ZERO DARK THIRTY
DIRECTED BY KATHRYN BIGELOW
PRODUCED BY KATHRYN BIGELOW/ MARK BOAL
ANNAPURNA PICTURES
COLUMBIA PICTURES/ UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Information from IMDb
Plot Summary
Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners
following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001.
She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees,
but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics.
For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover
the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011,
it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team
is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.
Written by Jim Beaver
Full Cast
Jason Clarke ... Dan
Reda Kateb ... Ammar
Jessica Chastain ... Maya
Kyle Chandler ... Joseph Bradley
Jennifer Ehle ... Jessica
Harold Perrineau ... Jack
Jeremy Strong ... Thomas
J.J. Kandel ... J.J.
Wahab Sheikh ... Detainee on Monitor
Alexander Karim ... Detainee on Monitor
Nabil Elouahabi ... Detainee on Monitor
Aymen Hamdouchi ... Detainee on Monitor
Simon Abkarian ... Detainee on Monitor
Ali Marhyar ... Interrogator on Monitor
Parker Sawyers ... Interrogator on Monitor
Akin Gazi ... Interrogator on Monitor
Derek Siow ... Interrogator on Monitor
Fares Fares ... Hakim
Mohammad K. ... Cargo Ship Detainee
Henry Garrett ... Bagram Guard
Homayoun Ershadi ... Hassan Ghul
Darshan Aulakh ... Pakistani Detention Center Guard
Navdeep Singh ... Faraj Courier
Yoav Levi ... Abu Faraj al-Libbi
Sukhdeep Singh ... Pakistani Guard at Marriott
Musa Sattari ... Human Khalil al-Balawi
David Menkin ... Case Officer
Scott Adkins ... John
Eyad Zoubi ... Zied
Julian Lewis Jones ... Blackwater Guard
Christian Contreras ... C.I.A. Security
Lauren Shaw ... Lauren
Zachary Becker ... Embassy Tech
Mark Strong ... George
John Antonini ... Analyst at Embassy
Jessica Collins ... Debbie
Fredric Lehne ... The Wolf
Ashraf Telfah ... Kuwaiti Businessman
Édgar Ramírez ... Larry from Ground Branch
Jonathan Olley ... Tech from Ground Branch
Ben Lambert ... N.S.A. Tech
Manraaj Singh ... Rawal Caller
Tushaar Mehra ... Abu Ahmed
Daniel Lapaine ... Tim - Station Chief
Udayan Baijal ... Guard at Maya's Apartment
Mark Duplass ... Steve
James Gandolfini ... C.I.A. Director
Stephen Dillane ... National Security Advisor
John Schwab ... Deputy National Security Advisor
Martin Delaney ... Assistant to National Security Advisor
Nabil Koni ... Pakistani Doctor
Anthony Edridge ... General in Hangar
John Barrowman ... Jeremy
Jeff Mash ... Deputy Director of C.I.A.
Joel Edgerton ... Patrick - Squadron Team Leader
Chris Pratt ... Justin - DEVGRU
Taylor Kinney ... Jared - DEVGRU
Callan Mulvey ... Saber - DEVGRU
Siaosi Fonua ... Henry - DEVGRU
Phil Somerville ... Phil - DEVGRU
Nash Edgerton ... Nate - DEVGRU EOD
Mike Colter ... Mike - DEVGRU
Frank Grillo ... Squadron Commanding Officer
Brett Praed ... DEVGRU Operator
Aron Eastwood ... DEVGRU Operator
Heemi Browstow ... DEVGRU Operator
Chris Scarf ... DEVGRU Operator
Barrie Rice ... DEVGRU Operator
Robert Young ... DEVGRU Operator
Spencer Coursen ... DEVGRU Operator
Chris Perry ... DEVGRU Operator
Alex Corbet Burcher ... DEVGRU Operator
Robert G. Eastman ... DEVGRU Operator
Tim Martin ... DEVGRU Operator
Mitchell Hall ... DEVGRU Operator
Alan Pietruszewski ... Pilot
Kevin LaRosa Jr. ... Pilot
M.D. Selig ... Pilot (as Michael David Selig)
Benjamin John Parrillo ... Pilot (as Ben Parrillo)
Christopher Stanley ... Admiral Bill McCraven
Hadeel Shqair ... Abu Ahmed's Wife
Noureddine Haijjoujou ... Abrar
Nour Alkawaja ... Abrar's Wife
Malika Sayd ... UBL Wife
Siham Rida ... UBL Wife
Monia Moula ... UBL Wife (as Moula Mounia)
Zalfa Seurat ... UBL Wife
Tarick Hadouch ... Khalid
Ricky Sekhon ... UBL
Mark Valley ... C-130 Pilot:
Lee Asquith-Coe ... Sean Cohen (uncredited)
Shabana Azmi ... (uncredited)
Greg Bennett ... CIA Agent (uncredited)
James Garson Chick ... Navy Seal (uncredited)
Grant Chism ... CIA Employee (uncredited)
Nick Donald ... CIA Agent (uncredited)
Jo Hart ... CIA Operative (uncredited)
Josh Kelly ... (uncredited)
James Lowe ... CIA Agent (uncredited)
Sean Mahon ... (uncredited)
Damien Moreno ... Shooter #2 (uncredited)
Nathan Nolan ... Prince Pilot 52 (uncredited)
Michael C. Pierce ... American Businessman (uncredited)
Alan D. Purwin ... Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
George Russo ... (uncredited)
Jasper Salon ... CIA Tech (uncredited)
Senem Temiz ... CIA Agent (uncredited)
Omid Zader ... Shooter #1 (uncredited)
Produced
Kathryn Bigelow .... producer
Mark Boal .... producer
Matthew Budman .... co-producer
Megan Ellison .... producer
Jonathan Leven .... co-producer
Tabrez Noorani .... line producer: India
Pravesh Sahni .... associate producer: India
Ted Schipper .... executive producer
Greg Shapiro .... executive producer
David Ticotin .... associate producer
Colin Wilson .... executive producer
Writing Credits
Mark Boal (written by)
Original Music
Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography
Greig Fraser
Trivia
Joel Edgerton was originally cast in a leading role, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Jason Clarke. However, when the conflicts were resolved, Edgerton was able to return in another role.
Rooney Mara was originally cast but had to drop out and was replaced by Jessica Chastain.
At one point, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce were considered for different roles. Hardy was replaced by Mark Strong.
"Zero Dark Thirty" in military terms means 12:30 AM. Zero Dark is midnight, 00:00 on a 24 hour clock, 30 being added to connote 30 minutes past. In the scene during the raid you can see Maya look at the clock being shown as 00:30.
The movie was originally about the unsuccessful decade-long manhunt for Osama bin Laden. The screenplay was completely re-written after bin Laden was killed.
James Cameron, ex-husband of eventual director Kathryn Bigelow, was previously in negotiations to direct the film, but dropped out to produce the sequels to Avatar.
This is Jeremy Hindle 's first feature-film work as production designer. Hindle previously collaborated with Australian cinematographer Greig Fraser on numerous TV commercial shoots. Director Bigelow lauded Hindle for his remarkably precise re-creation of the huge bin Laden compound - built from scratch in the Jordanian desert - in less than three months.
Jordan and the Indian city Chandigarh (capital of Punjab & Haryana states), near the Pakistani border, were used as stand-ins to duplicate scenes taking place in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some second-unit film footage was also actually shot in Pakistan.
In 'No Easy Day,' the first-hand account of the attack and killing of Osama bin Laden, written by a member of the SEALs team, the movie's lead character of CIA agent Maya, is known only as 'Jen.'
The climactic sequence devoted to the raid on Osama's compound runs about 25 minutes, only a few minutes less than the real-life SEALs assault.
In an unusual step, acting CIA Director Michael Morell issued a statement about the film emphasizing that while the production team had met with the CIA, the film is a dramatization and is not historically accurate. Morell specifically contradicted the film's assertion that "enhanced interrogation techniques", also known as "torture", had been of significant benefit in locating Osama bin Laden. Director Morell stated, "That impression is false. We cannot allow a Hollywood film to cloud our memory."
In the Kuwait Lamborghini showroom scene, Dan asks if one of the cars is a Balboni. This refers to the Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni, a limited-production variant of the Gallardo named after a Lamborghini test driver. It is the car with the stripe along its centerline.
The stealth helicopters used in the actual mission were heavily modified Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks. Anti-radar cladding, like that of the F-117 stealth fighter, helped them avoid detection by Pakistani air defenses, and the extra blades in the main rotors and tail rotors produced less noise than the standard rotors.
Several important factors in the preparation and execution of the raid, as detailed in the book "No Easy Day", were glossed over or not mentioned in this film. These include, specifically, 1) the debate over whether to bomb the compound or conduct a special forces raid, 2) the construction of a complete training mockup of the compound in North Carolina and repeated drills using the same SEAL teams and helicopters as on the eventual raid, and 3) the presence of backup Black Hawks at a forward staging area during the mission, which proved to be vital to recovering the team after the crash of the stealth Black Hawk during the initial insertion. It is assumed these were left out for dramatic purposes.
The bizarre, four-lens night vision goggles worn by SEAL Team Six are in fact, authentic. They are cutting-edge GPNVG-18 (Ground Panoramic Night Vision Goggles) manufactured by L-3 Warrior Systems. The extra lenses provide more peripheral vision to the operator.
Of the many books she researched in preparation for her role as CIA operative Maya, Jessica Chastain found two of particular interest, namely, "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11" by Lawrence Wright and "Osama Bin Laden" by Michael Scheuer.
Jessica Chastain has permanently saved a voice mail from director Kathryn Bigelow in which Chastain learned she had been chosen to play the role of Maya. The message came on November 21 at 1:04 p.m.
In January 2013, on the brink of the movie's wider release, three politically active members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Martin Sheen, David Clennon and Edward Asner, announced they were organizing a public condemnation of Zero Dark Thirty for what they termed its "tolerance" of torture.
The film's title has four meanings according to a publicity flier for the picture. It states: "ZERO DARK THIRTY is a military term for thirty minutes after midnight - as well as code for "under the cover of darkness." It is also the time that the Navy Seals helicopters took to the skies on their mission to eliminate the world's most wanted man [Osama bin Laden]. Finally, it serves as a metaphor for the decade long, relentless pursuit of Osama bin Laden".
The writer, director and producer and many of the production crew all worked on the earlier film The Hurt Locker.
Goofs
Jump to: Character error (1) | Continuity (2) | Errors in geography (1) | Factual errors (6) | Revealing mistakes (1) | Spoilers (1)
Character error
On several occasions, Maya pronounces the city of Peshawar "PESH-a-war". The correct pronunciation, even by Westerners, is "peh-SHOWER". An expert in that region would certainly know that.
Continuity
At the start of the water-boarding scene, During Dan's second interrogation of Ammar, he puts on gloves to adjust the rope, and then 10 seconds later when he picks up the towel the gloves are missing. When they are on the floor the gloves are back in his pocket.
When the Jordanian CIA asset is approaching the camp, he is in a white car, is waved through security, zig zags through the concrete barriers, but when it pulls up to the building, it is dark red.
Errors in geography
When they are chasing the messenger down in the streets of 'Pakistan' there is a wide view of the street and you can clearly see an Indian flag flying in the background.
Factual errors
During the raid on bin Laden's compound, some neighboring houses are shown with lights going on in different rooms as the neighbors become aware of the activity in the compound. In Mark Owen's book, "No Easy Day" and also in the reports on the raid from the New York Times, all the electricity in the neighborhood had been cut a short time before the start of the raid.
The breed of dog used in the actual capture of Osama Bin Laden was a Belgian Malinois. The breed of dog used in the movie is a German Shepherd.
The QRF helicopter in which the SEALs are extracted is shown to be a single, MH-6OK Black Hawk when in fact the QRF consisted of three Chinook helicopters from the 160th SOAR. Most likely MH-47e.
For the 7/7 London bus bomb the movie clearly shows a bus marked 172 to St Paul's. A few scenes late the TV commentator on the news channel refers to it as the number 10 bus. The actual bus the blew up was the number 30. Also at the time three bombs had gone off on London Underground meaning there would have been emergency vehicle sirens sounding in the area not the quiet of a normal day.
When the CIA agent asks help from his Kuwaiti asset in Kuwait city, the setting is in a bar, with girls dancing and drinks in hand. Alcohol is still strictly forbidden and there are no bars or dance clubs in Kuwait.
Pakistanis speak Urdu, English and other regional languages and not Arabic.
Revealing mistakes
At the start of the Area-51 scene, an aircraft engineer is using a ratchet spanner/wrench - the sound when he turns the wrench is the ratchet (free/no-torque) so the nut/bolt is not being turned. However he then removes the spanner/wrench from the nut/bolt and performs the same action again (clicking the ratchet). The nut/bolt would never be turned if this was actually what was happening.
Factual errors
In the movie, Bin Laden's beard is gray. In former ST6 member Mark Owen's book about the raid on Bin Laden's compound, he expresses surprise to see that when actually standing over UBL's body his beard had been dyed jet black.
Filming Locations
London, England, UK
(London and Washington, DC scenes)
Patiala, Punjab, India
Manimajra Fort, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
(Abottabad, Pakistan)
Chandigarh, Punjab, India
(Lahore, Pakistan)
Amman, Jordan
(Islamabad, Pakistan)
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