The Objective

Watched.

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source: The Objective

Not your standard fare... The Objective is an impressive covert ops/sci-fi thriller. It kept me glued. The special effects were subtle yet masterfully implemented. Gritty and atmospheric. The story was steeped in ancient history and so well done. Daniel Myrick is director to keep an eye on. This DVD is worth the buy. Thanks for such an entertaining film in a genre filled with movies made by people with poor production values who think they know a formula for a good movie. I can only imagine getting Myrick on movie with a major budget.

One of the directors of The Blair Witch Project teams up with the son of former United States Army General Wesley Clark to bring us this sci-fi war thriller about Special Ops soldiers in Afghanistan who come across a mysterious sect of Taliban members with a supernatural weapon of 'unimaginable powers.' The horror of war is something that the world faces constantly; but, ironically, there have not been many great horror films set in a war. This, while not technically a war film, has more than its fair share of guerrilla combat set in the desert of Afghanistan. The locations are fantastic and Morocco was a good replacement for what would obviously be a pretty difficult place to film a movie. So, the film automatically had the good looks going for it. Myrick did a good job of capturing the mountainous terrain and utilizing the various elements of the setting. The acting is pretty good and, more importantly, believable. That's saying more than a bit seeing as the script leaves a lot to be desired. I've known my fair share of military personnel over the years, and the soldiers did fit the roles well. Also, unlike many low-budget horror films with the military. . . they actually knew how to hold weapons and follow proper war protocol. It was refreshing to say the least. While on the characters, I will note one problem with them: There was almost no bond among the characters as a whole and very little development of the characters individually. As far as horror goes, there are some creepy scenes among the action of the battle sequences. One scene in particular involving some smokelike creatures seen through thermal scopes was fairly chilling. Unfortunately, as happens with many sci-fi films. . . the ending was pretty strange and confusing. It seemed thrown in so that they didn't have to give an explanation. I like open-ended conclusions often. . . but that doesn't mean they don't have to make sense. I enjoyed much of the rest of the film, however. Fans of Altered and similar sci-fi horrors should check this one out. Final verdict: 6.5/10.

"The Objective" is a really cool movie. You have a CIA agent working with military men in Afghanisthan, and weird, paranormal stuff happens. There's a sense of realism - which was probably Myrick's objective - that is very well done here. You feel like you're there with the guys, in that immense, isolated, mysterious space. It's this sense of immersion and the suspense that propells me to give this movie a 6/10, purely because I really enjoyed it. But that's not to say it is without flaws; au contraire, the story is like a mechanical swiss cheese, with obvious, unavoidable and perhaps intentional plot holes - the problem is that some of them nearly ruined the film for me, and will certainly ruin it for the casual science-fiction fan. So there you have it - I liked this movie and I'd recommend it - but I feel this movie could have been so much better if not for some serious flaws. The painfully obvious first one is the narration, done by the main actor. Actually, there are two problems here - the protagonist seems miscast, or at least the actor seems to have a speech impediment problem. I'm not joking, he doesn't narrate, he... mumbles. I hope this was not intentional. One complaint that I've seen in other reviews, but for me would be nit-picking, are about some of the visual effects. Not the FX themselves, but rather the use of them. Like many I feel some things are best left to our imaginations, and this movie is a nice example of getting this sort of thing wrong. There's a fantastic scene in the middle of the movie that involves binoculars. In this scene, the "leave it to the imagination" part is incredibly scary. Here, it works. Later on, not so much. I will only further comment on the ending, and I don't have many words to describe my reaction. In a way, it's a genius ending, and in another, you feel like you've been made a fool of. It's usually good to be left with a mystery, but sometimes it pisses people off, and sadly, this is the case with me and "The Objective". I know I'll watch it again, though. 6/10

I caught the filmmaker's screening at Tribeca and I have to admit that I just don't get it. Now I am an intellectual liberal type and a filmmaker mind you, but in the discussion after the film no one came out and said: "This film makes the Taliban look like it has supernatural powers." I guess I feel someone just has to say it. I'm just as American as the chest thumping military guys out there, in fact I grew up on an Army base. I'm not saying this film is anti-American but it certainly doesn't bring out any of the kinds of feelings a good war movie should. It doesn't make you feel like you're in the squad. There is no visceral connection as in a good horror film and there is no patriotic or emotional connection to the cause. Worse of all there is no real buddy type feelings going on in the small platoon. When the staff Sergeant finally loses it with the CIA officer I didn't buy it. When any one guy disappears or gets blown up you don't really care. The nature of the mission is unclear, you never really get to know any of the main players. It seems like the production was hasty and poorly planned. Maybe there were too many producers and writers and no clear objective. The casting and acting are pretty good, but the direction and script are pretty bad. Unfortunately the film as feature just doesn't work. If it were edited down to a 20 min short it might work, in fact maybe they could get a TV show out of it, kind of like the X-Files meets Rat Patrol.

The initial comment here, on IMDb, left me a tad more in thought that the poster had failed to see multiple aspects of the movie. WIth that idea, I saw it. I found myself to be correct. The movie was,over , very well written and directed. If kept you on the edge of your seat,it kept you guessing and it kept you thinking. Several people seem to stare at a screen and consider that "watching" a movie. That is what children do :) Several parts are given to you throughout the movie to answer any questions you have at the end. Several people whom have posted here and on other sites seem to fail to grasp that. Without giving away anything, just absorb the movie. It will explain the end and how things are as they are. I voted the movie an 8. Original concept,good directing and fairly decent acting. Well worth watching if your a thinker, if your a screen staring movie "watcher" you will be left bewildered and dumbfounded :)

I saw the Tribeca screening in NYC last week. I was entranced and enthralled, and found the first 2/3 of the movie to be excellent. But the end was a huge letdown for me. My boyfriend felt the same. There is no resolution. We had all sorts of questions that were left unanswered: were the "bad guys" ghosts? ETs? The CIA? Why was Keynes floating at the end? How did he get back to the West? Who were the people watching him through the glass? Yes, all sorts of strange, unearthly things were happening to the soldiers... but WHY -- and WHO was doing this to them? We never get a satisfactory answer as to WHO and WHY. This could have been a GREAT movie... if only things weren't left up in the air (like Keynes) at the end. The producers should re-think the ending with Myrick and re-shoot the end -- or audiences are going to stay away, in my opinion.