bluelionman

Watching this I had a real sense of déjà vu. I recall seeing the very same plot in a British TV mimi-series when I was a teenager many years ago. The characters names, the plot, the facility name - everything exactly the same but of course now you have an A list actor (Mel Gibson) and it's now set in the good ol' US of A rather than England. However I am almost sure the English mini series was better, far more tension as the plot unfolded and twists occurred. I even liked the lead (Bob Peck) more as the troubled detective.

So what is it - why do the US insist on remaking British films and TV series to set them in the US rather than just show the originals over there - it's not as if we speak a foreign language is it?

Why not just make something new - of your own?

But I digress - on it's own this film is probably a 5 rating if you've not seen the original. I am notoriously tight with my stars so 5 is worth watching. 4 is if you have nothing better to do - but trust me seek out the original British TV mini series of the same name staring Bob Peck as Detective Craven from 1985. Yes it's dated but from memory it's better than this film version.

This is the series that finally got me to subscribe to Netflix for the first time - as I could not find this series elsewhere on line with English subtitles - that I need as I don't speak Turkish. I wanted to see this ever since I see a film online with the same title that seemed good but confusing as it seemed to jump straight into like the middle of a plot and I had no idea what was going on, who the bad guys were and who the good guys were.

Turns out the film is the ending to this TV series - funny thing is Netflix doesn't carry the film and so after I see this series I then had to go find the film again elsewhere to re-watch it. Doing research online the film is like the final two episodes as the series was so popular in Turkey that the producers made the final two episodes into a theatrical film and released it in cinemas there. Really it should be an 8 part TV series online in my oponion as seeing the series without the ending of the film cheats you as it doesn't finish the story and seeing the film without the preceeding TV series you have no idea who's who and not what's really going on behind the scenes and why people are acting as they are against one another though the action is still good.

The plot revolves around the lives of Turkey's Police Special Operations Teams, covering several years of Turkish history beginning in 2014. A really intense show with very good subplots telling a good story about both the sacrifices soldiers and police make for the innocent civillian populus and the threats faced internally by differing polotical factions from the perspective of those same soldiers / police. It shows the real face of war against terrorism both foreign and domestic, along with the high cost paid by those who choose to serve. I get the feeling this is losely based on real events within Turkey, failed coup attemps and what have you.