Top Ten Modern Military Movies #2

 Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Remarkably, Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to The Hurt Locker fared even better than its predecessor. Zero Dark Thirty dramatizes the most well-known military operation in modern history, the hunt for Osama bin Laden in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Despite controversy over its interrogation scenes, Zero Dark Thirty is a riveting exploration of the hunt for the world’s most nefarious terrorist leader, led by the mesmerizing Jessica Chastain.

Once again Bigelow showed her penchant for dramatically laced action sequences in the culminating siege of bin Laden’s hideout, and the utter anti-climactic nature of it all. Though The Hurt Locker resisted commentary on the War on Terror, Zero Dark Thirty is much more direct in questioning if the price we paid to get Bin Laden was worth it.