The Objective (2008)

Director:

Daniel Myrick

Writers (WGA):

Daniel Myrick (screenplay) &
Mark A. Patton (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

24 April 2008 (Morocco)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

We haven't seen the real enemy

Plot:

A group of Special Ops Reservists on a mission in the harsh and hostile terrain of Afghanistan find themselves lost in a Middle Eastern "Bermuda Triangle" of ancient evil. |

Plot Keywords:

Afghanistan | Lost | Comradery | Punched In The Face | Video Camera

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jonas Ball	...	Benjamin Keynes
Matthew R. Anderson	...	Chief Warrant Officer Wally Hamer
Jon Huertas	...	Sgt. Vincent Degetau
Michael C. Williams	...	Sgt. Trinoski
Sam Hunter	...	Sgt. Tim Cole
Jeff Prewett	...	Sgt. Pete Sadler
Kenny Taylor	...	MSgt. Tanner
Chems-Eddine Zinoune	...	Abdul
Qzaibar Allal	...	Village Chief
Hammou Abaou	...	Abdul's Mother
Rkia Chkaroll	...	Village Woman in Burka
Ibtihal Iataren	...	Girl with the Woman
El Hayrani Lekbir	...	Hermit
P. David Miller	...	Maj. Matt McCarthy
Vanessa Johansson	...	Stacy Keynes
Jacqueline Harris	...	Matilde Seymour - BBC Reporter

Directed by
Daniel Myrick

Writing credits (WGA)
Daniel Myrick		(screenplay) &
Mark A. Patton		(screenplay) and
Wesley Clark		(screenplay) (as Wesley Clark Jr.)
Daniel Myrick		(story) &
Mark A. Patton		(story)

Produced by
Steffen Aumueller	....	executive producer
Andrea Balen	....	co-producer
Claus Clausen	....	executive producer
Corina Danckwerts	....	co-executive producer
Karim Debbagh	....	co-producer
Ian Gibbins	....	executive producer
Zev Guber	....	producer
Richard Halpern	....	co-producer
Gary Hamilton	....	executive producer
Glenn M. Stewart	....	executive producer
Victor Syrmis	....	executive producer
Jeremy Wall	....	producer

Original Music by
Kays Al-Atrakchi

Cinematography by
Stephanie Martin

Film Editing by
Michael J. Duthie
Robert Florio

Casting by
John Jackson

Production Design by
Frank Bollinger

Costume Design by
Glenn Gregory Krah

Makeup Department
Souad Khattabi	....	key makeup artist
Isabella Wiley	....	makeup department head
Isabella Wiley	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Andrea Balen	....	production supervisor
Charles Arthur Berg	....	unit production manager (as Charles Berg)
Darya Danesh	....	unit production manager
Mourad Ismaël	....	production manager
George Rizkallah	....	post-production supervisor
Zora A. Wolter	....	production manager
Chris F. Woods	....	post-production supervisor (as Christopher Francis Woods)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tarik Ait Ben Ali	....	second second assistant director
Yann Mari Faget	....	key second assistant director
Ahmed Hatimi	....	first assistant director
Jeremy Wall	....	second unit director

Art Department
Hicham Afghani	....	property master
Bryan Cuthbert	....	set dresser
Tayeb ElAlaoui	....	set dresser
Tobias Günthner	....	construction manager
Younes Sakhi	....	construction assistant
Saida Temofonte	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Bastien Benkhelil	....	foley editor
Bastien Benkhelil	....	foley mixer
Kyle Clausen	....	foley editor
Robert Ehrenreich	....	foley mixer
Iris Karina	....	boom operator (as Iris Lohninger)
Patricio A. Libenson	....	foley artist
Tim D. Lloyd	....	additional sound mixer
Karl W. Lohninger	....	sound mixer
Karl W. Lohninger	....	sound supervisor
Walter New	....	sound designer
Caleb Stambaugh	....	foley mixer

Special Effects by
Conor Coughlan	....	special effects supervisor
Souad Khattabi	....	special effects makeup
Sergio Matos	....	special effects technician
Isabella Wiley	....	special effects makeup

Visual Effects by
Mitch Gates	....	CG supervisor: Encore Hollywood
Thomas D. Moser	....	visual effects
Ahren Thomas	....	digital compositor
Chris F. Woods	....	visual effects supervisor (as Chris Woods)

Stunts
Joseph Beddelem	....	stunt coordinator
Philippe Losson	....	stunts
Francois Poirier	....	stunt driver
Francois Poirier	....	stunts
Cedric Proust	....	stunt coordinator
Mustapha Touki	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Marco de Fillipis	....	electrician
Francis Dreiss	....	still photographer
Ilham El Abdi	....	assistant camera (as Ilham El Abid)
Abbes Ghazouani	....	video assistant
Said Lagbouri	....	assistant camera
Nicolas Martin	....	Steadicam operator
Youssef Mohattane	....	camera trainee
Imad Rechiche	....	first assistant camera: b
Ahmed Saadi	....	grip
Lilia Sellami	....	first assistant camera
Abdeljalil Zougar	....	electrician
Aziz Zougar	....	electrician

Casting Department
Mohamed Essaghir Aabach	....	casting assistant
Zinedine Ibnou Jabal	....	casting: Morocco
Omar Tisli	....	casting agent: Morocco

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Otmane Khammari	....	costume supervisor: Morocco
Nadia Kharraz	....	costumer
Bouazza Waradi	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Michael LaPointe	....	assistant editor
Narbeh Tatoussian	....	digital intermediate colorist

Transportation Department
Abdelatif Agoujil	....	transportation
Ali Bakkioui	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Rachid Azbeg	....	production runner
Driss Benchhiba	....	location manager
Driss Benchiba	....	location manager
Simone Boudriot	....	script supervisor
Meredith Clark	....	assistant to producer
Ambyr Davis	....	production coordinator
Zouhar El Fassi	....	accountant (as Zouheir El Fassi)
Jaouad El Kacimi	....	location scout
Melitta Fitzer	....	production accountant
Aaron Goldstein	....	assistant: Mr Myrick
Mustapha Harkati	....	military assistant
Kevin Hindley	....	script clearance
Jennifer Hughes	....	production counsel
Dan Karcher	....	web site designer
Ridouane Nassreddine	....	location assistant
Duncan Stewart	....	production assistant
Widad Taha	....	production coordinator
Nick Teta	....	military advisor

Thanks
Wali Razaqi	....	special thanks
Paul Sinor	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Jaz Films
• Kasbah-Film Tanger (in association with)

Distributors

• IFC Films (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• AMG Entertainment (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
• Future Film (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• MPI Home Video (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2010) (UK) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Encore Hollywood

Other Companies

• Absolute Post  sound post-production
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Hollywood Camera  camera equipment provided by
• IndieClear  script clearance
• Packair Airfreight  international logistics

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA | Morocco

Language:

English | Pashtu

Color:

Color

Certification:

Finland:K-13 | Australia:MA | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | Portugal:M/12 | UK:15 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Company:

Jaz Films

Trivia:

Kenny Taylor is a former Navy SEAL and one of the Phase 1 instructors in the documentary series "Navy SEALs Class 234".

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

A good movie with serious flaws

"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