- Director : Johnny Strong, William Kaufman
- Actors : Johnny Strong, Athena Durner, Raj Kala, James Sherrill, Siya Rostami
- Language : English (DTS 5.1)
- Studio : Well Go Usa
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Package Dimensions : 6.73 x 5.39 x 0.55 inches; 3 Ounces
- Number of discs : 1
- Media Format : Subtitled, Widescreen
- Run time : 2 hours and 6 minutes
- Release date : November 7, 2023
Though the specifics may vary some, survival
narratives with tough men of violence protecting innocent children have become
increasingly common in films from multiple countries and existing within several
genres. Even the recently released science fiction film 65 follows this
formula. Warhorse One doesn’t have a genre revision of the formula and
is just a straightforward survival film set within recent history, but that
doesn’t make the film any more believable than a sci-fi film with dinosaurs. Unfortunately,
despite some decent efforts at staging the film’s violence, the narrative
always feels contrived and attempts emotional manipulation with the youngest
cast member.
Set during the
2021 withdrawal of the United States military from Afghanistan, Warhorse One
follows the lone survivor of a crashed SEAL team helicopter as he struggles to
complete his mission. Master Chief Richard Mirko (Johnny Strong) finds a young
American girl named Zoe Walters (Athena Durner) whose family was killed by the
hostile insurgents determined to hunt her down too. Although the dedication to kill
this young girl is never fully explained, it provides the opportunity for Mirko
to be the hero and protect her from the enemy depicted as nothing short of pure
evil.
Despite the
predictable and formulaic nature of the story, Warhorse One drags it out
in a run-time that is easily 30 minutes longer than it needs to be, with plenty
of repetitive scenes of running and shooting. Along the way the trained soldier
inevitably develops a bond with the young girl he is saving, depicted through
endless scenes of painfully forced dialogue with the inexperienced child actress
cast in the role. One of the rules of inexperienced filmmakers is not to work
with animals or children, and Strong also unwisely attempts to act while also
earning his first co-directing credit.
The drama in the
film feels contrived in the way you might expect from someone attempting to
emulate other movies rather than coming from a place of realism or creative
storytelling. While the action is more effectively staged (assuming one can
accept the CGI muzzle flares), even these sequences become repetitive over the
126-minute run time. In short, although Warhorse One seems to have noble
intentions with its themes, the final result feels much more like a vanity
project that got out of hand. I’m glad Strong had the power to depict himself
as a noble hero, complete with cover art that blatantly rips off the poster for
American Soldier, but this will work better for his acting reel than as
a piece of entertainment.
The Blu-ray release
includes a director’s commentary featurette that did little to change my mind
about the filmmaking, in addition the theatrical trailer. Although the high
definition does little to improve the film, it does highlight the effectiveness
of the locations chosen by the production.
Entertainment Value:
3.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4/10
Historical
Significance: 0/10
Special Features: 4/10
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