Review of Bravo Two Zero

Introduction

A friend lent me the book "Bravo Two Zero" many years ago and I found it to be suprisingly enthralling. When the feature length film of the book was originally transmitted on BBC television, I watched and enjoyed it.

To summarise, an eight man SAS patrol led by Andy McNab (Sean Bean) is dropped behind enemy lines during the Gulf War with the objective of destroying a communications cable. After stumbling onto more resistance than planned for, four of the patrol are eventually captured and held by the Iraqis.

Interestingly, the liner notes tell you that McNab was the British Army`s most decorated serving soldier when he left the SAS in 1993.

According to the packaging, the film was originally transmitted in two parts on the 3rd and 4th of January 1999 - but I could have sworn it was longer ago!

Video

The video is in anamorphic widescreen at a ratio of 16x9.

This is a relatively low budget production and many of the establishing shots early on in the film are just rehashes of various news footage taken during the Gulf War. Unfortunately, most of this was taken with camcorders etc as the news companies didn`t want £50,000 cameras out in a war zone and the result is a lot of grain on some of the shots.

The actual filmed parts of the movie are of reasonable quality but some of the special effects and explosions look a bit on the cheap side.

The locations used in general look authentic and add to the atmosphere of the film.

The make up artists however do a very good job of making the tortured characters look in pain!

Audio

Made for BBC TV, we were never going to get a Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS soundtrack - instead we are presented with Dolby Digital Stereo.

In general, the sound quality is good with a good atmosphere created by the two speakers used. For the most part, dialogue is clear and understandable.

There is some music which again adds to the tension but would really have much better with all 5.1 channels in action.

There is a great deal of gunfire and explosions, all of which sound pretty good.

Features

There is an interview with Andy McNab, TV advert and behind the scenes training footage on the disc.

The interview is interesting with McNab explaining how he was suprised by the success of the book and he then goes to to give some background to his career etc.

In addition, the liner booklet provides some information on McNab and the history of the SAS.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed watching this film again, although it does look low-budget in a number of areas - particularly in the use of low quality news footage and an early scene where the patrol are in a helicopter that attracts the attention of a missile.

Visually the film is above average and the sound is good despite being only stereo. The extras are also above average for a made-for-tv film.

Content wise, it is a good story, well acted by the cast and the film holds your interest through the 112 minute running time.

There`s a fairly high body count and some violence during the interrogation, but being a BBC production, there`s nothing over the top.

Overall, anyone who enjoyed the book and didn`t see the film when it was broadcast or repeated whould have a look at this DVD. Fans of action/military movies will also enjoy it.