Zero Dark Thirty

Name: Zero Dark Thirty
Genre: Action, Drama, History, Thriller
Released: December 19, 2012
Duration: 157 min
Rating: 95
Cast: Chris Pratt, Édgar Ramírez, Jason Clarke, Jennifer Ehle, Jessica Chastain

2012

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 46 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 1249 Ratings

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6.9

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6.9	Your Score
6.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 1249 Ratings

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Zero Dark Thirty

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Movie Details & Credits

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: December 19, 2012 | R

Starring: Chris Pratt, Édgar Ramírez, Jason Clarke, Jennifer Ehle, Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Mark Strong

Summary: For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. [Columbia Pictures]

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Genre(s): Action, Drama, History, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 157 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Film.com Stephanie Zacharek

Feb 27, 2013

Zero Dark Thirty is precise, definitive filmmaking, yet Bigelow refuses to hand over easy answers. Some people call that evasion. I call it the ultimate despair. Read full review

100

Steven Rea

Jan 3, 2013

A monumental achievement that documents a coordinated and complicated response to a monumental tragedy. Read full review

100

IndieWire Eric Kohn

Nov 27, 2012

Bigelow delivers an acute realization of the mission's execution that's eerily in sync with the way it played in the popular imagination. Visually, the events unfold as a mashup of shadowy movements with flashes of green night vision. It's simultaneously predictable and tense. Read full review

100

Steve Persall

Jan 9, 2013

The last thing we see in Zero Dark Thirty is Maya's face and it is also ours, silently crying tears of reflection. Read full review

Dana Stevens

Dec 14, 2012

It's only at the very beginning and the very end that Zero Dark Thirty functions (brilliantly) as a ripped-from-the-headlines political thriller. Much of the rest of the time, it's a workplace drama about a woman so good at her job that most of her colleagues think she's crazy. Read full review

Lawrence Toppman

Jan 10, 2013

Zero Dark Thirty, like the mission that inspired it, commands respect, admiration, even awe in places for the logistical nightmares that had to be overcome to get it done. But it's a hard movie to love. Read full review

Rex Reed

Dec 18, 2012

As a realistic political thriller about Americans in harm's way it is not half as suspenseful or entertaining as "Argo." We may never know the truth about how we found bin Laden, but I still believe what we do know makes a strong enough story on its own without Wonder Woman. Read full review

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User Reviews

MarcDoyle

Dec 20, 2012

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Simply outstanding. Kathryn Bigelow, now that she's made the character-driven Hurt Locker and this phenomenally-paced thriller, has positioned herself as the dramatic chronicler of record in modern American warfare. No, she's not covering this stuff comprehensively, but the dramatic choices she makes, the slices she and her writers have focused on, so effectively tell the story of this era that I was thinking that we're lucky to have her as the credits of ZDT rolled. Chastain, the chameleon, is terrific in the film and will rightly be praised through the awards season. But I want to give special praise to Jason Clarke, who I've appreciated so thoroughly in Brotherhood and The Chicago code - he was an inspired casting choice. The enhanced interrogation sequences are technically no more difficult to watch than similar scenes in other films (most recently Safe House), but Clarke's ability to represent the interrogator's calculated pinballing between brutality and humanity is powerful. It's not a short movie, but I was riveted throughout. My audience gave the film a modest round of applause. I think they were more stunned by what they had just seen than anything else.… Expand

25 of 49 users found this helpful2524

marioiker03

Apr 27, 2013

Zero Dark Thirty is a perfect film a movie that reflects America's patriotism and faith in a woman wanting to capture the most wanted man in the world dotod is a movie full of action drama and a magnificent Final voltage Jessica Chastain this spectacular

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

Marick

Dec 1, 2014

It is one of the best films. The concept of the film is awesome, especially since it is based on realitate.Merita seen anyway. Very good movie about the army.

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

denizenX

Jan 12, 2013

This is a well directed, we'll acted DRAMA that will probably (and unfortunately) win the Oscarfor best ppicture because of its subject matter. It isn't uber-patriotic but still left me feeling as though I had taken in a one-sided, based account of said events. The screenplay is at timesThis is a well directed, we'll acted DRAMA that will probably (and unfortunately) win the Oscarfor best ppicture because of its subject matter. It isn't uber-patriotic but still left me feeling as though I had taken in a one-sided, based account of said events. The screenplay is at times gripping and much like it's predecessor, the hurt Locker, the cinematography and performances are excellent. If you go into this expecting an action-thriller, you'll leave satisfied. If you're looking for an accurate historical account, I'd advise looking elsewhere.… Expand

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

PumpedupKicks

Dec 14, 2018

Zero Dark Thirty is a long, and sometimes boring, movie of the capture of osama bin laden. The movie has a very promising storyline but i feel it was unnecessarily dragged and could have had a runtime of just over 2 hours. Its slow pace gave away my interest and that's where it took aZero Dark Thirty is a long, and sometimes boring, movie of the capture of osama bin laden. The movie has a very promising storyline but i feel it was unnecessarily dragged and could have had a runtime of just over 2 hours. Its slow pace gave away my interest and that's where it took a beating. the final manhunt mission is too dark to be seen (literally!) and i didn't enjoy it either.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

RoosterJuice

Feb 3, 2013

I generally hold critical opinion in high regard. So I was extremely disappointed to discover that the critics were absolutely wrong about this movie. This must go down as by far the most overrated movie of all time. It reminded me of a 2.5 hour episode of 24, with more realistic combat,I generally hold critical opinion in high regard. So I was extremely disappointed to discover that the critics were absolutely wrong about this movie. This must go down as by far the most overrated movie of all time. It reminded me of a 2.5 hour episode of 24, with more realistic combat, but similarly fictional depictions of torture. I certainly don't need a movie to be exciting all the way through (hell, I love Downton Abbey), but Zero Dark Thirty is anti climactic, and overall quite boring on ALL levels. While I don't agree with romaticizing torture, I would never let that aspect effect my judgement of the movie. The movie just sucks. There's really no other way to describe it. It sucks. It's basically everything the Hurt Locker is not.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Nousernames

Dec 27, 2016

I don't know how so many people gave this good reviews. The acting is painful, the writing horrid, the camera angles are trying to be artsy and failing. Don't watch this movie unless you like to watch awkwardly shot torture scenes followed by long discussions...about said torture.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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2	#2 Best Movie of 2012
11	#11 Most Discussed Movie of 2012
8	#8 Most Shared Movie of 2012