Ambush (2023)

Ambush (2023). Ambush: Directed by Mark Burman. With Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Aaron Eckhart, Connor Paolo, Jason Genao. A group of young elite commandos, led by Captain Drummond are tasked with collecting highly classified information that can change the fate of the war.

“I hope Aaron Eckhart was paid well for the half day of work he did on one set. At least, fortunately for him, this film will be quickly forgotten. And itu0026#39;s sad to see Jonathan Rhys Meyersu0026#39; career reduced to signing on to dreck like this.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plot is simple enough.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eVietnam. 1966. A remote American firebase is attacked and the Viet-Cong, though driven back, somehow manage to get their hands on a binder that would compromise South Vietnamese agents. A small force is dispatched from the firebase to track and find the VC in order to retrieve or destroy the binder.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe basic outline for this plot could have made for a decent action movie in the hands of competent film makers. Unfortunately, none were available.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt is clear that the film makers did no research. I began to wonder if they could even spot Vietnam on a map.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSometimes a film with a low budget will get the look wrong because they canu0026#39;t afford to build realistic looking sets or props… in this case, it seemed they simply didnu0026#39;t care about getting anything rightu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eProduction and costumes:nNone of the characters were wearing the right uniforms or patches. You can literally order bulk surplus jungle fatigues online… this was not a budget issue… they simply got all the uniforms wrong. Every single one.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis was also glaringly obvious with the weapons. The overwhelming majority of the soldiers in this film are seen using M16A2 or A3 rifles… rifles which were not available until 20 years later. One soldier who has a beard for some reason was actually carrying an M16A4 with a rail system, a gun that wan not available until more than 30 years later.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eClearly the production had the budget for an armorer who could provide expensive rifles… just the wrong ones… all of them.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile most laymen may not notice the difference, anyone who ever served in the military in the last fifty years will and this is just indicative of the indifference or laziness of the film makers.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe location set for the firebase was laughably bad, on a par with a high school playu0026#39;s stage scenery. This was not a budget issue.. this was not caring or bothering. Sandbags donu0026#39;t cost a lot. A single later of sandbags on only one side of a machine gun position is decorative but useless. It wouldnu0026#39;t have taken more that a minute to google images to see how sandbags are used and maybe an extra hour to fill a whole bunch of bags.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe script:nEvery cliche imaginable… and the writer clearly has no understanding of how the military works of how human beings talk to each other… and of course there are many pieces of dialog that are out of place… like one soldier complaining about eating MREu0026#39;s even though it would be twenty more years before the Army switched over to eating MRES from canned C-rations. Corporals run bases and give orders to sergeants. Captains scream at everything all the time because the writer associates screaming with Army movies. And colonels lead patrols. The script is rife with every cliche imaginable u0026quot;they died for nothing!u0026quot; and when someone talks about how theyu0026#39;re about to finish their tour and go home, you know heu0026#39;s about to dieu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe action is why I gave this film two stars instead of one… because I actually laughed at how bad it was. There were lots of bad CGI muzzle flash and explosion effects. The Viet Cong seem to love just standing in the open and firing instead of maybe shooting from behind a tree… and there were multiple scenes were actors were shooting each other in the back (fortunately with blanks) because the director didnu0026#39;t bother to tell them to not point their rifles at each other when running around firing. Itu0026#39;s actually quite comical and I challenge viewers to count how many times they see actors shooting at each other. There was a stuntman falling from a tower too early before an explosion went off at the base of it that the director left in. As CGI mortar strike explosions in several scenes and in one scene, a stuntman throws himself flailing as if blasted by an explosion …but they forgot to add that CGI explosion so the scene is just him flailing as he leaps sideways reacting to… nothing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI guess the best way to sum up this movie is to look at the title… u0026quot;Ambushu0026quot;nThere is no Ambush.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter the firebase is attacked, a captain is on the radio with a general talking about the attack and they both keep referring to it as an ambush. The attack on the base is referred to as an ambush several more times.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut an assault or raid on a base is not an ambush.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThat the film makers titled their film u0026quot;Ambushu0026quot; and donu0026#39;t even know what that means really says it all.”