Bravo Two Zero (1999) (TV)

Director:

Tom Clegg

Writers:

Troy Kennedy-Martin (writer)
Andy McNab (book)

Genre:

War | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

- From Andy McNab's International Best Seller - A True Story Of The SAS Mission In The Gulf War!

Plot:

This is the true story of the most highly decorated British patrol since the Boer war: an eight man...

Plot Keywords:

British Army | Desert | Gulf War | SAS | Special Forces

Cast

Sean Bean	...	Andy McNab
Steve Nicolson	...	Dinger
Rick Warden	...	Tony
Richard Graham	...	Mark
Ian Curtis	...	Baz
Jamie Bartlett	...	Ray
Robert Hobbs	...	Stan
Ron Senior Jr.	...	Pete
Robert Whitehead	...	Iraqi Colonel
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Caz Abrahams	...	White Socks
Nick Ashby	...	Jeral
Barry Berk	...	Cyril
Julia Booth	...	Sally
Melissa Carter	...	Katie
Dimitri Cassar	...	Iraqi Officer #1
Emma Chambers	...	Dinger's Wife
Alison Coles	...	Jilly
Kevin Collins	...	Chris
George Coutsoudis	...	Son in Taxi
Ernst Eloff	...	Iraqi Farmer
Arishaad Erreeff	...	Shepherd
Anthony Fridjohn	...	Dentist
Thomas Hall	...	Gordon
Graham Hopkins	...	Graham
Akram Ibrahim	...	Prison Governor
Brent King	...	Shepherd Boy
Maki Kossioris	...	Father in Taxi
Dehan Liebenberg	...	Loadie #1
Tim Mahoney	...	Harry
Anna Meininger	...	Melissa
Nissam Moalem	...	Taxi Driver
Alistair Prodgers	...	Bert
Nicky Rebello	...	Interrogator
Louise Saint-Claire	...	Red Cross Worker
Abdallah Sardi	...	S60 Commander
Russel Savadier	...	Iraqi Captain
Yvonne Van Den Berg	...	Woman in Bar

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

UK:115 min

Country:

South Africa | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Upington, Northern Cape, South Africa

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Reference is made to Breaker Morant. Breaker was a Australian Solider who was Court-Marshaled and executed by the British commander in South Africa, Lord Kitchener during the Boer War. Morant’s famous last words before being shot were "Shoot straight, you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!".

Quotes:

Andy McNab: [Narrating] Andy: We fought the raggi's for the best part of the day. We binned our bergens. Couldn't move quick enough with them. We heard contacts far on in the distance. But they weren't shooting at us.

Soundtrack:

By the Rivers of Babylon

One of the few very good true war stories.

I was first told about Andy McNabb from a half-insane guy who played the main character in a movie which was shot in my home town. I talked to him for a long time and we got talking about books and I mentioned I was a big Clancy fan. He said if I liked Clancy i should check out Andy McNabb. I hadn't seen Heat at the time but he recommended it because McNabb was a technical weapons training adviser on it. And he said that many people reacted very well to the fact that everyone in that movie held their guns and rifles correctly and changing the clip in a professional way. Later on i saw Heat and I was very impressed. I haven't read anything by McNabb yet but I think i will. definitely after seeing this.

The film Bravo Two Zero tells the story about eight SAS soldiers who was sent behind enemy lines in The Gulf War. The opening montage of this film sucked me straight in. a composition of old Gulf War footage and news reports. it then cuts to a title card which says that this is a true story accompanied with the song "Londons Calling" by The Clash. The film continues to be very realistic all the way through. Not much clichéd hero stuff but rather to quote that guy who first told me about McNabb: "It's about misery. This is a real story about a real James Bond. No champagne or beautiful women." And enemy is not portrayed as villains or dumb like in oh so many Hollywood films. It is rumored though that McNabb exaggerated a bit on how many enemies they killed but this isn't a very large factor in the story. The story is not about how many enemies they killed. It's about survival and misery.

This is very impressive for a TV movie and Sean Bean most certainly doesn't make it worse. Definitely recommended to you who like realistic stories like Tom Clancy's books.