The Assault

one of the worst ever seen so far about hijacking a passenger plane. the screenplay is badly enough to put several female characters in it, yet the wife of the french special force member with their daughter, the woman who works for the french emergency management authorities, the female passenger sitting next to her parents, are totally unnecessary casting. the scenes about how the french government handling such situation are also very laughable. those four hijackers also acted so lame and so stupid. the most ridiculous plot is how those 4 hijackers could so easily get on board without any reason to justify their success. the scene about the stupid french woman who works for the government trying to bribe the terrorist leader so naively is also a big laugh. there are so many useless and meaningless scenes in this movie dragging out the whole time just like the airplane on the tarmac. the final assault is also like a child play, so laughable and and so lame. showing the wife crying while watching the rescue progress is also so laughably lame and totally unnecessary. this is one of the worst films in such genre and it should not be put into production in the first place. a total waste of money and time of yours and mine.

I was fascinated and totally on the edge of my seat for this one. Despite flaws in the production and irrelevant scenes involving one of the GIGN member's wife and little daughter, included obviously for the sake of emotional pull, this film is an accurate reenactment of the Air France hijacking of 1994 and subsequent raid to free the hostages. This film is a stark reminder why we have to endure airport security and how crazy these Muslim religious fanatics are.

The movie had a made-for-TV quality and could have done with higher production values; perhaps the budget was limited. The version I saw had dubbed voices which made the acting seem worse than it really was. I think it would be a lot better in French with subtitles. A lot of the technical details of the planning of the raid were just not explained, no doubt the film makers were more interested in dramatic effect. But the fact that it was an accurate reenactment of real events made these flaws appear minor and the events more gripping.

At one point the French Government tries to appease the Terrorists by giving them a large sum of money without any hint or assurance that the hostages would be released. I said to myself, "Did that really happen? I mean, could they be that dumb?" Those leery of French politics will just have to groan and say "Not again!" But then at the time they didn't have the lessons of 9/11 to inform them.

All in all I was immersed in this film and was quite willing to overlook its minor flaws in light of the important lessons it teaches. Historical accuracy counts for a lot in this kind of drama.

Every nation has their special police/squad team. So do the french as you can see in this movie that is based on a real event that occurred in 1994. Something is going down (no pun intended), which the french police tries to stop. Of course this can be eerie, especially because you will think of another event that happened a few years later elsewhere. While no real connection is made, you can sort of feel it.

What makes this stick out, is the fact, that there are quite a few good action set pieces and a real character development amongst our characters. While I haven't checked upon how close this is to what happened originally, I can tell you that this is tension filled stuff indeed.

While we are on a subject of movies based on true events, we must mention this French gem from 2010. Although the production values are not blockbuster-like, as you would expect them in a movie of this caliber, the usual French colour manipulation and slight blur applied in post-processing made the whole thing look much better with almost noir vibe. I had some doubts about this movie, that it will be some Taxi-like action, but I assure you that this is a serious movie. The only flaw that I could think of is that they didn't manage to fully develop the characters, but then again that wasn't the point. The point was the assault, and that part was done perfectly.

In the past decade we have seen a number of movies portraying special forces of different countries (SWAT, BOPE…) so we finally get the chance to see the frenchies in action, and out of all them, they were most successful (at least in real life). The Assault is a movie about the hijacking of Air France Flight 8969, that was taken by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in the December of 1994 and the attempts of the French government to peacefully resolve this situation. Although this happened in 1994, after the September 11 attacks and a number of failed attempts to hijack other planes this is still a very interesting subject, especially now with the rise of the Islamic extremists. Speaking of them, we have a rare chance to look inside the mind of your average terrorist, and we have to thank the actors for that. Along with the actual raid, that part of the movie was just so fascinating to me. Maybe because of the outcome of this hijacking, they didn't hold back with the story and we can actually see what is going on behind closed doors. Bribes, pleads, blackmail and only as a final solution an assault… With a very talented director and a great cast, this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat with its realistic action and suspenseful atmosphere. The special bonus is that it's all true, and this just adds more tension to an already intense movie. I will not reveal you what happens in the end, but if you want you can check out the links below for more information, enjoy… As a final note, I must implore you that as with any other movie that isn't made in USA or England, please DO NOT watch the dubbed version, it will ruin the vibe…

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French director Julien Leclercq's sophomore feature is a dramatization of the events of Christmas Day, 1994, when a group of four heavily armed men from the Algerian Armed Islamic Group hijack an Air France flight bound for Paris. The comparisons with Paul Greengrass' 'United 93' are inevitable- besides the fact that both concern themselves with the hijacking of a commercial plane by Muslim extremists, Leclercq also employs the same hand-held, faux-verite style that Greengrass used to convey the urgency and immediacy of the unfolding events.

For the most part, Leclercq succeeds in creating a gripping chronological account of the events leading up to the French GIGN's (the elite counter-terrorism paramilitary unit of the French National Gendarmerie) storming of the plane stranded on a runway in Marseille airport where it had stopped to refuel. Still, his film lacks the intensity and emotional muscle of 'United 93', which is perhaps also a consequence of the more drawn-out nature of the incident (two days compared to United's two hours) which it portrays.

Leclercq, who co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Moutairou, chooses to tell the story from three parallel lines. Thierry (Vincent Elbaz) is one of the squad leaders of the GIGN, and the film's opening minutes attempt to contrast the harrowing nature of his daily work with the calming father figure he tries to be at home to his baby girl. On the other side of the barrel is Yahia (Aymen Saidi), the leader of the terrorist group who finds justification (however misguided) for his actions through fervent and frequent prayer. There's also Carole (Melanie Bernier), a French Interior Ministry staffer who finds it an uphill task to prove to her condescending male colleagues that the hijackers are in fact on a suicide mission.

The choice of these three perspectives is interesting, especially the contrast between Thierry and Yahia. Leclercq draws similarities between the two, despite their relative sides in the impending battle. A poignant sequence where Yahia's mother meets him face-to-face to convince him to surrender affirms that Yahia is, like Thierry, a family man. Just like Thierry too, Yahia finds himself the rallying figure for his men, the symbol they look to for strength amidst their fears and anxieties for the task in front of them. Carole, on the other hand, portrays the authorities' unpreparedness in dealing with the threat of Muslim extremism, much of the dithering on the part of the French probably manifested in the same way by the American authorities when 9/11 hit.

The fact that these three story lines unfold almost independently of each other means that there is less screen time for each of the characters- but Elbaz, Saidi and Bernier perform admirably in lifting their characters beyond caricature. In particular, Saidi is surprisingly effective as the determined terrorist leader who nonetheless is not without shades of humanity and concomitant uncertainties about his course of action. Bernier also convinces as the bold and resolute junior staffer willing to take risks to circumvent layers in Government authority.

Together, the well-chosen cast hold your attention until the final 20 minutes where the action kicks in proper. There will certainly be detractors who will find fault with Leclercq's choice to shoot most of the action in close-ups, as it also means that it is sometimes difficult to follow the swiftly unfolding action. Nonetheless, this climactic showdown is no less heart-thumping, and perhaps it is even more so because Leclercq conveys it through the eyes of those thrust into the highly charged situation (think of it as a first-person shooter experience).

And indeed, even if Leclercq was clearly influenced by Greengrass' method, there's no denying that he has utilised it effectively to retell a similarly harrowing real-life drama with style and verve. There is a raw energy to his technique of hand-held, documentary-style shots, and the intertwining of the dramatized events with real-life footage enhances the highly-fraught tension-filled situation. This isn't your standard-issue action thriller, but one which reminds us of the clear and present real-life danger present in our world out there, as well as the true heroes who put their lives on the line for those of others.

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