In 2021, the United States decided to withdraw its military forces from a 20-year war in Afghanistan, leaving many American citizens trapped inside the country’s borders. Navy SEAL Team Warhorse is on a mission in a village in the Kunar Province when they are redirected to help evacuate a small group of American missionaries. Their helicopter is gunned down by an RPG, but Master Chief Richard Mirko (Johnny Strong), aka Warhorse One, manages to escape before the copter crashes and kills the rest of his team. Now he is on his own, behind enemy lines, with many hostile Taliban insurgents in pursuit. While he wants to go find the soldiers who killed his team, he must stay on the mission, and find and help the missionaries. He soon discovers that the only survivor is a 5-year-old girl named Zoe (Athena Durner), but he is determined to help get this girl to safety. Together they brave the tough Afghanistan wilderness, making their way up the mountain, being hunted by a seemingly-endless gauntlet of hostiles who want them dead.
While Warhorse One is probably a bit longer than it needs to be, I found it to be quite entertaining. I enjoyed the relationship between this solider and the young girl. Mirko is still reeling and grieving over the loss of his unit, and now he finds himself paired with this little girl who has just experienced the same thing with her own family. He’s not really sure how to act around her, so he initially treats her like a soldier, pretty much telling her to man up and head out. Later he tells her to Rack Out when it’s time to get some sleep. But as they make their journey through the woods, he finds her growing on him, and they form this bond. He tells her bedtime stories, and teaches her survival skills like how to throw a knife. They often find themselves under attack, and he becomes like a John Rambo, single-handedly taking down group after group of armed insurgents.
The action sequences are really well done, and often pretty tense and intense—there was one scene that literally made me jump. The action feels quite realistic, especially as we see the impact of the spraying bullets on walls and rocks. Though these Taliban soldiers seem to be really awful shots (they must have gone to stormtrooper training school!). Kill shots are quick and have enough blood to sell the action, but the camera doesn’t linger, so they don’t feel excessively gory. During the action sequences, the filmmakers make use of quick cuts and tight camera angles to increase the intensity and excitement and put the viewer right in the action. The filmmakers find a nice balance between the drama and the action, giving time for the characters to bond and deal with their losses, in-between the big action set pieces like a leap into the river, numerous shootouts, and an incredibly tense rescue mission to close out the movie.
The picture looks very clean, with a really nice level of detail. Some of the wide landscape shots looks incredibly beautiful. My one complaint is that there is an inconsistency to the color tone of the film. Sometimes the lighting looks more white and natural, while other times there is this orange or red hue to the film, especially in faces. I found this to be slightly distracting at times, especially in one scene where two of the insurgents are talking to one another, and it constantly switches back and forth between two angles where one has the more natural look and the other the red hue. Special effects look great, making the gunfire, kills and blood look realistic.
The film’s audio track sounds great, providing clear dialogue throughout (the hostile soldiers speak in Arabic with English subtitles). The track also makes nice use of the stereo and surround channels to give the action sequences an immersive feel, with the sound of gunfire filling the room. The film has a pretty captivating score, which runs the gamut from ethereal to rock to something that I can only describe as electronic bagpipes. Whatever the music, it usually fits well with what’s going on on screen, helping to highlight the emotions of the characters, or amp up the intensity of the action.
Well Go’s Blu-ray releases tend to be a bit barebones, but this one includes an hour-long director’s commentary featurette where the writer/director/star of the film provides some interesting insight into the making of the movie. The disc also contains the film’s trailer and some previews for three other Well Go releases as bonus material. The Blu-ray comes packed in a locking HD keepcase. There is no digital copy, but our review copy did include a nice slipcover with an embossed title.
What’s Included:
Film: (2:05:49)
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Blu-ray:
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: English DTS-HDMA 5.1, English Stereo
- Subtitles: English SDH
Extras:
- Director’s Commentary Featurette (58:10)
Writer/director/star Johnny Strong (“Master Chief Richard Mirko”) provides an interesting and informative behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, talking about how scenes were shot, how the story changed over time, the cast, the controversy surrounding the opening sequence, filming the big, dangerous leap of faith scene in the river, and more. The commentary takes place over an edited down version of the film, which also includes some cutaways to behind-the-scenes footage, such as the actors training for their knife-throwing scenes. - Trailer (2:21)
- Previews
- 3 Days in Malay (1:39)
- Kill Shot (1:13)
- Aporia (2:27)
Final Thoughts:
Warhorse One is an entreating and adrenaline-filled action movie that follows a skilled soldier on a one-man mission to rescue a young girl from behind enemy lines while being pursued by a seemingly-endless army of insurgents. Not only does the film include some exiting action sequences that feel quite believable and realistic, but it also has some great underlying character drama and journeys. Well Go’s Blu-ray features excellent picture and sound—there’s some unevenness in the color tone of the film, but I don’t think that has anything to do with the Blu-ray itself. The disc also contains an interesting behind-the-scenes commentary from the writer/director/star. This release is definitely worth a look for fans of the genre. The film is also currently streaming on Peacock if folks want to check it out first before a blind buy.
Warhorse One
63% Off $29.98 $10.75 (as of October 31, 2024 11:55 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Warhorse One
59% Off $24.98 $10.22 (as of October 31, 2024 11:55 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Warhorse One
$2.99 (as of October 31, 2024 11:55 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
