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[GK86]

Trailer here.

THE SIEGE OF JADOTVILLE tells the true story of the 1961 siege of a 150-member Irish U.N. battalion under Commander Patrick Quinlan by 3,000 Congolese troops, led by French and Belgian mercenaries working for mining companies. Jamie Dornan plays the Irish commander Patrick Quinlan while Guillaume Canet plays a French commander Falques. On Netflix October 7.

 

[jack_package_200]

Hopefully this is better than the garbage fire that was Netflix's XOXO

Will watch.

 

[WolfForager]

I thought Jamie Dornan would be able to do a better Kerry accent than that. Looks good though.

 

[Funky Papa]

Hyped as fuck.

Post-colonial Africa is a hell of a setting that pretty much nobody has dared to touch. The Wikipedia has a good article about this particular mess: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jadotville

A combined force of white mercenaries, Belgian settlers and local tribesmen attacked the Irish. They had a strength of 3,000 to as many as 5,000 men, mostly bands of Luba warriors but also many regular French, Belgian and Rhodesian mercenaries armed with a mix of light and heavy armament. They also had air support in the form of a Fouga Magister trainer jet fitted with underwing bombs and machine guns. The Irish UN soldiers had, for the most part, only light personal weapons, a small number of antiquated water-cooled Vickers machine guns, and 60mm mortars. The besieged Irish radioed to their headquarters: "We will hold out until our last bullet is spent. Could do with some whiskey".[7]

I'd also love to watch something covering Operation Dragon Rouge, although good luck trying to portray a bunch of nasty ex colonial powers supported by white mercernaries as the good guys.

 

[phazedplasma]

Just read the wiki. Crazy story. (spoiler alert if you go there)

 

[tomtom94]

Great cast. I'm surprised to learn it's a first-time director, at least according to imdB. Could be another Beasts of No Nation if they play it right.

 

[Oriel]

Looking forward to this. Jadotville isn't something widely known in Ireland despite the heroics of the Irish forces in the Congo at the time so here's hoping it will renew interest in a subject largely ignored here.

 

[captjohnboyd]

Damn. Netflix stays putting out original content. Speaking of...funky papa when is the new last kingdom season supposed to premier?

 

[Not Spaceghost]

I was actually just reading about this like 3 months ago, I really hope that they go into all the post battle stuff that happened it's so interesting.

 

[Funky Papa]

Damn. Netflix stays putting out original content. Speaking of...funky papa when is the new last kingdom season supposed to premier?

I couldn't tell, I'm afraid I don't follow that one.

 

[captjohnboyd]

I couldn't tell, I'm afraid I don't follow that one.

Hrrm? I thought I remembered you posting in the last kingdom thread fairly often. And you broke the news (on neogaf anyway) that Netflix had picked up the second season.

 

[Walpurgis]

Hrrm? I thought I remembered you posting in the last kingdom thread fairly often. And you broke the news (on neogaf anyway) that Netflix had picked up the second season.

What?! Awesome.

 

[Mollymauk]

If you are curious about the history of the Congo I suggest King Leopold's Ghost. Harrowing story.

 

[GK86]

Hyped as fuck.

Post-colonial Africa is a hell of a setting that pretty much nobody has dared to touch. The Wikipedia has a good article about this particular mess: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jadotville



I'd also love to watch something covering Operation Dragon Rouge, although good luck trying to portray a bunch of nasty ex colonial powers supported by white mercernaries as the good guys.

The setting is one of the main reasons I'm interested in watching this. On top of which, this is a story I have never heard before. I hope it is good.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Did some reading about this at the UN section of a military museum here in Dublin, so it's great to see that Netflix are putting this out.

 

[Herne]

It's a story that deserves to be told, so kudos to Netflix. Looking forward to it.

 

[Gaz_RB]

This looks really amazing. Looking forward to its release, as this is quite the fresh setting.

 

[Brian Fellows]

Looks good. I'm in.

 

[Decado]

Sweet. Love many of the projects Netflix have been producing. Hopefully they can keep it up.

 

[WedgeX]

Looking forward to this.

 

[captjohnboyd]

What?! Awesome.

Yeah actually it's a co production between BBC2 and Netflix. That's why Netflix recently started streaming the first season. It's a travesty, if you ask me, how few people have watched that show. It's prob one of my favorite shows of the last couple of years. Insane amounts of fun, realistic battles and tactics, history, and wonderfully executed action, acting and humor. Hopefully second season will be popular enough to warrant more

 

[Walpurgis]

Yeah actually it's a co production between BBC2 and Netflix. That's why Netflix recently started streaming the first season. It's a travesty, if you ask me, how few people have watched that show. It's prob one of my favorite shows of the last couple of years. Insane amounts of fun, realistic battles and tactics, history, and wonderfully executed action, acting and humor. Hopefully second season will be popular enough to warrant more

Netflix should move that Marco Polo money to The Last Kingdom. 😎

 

[captjohnboyd]

Netflix should move that Marco Polo money to The Last Kingdom. 😎

Fuck yes. I actually enjoyed MP to an extent (sort of shut off my brain entertainment) but LK is on a whole other level. If they can get a decent enough budget to kick up those battle scenes a little more it may inch into my top 2 shows. I'm just a sucker for historically accurate battle tactics

 

[harSon]

Fuck yes. I actually enjoyed MP to an extent (sort of shut off my brain entertainment) but LK is on a whole other level. If they can get a decent enough budget to kick up those battle scenes a little more it may inch into my top 2 shows. I'm just a sucker for historically accurate battle tactics

Yeah, the front flip over a shield formation is underutilized in film and television

 

[Funky Papa]

I just learned that the film was recently premiered in Ireland. Did some Irish gaffer manage to watch it?

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

If you are curious about the history of the Congo I suggest King Leopold's Ghost. Harrowing story.

Phenomenal book.

 

[Herne]

Just watched this last night. Great film I thought, very entertaining and more so because it's a true story. Dornan did well as Quinlan, though his Kerry accent was a bit... extremely not-Kerryish.

 

[MisterFalcon]

It was pretty entertaining, beautifully shot and a compelling story. Mark Strong's character was such an asshole though, spouting 'I'm a shitty politician' stereotypes throughout. From a comment on IMDB it seemed they took some liberties with historical accuracy

Spoiler

the main one being the American F4 Phantom shooting down Dag Hammarsjjold's plane. The Phantom had just entered service in the US and was not used by the Katangans or any other African nation

 

[Skellig Gra]

Watched it last night, I had never really heard of this incident until recently. Will definitely be showing to my son when he grows up a little as he is half Irish. The one criticism which I think is valid is there is so little shown about what is going on with the local population. A movie set almost entirely in Africa and there is like 5 minutes of screen time for them.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

It was pretty entertaining, beautifully shot and a compelling story. Mark Strong's character was such an asshole though, spouting 'I'm a shitty politician' stereotypes throughout. From a comment on IMDB it seemed they took some liberties with historical accuracy

Spoiler

the main one being the American F4 Phantom shooting down Dag Hammarsjjold's plane. The Phantom had just entered service in the US and was not used by the Katangans or any other African nation

Sounds absolutely spot on...

 

[GifGafIsTheBestGaf]

i enjoyed it as well, it was a well done job and liked all the performances in the movie

 

[Enduin]

Pretty good little movie on a very interesting and unfortunate event.

Thought Christian Grey did a great job as Quinlan, didn't even know it was him. Mark Strong was OK, but not a lot of development. Same for the Michael McElhatton's character as the general. Felt like the movie could have used another 20-30 minutes to flesh setting and surrounding conflict to provide better context, but I'm guessing the budget for this was pretty tiny and they wanted to focus on the troops and siege which was the most important part and they did a great job with it.

 

[jack_package_200]

Pretty good little movie on a very interesting and unfortunate event.

Thought Christian Grey did a great job as Quinlan, didn't even know it was him. Mark Strong was OK, but not a lot of development. Same for the Michael McElhatton's character as the general. Felt like the movie could have used another 20-30 minutes to flesh setting and surrounding conflict to provide better context, but I'm guessing the budget for this was pretty tiny and they wanted to focus on the troops and siege which was the most important part and they did a great job with it.

Having just watched it, I think these points really sum it up.

It was a lot better than I expected

 

[Evolved1]

Movie started really strong. First 20 - 30 mins was A+, but it dropped off a cliff after the first gunshots.

The combat was not good, not well shot or choreographed and characters either stopped developing, or more often, became caricatures. And it got pretty corny at the end.

Wanted to like this. Started great. Ended as a dud. Wouldn't recommend.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Having just watched it, I think these points really sum it up.

It was a lot better than I expected

Having also just watched it, I'll third these sentiments.

Quite good, made for a good movie to watch with my da, who has vague memories of it.