doubt any fabricated story will ever have, and that is an enveloping sense of realism. The shaky cameras, intense music, and the knowledge that this is a real story bring an impending sense of chaos to this production, much more so than any other contemporary film.
However, this realism can be quite unsettling. This is not a "fun" movie. It is very fast paced, and I, a relatively hard- shelled individual, felt legitimate pangs of terror at some of the events in this movie.
13 hours is not as entertaining, as it is informative. It does not deliver cool action sequences and witty dialogue. It shows six men fighting for their lives, and the lives of those they protect. It tells a very important story, that everyone should know about, and does a very good job of keeping politics out of the equation. while there were some definite bureaucratic injustices involved, the movie focuses solely on the six soldiers and their heroism.