- Sensibility: The relationship between the members of the bomb squad is a bit odd, and the choices the team makes are reprehensible but go curiously unpunished.
- Cinematography: Costuming and production design are major highlights. Some good use of slow-motion, even if it is over-used. Some hits and some misses on sound design in a movie that is quite hard to get just right auditorily.
- Energy: The film does a great job of maintaining tension during the bomb defusings, but fails to keep that push going through the rest.
- Narrative: Conceptually strong in the opening, but the story feels like it runs out of ideas about halfway through, with the recklessness and valor losing its glamor. A thought-provoking ending is interesting but feels commonplace in movies of the veteran genre. The characters aren't complicated or detailed enough to merit the film's run-time and makes the film disappointingly predictable.
- T-Points: The film received one bonus point for a slow-motion capture of a bomb detonation.
This is one of those films that has a prescient and relevant story for the time and gets lauded for it. However, it has little value elsewhere. Blends in with a lot of other films in the genre.
Number of Watches: 1
