The Objective

After watching this movie I came straight back on IMDb to see if I could make sense of what I had just watched. But after reading all the comments so far, I am none the wiser. It definitely did remind me of 'Blair Witch In The Desert' (with an Apocalypse Now style narration throughout) albeit without the hand camera so at least you don't feel queasy at the end, just a tad confused

Having said that, it did command my attention until the end, and I did enjoy it. After about 1/2 an hour its pretty obvious that the ending isn't going to be neatly wrapped up so it shouldn't leave you too disappointed

This movie is an amazing blend of science fiction, horror, and thrills.

A CIA agent recruits a couple grunt soldiers to track down a religious leader in Afghanistan to interview him.

But the soldiers soon find out that this is just a deception to lure them deep into a remote region of Afghanistan. What follows is a thrilling, scary, and exciting film that almost never lets up until the ending.

The writing is great, there are no over the top lines and long philosophical battles between characters, this is a movie about soldiers and they speak and act accordingly. The acting is fantastic, characters seems genuinely scared and nervous whenever appropriate. And the plot is a fantastic twist on the usual 'small company' war story movie as it adds elements of supernatural horror and psychological terror as the main antagonists instead of rival soldiers.

The cons are the slightly low budget special effects at some points, instead of showing poorly done CGI, I would have opted for the 'less is more' approach and focused on characters reactions to the supernatural phenomenon instead. The ending was a bit disappointing as well as there is very little concrete resolution but with some creative assuming and inference it is relatively obvious as to what happens to each individual character.

If you like horror or thriller movies or just want to see a fresh idea then absolutely give this movie a chance. It's a bit nerve wracking if you're watching it in the dark and definitely not for children. Adults however, especially those into film, this deserves at least rental.

Every country in the world has a collected storehouse of stories involving Ghosts, Goblins and things which go bump in the night. In the far East, from the tall rugged mountains of Afghanistan, comes this legendary tale of violent death which re-surfaced in the 21st century. The movie is called " Objective " and tentatively based on the legendary incident, concerning one Dr. William Brydon otherwise known as 'The Massacre at Khourd Caboul.' writer/Director Daniel Myrick tells the story of a C.I.A. operative, Benjamin Keynes (Jonas Ball) who is given a covert assignment to venture into the mountains of Afganistan and find a mystic leader named Mohammad Aban who possess special information concerning the area. Accompanying him will be an elite military team, led by Chief Warrant Officer Wally Hamer (Matt Anderson) and a local guide named Abdul (Chems Zinoune). What begins as a routine reckon mission to find and deliver a mystic leader, develops into a mysterious search, destroy and survive encounter with an ancient, but very powerful stellar phenomenon. The movie endeavors to enthrall an audience with crude scenes imitating 'Close Encounters and Predator. With a stiff narration and a poor story-line, the cast tries its best but fails on several levels. Still, it is an interesting movie, if one doesn't expect too much. I would have thought the original story of the British Massacre would have been a better investment. ***

This a smart Sci-fi/horror/ War Movie in a similar vein to R-Point or Outpost, a bit of popular myth (this time on a Erik von Dankin tip)... set against the backdrop of the most modern of wars.

It's low budget and fairly obscure, punching above its weight with superbly haunting location shots (Atlas Mountains Morocco) and tight audio FX / Soundtrack. The Special forces soldiers are believable too, kudos to the military adviser, and the acting's not bad too.

The best think about 'The Objective'is the brooding pacing, It never scared me, more just left of field enough to make you think - this is and a bit different, that's a bit odd, this ain't Hollywood etc... and all the better for it... not surprising then to learn its from one of the directors from Blair Witch...

On the flip side the heavy narration gives it a TV movie feel and though it kind of works in the end hmmmm, I dunno there was still a bit much. Narrative's a bit al over thae place, and whilst some might shout "rubbish" or IMDb fav "worst movie ever" I'll go for "fun for what it is" and that is on a par with an extended version of your fav X-file's/Outer limits episode.... Absolutely Recommended I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Objective'

The only original idea in this movie is to unapologetically use an actual, on-going and bloody war as a superficial backdrop to a pointless and hackneyed plot. The crew seemed like a good bunch of guys, and I'm sure they had a ton of fun in Morocco filming this. Too bad nobody has done the hard work of coming up with a coherent vision, purpose and narrative; of aligning location, characters and story; of coming up with a meaning or a graceful way of avoiding imposing a meaning; or, at the very least, of making an engaging thriller.

Stephanie Martin's cinematography, however, did make the movie much more bearable. Well-done and beautiful. Even stunning at times.

The score was quite good as well, I thought.