![]() ![]() It was the initial step in America’s fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda after 9/11.” “When they arrived, they found themselves outnumbered 5,000 to 1 by the enemy and were constantly at risk of getting captured because of the huge bounty the Taliban had placed on their heads.” Codenamed Task Force Dagger, the mission was as much diplomatic as it was military.įuglsig explains, “This small Special Forces team was to link up with a local warlord named General Abdul Rashid Dostum, a leader in Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance, in an effort to help him regain control of the region. “They were the tip of the spear, the first American soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan,” says director Nicolai Fuglsig. The operation was classified for a number of years-most people have never even heard of the story-but these men are true heroes.” They had to leave their wives and kids at a moment’s notice, with both they and their families not knowing where they were going or if they’d ever make it back. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer offers, “While the American public was still in shock, these men ventured into the unknown, into a situation fraught with danger, to try and settle the score and bring us a victory. This is a movie where you can rally around both the Americans and the Afghans because, together, they took an epic ride into the mouth of hell. What I loved about this story was it was a chance to show Americans working side-byside with the Afghan people to fight a common enemy.” Without much prior intel, they had to come in and earn the trust of Dostum and his men or they could never have accomplished their mission. Despite forming an uneasy bond and growing respect, the new allies face overwhelming odds: vastly outnumbered and outgunned by a ruthless enemy that does not take prisoners.Ĭhris Hemsworth, who stars as Captain Mitch Nelson, the leader of the Special Forces team, notes, “These Green Berets weren’t there as occupiers they were there to assist the Afghan people who had been fighting for their freedom. In addition to overcoming mutual distrust and a vast cultural divide, the Americans- accustomed to state-of-the-art warfare-must adopt the unfamiliar tactics of the Afghan horse soldiers. Leaving their families behind, the team is dropped into the remote, rugged landscape of northern Afghanistan, where they must convince General Abdul Rashid Dostum (Navid Negahban) to join forces with them to fight their common adversary: the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. soldiers to provide an offensive response to the unprecedented attacks on U.S. Special Forces unit, led by their Captain, Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth), is selected to be the first U.S. Oscar winner Ted Tally (The Silence of the Lambs) and Peter Craig (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Parts 1 & 2) wrote the screenplay, based on the acclaimed book Horse Soldiers by author Doug Stanton. Award-winning director Nicolai Fuglsig directed the film, which is produced by legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer (the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Black Hawk Down), together with Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill under their Black Label Media banner (La La Land,” “Sicario).ġ2 Strong is set in the harrowing days following 9/11 when an elite U.S. “12 Strong” is not just a war movie it’s a story about learning to respect the differences that separate us but also embracing the qualities that unite us.” And what makes it even more fascinating is that it’s 21st-century warriors in a centuries-old environment and culture. I was struck by the courage and ingenuity of the American soldiers and of their Afghan allies. “I’m a history buff, and this was a slice of epic history that I didn’t know about, and I imagine most people don’t know about it either. “When I first came upon the book I was mesmerized by it,” screenwriter Ted Tally relates.
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