French journalist Elsa Cassanova (Diane Kruger) is investigating the crimes of Taliban warlord Ahmed Zaief (Raz Degan) when she is abducted and sentenced to death. The French government sends an elite squad of soldiers to find Elsa and bring her home. However, the soldiers soon discover that freeing Elsa is only part of the battle–they still need to get her out of the country, and Zaief is relentless in his pursuit to get her back. Commander Kovax (Djimon Hounsou) and his small force of five men must now take on Zaief’s seemingly endless army of soldiers as they make their way through tough terrains and extreme climates with little food or water.

Special Forces has a lot of great action and some really intense fighting scenes. But at its core, the film focuses on the drama and relationships among the soldiers and Elsa. These soldiers are like brothers who would do anything for one another; they love their job and would risk their own lives for it, and to save this woman. On the other side, we see Zaief’s overwhelming pride that won’t allow him to let a woman get the best of him—and he will stop at nothing to get her back.

The film’s battle sequences hold nothing back, and get a tad gruesome at times, but not overly so. I really liked that the film gives you the sense that this is a real battle and that no one is truly safe—you don’t know who, if anyone, is going to survive. However, there are a couple scenes where the viewer needs to suspend disbelief—such as one where an individual soldier is being chased by over a dozen men. He keeps stopping to turn and shoot at the men, and yet they never catch up to him, and he somehow doesn’t get hit.

At times Special Forces mixes in some light social commentary, but it never feels overly-preachy. Rather, it is used well to make the viewer think more about what is going on. For example, we are told in one scene that Zaief’s men are fighting because they have to and not because they believe in his extremist ways. And there is another scene where the soldiers come upon a village and are told that the people will help them because they always give hospitality, even to those on the opposite side.

The acting performances in Special Forces are quite impressive. Diane Kruger, Djimon Hounsou—and all of the other actors playing the soldiers—get to show off many sides to their characters. From deep emotional scenes to lighter comedy and action-packed stunts—and none of them used stunt doubles! Raz Degan, who played the menacing Ahmed Zaief, also did an incredible job bringing life to this rage-filled, seemingly emotion-less killer.

This is a French film and while there is some English spoken in the film, it is primarily in French. The preferrable audio track on this blu-ray is definitely the excellent French DTS-HD Master Audio track, which provides a much richer experience for the viewer than the DD 2.0 English dub. The surround sound really brings the viewer into the action and drama of the film—from the sound of bullets whizzing by to the amazing soundtrack, ranging from soft and hard rock to choral music, that really sets the tone of the scenes. I would avoid the English dub at all costs—not only is it distracting that the mouths don’t line up with the dialog, but the performances and even the dialog itself were really poor. Also, with the Dub only being a stereo audio track, the movie itself loses a lot of the excitement and emotion you get when encompassed by the audio.

Overall I enjoyed Special Forces. The film has a nice mix of action and drama, and looks beautiful. Aurally matching the visual esthetics is a haunting choral score, and rock soundtrack. The Blu-ray also contains a really interesting feature-length Making-Of feature, making this release easy to recommended.

What’s Included:

Film (1:48:55)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: French 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English DD 2.0
• English, English SDH, French SDH subtitles

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: French DD 5.1, English 2.0
• English, English SDH, French SDH subtitles

Extras:

• Making Of (1:31:90) *Only on Blu-ray
  Impressive feature-length documentary on the making of the film. The director of the film narrates the footage of the long process of getting this film made—from scouting the locations and the actors’ combat training to the filming and scoring of the film. Primarily in French with English subtitles.
• Deleted Scenes (5:29)
  Seven deleted scenes from the film. In French with English subtitles.
• Marius (3:30)
  Footage of Marius (a 22-year Naval commando who appears in the film) at work training young soldiers and doing his scenes.

Final Thoughts:

Overall I enjoyed this film. While it’s not a non-stop action film, it is a nice blend of human drama, action and political/social commentary. The picture quality is excellent—no matter what terrain or climate we are taken to. The audio, on the other hand, is a mixed bag—the original French audio track is excellent, but the English dub is flat and poorly-acted.

I was really impressed by the special features on the blu-ray. The feature length documentary on the blu-ray release is an excellent look into the entire process of making the film. It is more in-depth than anything I could have hoped for in a behind-the-scenes featurette.

I’d recommend checking out the Blu-ray of Special Forces as it’s an entertaining film, with some great performances, and an excellent sountrack and a really interesting Blu-ray exclusive making-of documentary.