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SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden Reviews

Demonstrates with its narrative lassitude and overall dullness just how much Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal did right.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Mar 8, 2013

In the end it's really just schlocky television fare like "Act of Valor"...

Full Review | Jan 17, 2013

If you want a proficient, dramatized re-enactment of the May 1 - 2, 2011 mission to kill Osama bin Laden, Seal Team Six meets the bill

Full Review | Dec 16, 2012

Seal Team 6 could only rate as propaganda in a toxic, Fox News-driven political environment such as obtains at this moment.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 6, 2012

Not great, not terrible -- just your standard-issue TV movie about a well-known historic event.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Nov 2, 2012

A movie that feels like a documentary at times, a cheesy docudrama at others and some kind of slapped-together film that wants to be taken seriously as well.

Full Review | Oct 30, 2012

Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden

This slapdash effort about the operation to get the terrorist mastermind seems unlikely to win hearts and minds, and despite decent moments as it vamps killing time, barely manages to keep eyes open.

By Brian Lowry

Brian Lowry

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National Geographic Channel seldom finds itself thrust into the national conversation, much less accused of trying to sway a presidential election. And once people see “ Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden ” — the quickie movie at the center of the controversy — many will no doubt wonder what the fuss was all about. Essentially an extended episode of “24” augmented by actual news video and photos, this slapdash effort about the operation to get the terrorist mastermind seems unlikely to win hearts and minds, and despite decent moments as it vamps killing time, barely manages to keep eyes open.

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The film became a political football thanks to the decision to air it prior to the election, and the role of producer/Obama supporter Harvey Weinstein. The combination has caused some conservatives to object, and NatGeo to defensively insist this isn’t just thinly veiled propaganda for the current administration.

Popular on Variety

Stripped of that context, “ Seal Team Six ” primarily feels like the get-there-first answer to the upcoming Kathryn Bigelow feature “Zero Dark Thirty,” which was put into development before Bin Laden’s death and thus handed a genuine ending.

Directed by John Stockwell from a script by Kendall Lampkin, the telepic employs various devices a charitable sort would say are designed to create an aura of authenticity, including direct-to-camera interviews with characters, news-program style, and interview snippets featuring President Obama, as well as photos of him looking intense and determined.

A cynic, though, will actually see most of that as a means of covering up the modest budget, and stringing along a thriller where everyone knows the outcome, if not the details.

As constructed, the story focuses on members of the Seal Team, known only by “The Outsiders”-like nicknames, such as Stunner and Cherry, as well as the CIA analysts whose intel made the operation possible. Fine actors like William Fichtner , Robert Knepper and Anson Mount lend some credibility, but almost all of it is paper-thin, relying on Paul Haslinger’s pulsating score to maintain and heighten a sense of tension.

A few strong scenes emerge, perhaps foremost when the Seals engage in video chats with folks back home prior to their mission. Still, each time they flash a graphic like “55 Days Till the Raid,” it merely reminds us the movie feels like a pretty long sit.

A narrower focus on one aspect of the raid — and either having actors play the President’s cabinet or keeping them offscreen entirely — might have helped the material resonate. Instead, even with the patriotic fervor surrounding these events, the movie’s scatter-gun approach deadens the whole exercise.

At one point, Fichtner’s character, a CIA agent, is pressed for concrete info pinpointing Bin Laden’s presence inside the compound.

“A hundred percent’s hard to come by these days,” he says tartly.

Fair enough, but even grading on a curve, giving “Seal Team Six” a passing grade requires a rose tint on one’s night-vision goggles.

Movie; National Geographic Channel, Sun. Nov. 4, 8 p.m.

• Production: Filmed in New Mexico and India by Voltage Pictures and presented by the Weinstein Co. and Voltage in association with Picture Perfect Corp. and Durban. Executive producers, Phillip B. Goldfine, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Meghan O'Hara; producers, Nicholas Chartier, Zev Foreman, Tony Mark; director, John Stockwell; writer, Kendall Lampkin.
• Crew: Camera, Peter A. Holland; production designer, Guy Barnes; editor, Ben Callahan; music, Paul Haslinger; casting, Nancy Nayor, Jo Edna Boldin. 120 MIN.
• Cast: Stunner - Cam Gigandet Cherry - Anson Mount Trench - Freddy Rodriguez Mule - Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner Vivian - Kathleen Robertson Christian - Eddie Kaye Thomas Sauce - Kenneth Miller Lt. Commander - Robert Knepper Mr. Guidry - William Fichtner

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'SEAL Team Six' review: Reduced the killing of Bin Laden to florid melodrama, with Obama as edited-in co-star

Editor-at-Large

The TV-movie SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Ladin , which aired on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday evening, turned the story of the hunt for and killing of Osama Bin Laden into a reasonably crisp little action film — it didn’t contain anything you didn’t know, and the dialogue sounded as though it had been checked out from a well-preserved World War II supply closet, but you couldn’t help but get caught up in the tense quality of the mission.

Directed by John Stockwell, the man who brought you that other daring mission, the search for Kate Bosworth’s bikini in Blue Crush (2002), SEAL Team Six featured a bunch of actors (including Hell On Wheels ‘ Anson Mount and Six Feet Under ‘s Freddy Rodriguez) playing composites of the real Navy SEAL team that executed Bin Laden on May 2, 2011, in Pakistan.

The production must have saved a few pennies on wardrobe and make-up for Kathleen Robertson, who portrayed CIA analyst Vivian Hollins, since Robertson wore the same severe eyeglasses, lip gloss, and spiky haircut as she does playing political operative Kitty on Starz’ Boss , also bringing with her the severely intelligent demeanor that serves her so well on that show.

Anything with Obama’s face that appears days before the election is going to be interpreted by many as pro -Obama, no matter what anyone says. Stockwell was aided by producer Harvey Weinstein, a Democratic supporter who reportedly supplied some money and editing advice to Six, but the movie didn’t play like a commercial for the reelection of Barack Obama. It plays like what it is — an only semi-factually-based military thriller, with footage and voiceover comments of Obama thrown in from time to time. The footage of Obama consisted primarily of his attendance at the White House Correspondents Dinner; the famous photograph of Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and others staring intently at film of the raid; and a snippet of his comments to the nation after Bin Laden had been killed. Anyone asserting that SEAL Team Six is a plug for Obama would have to admit that any such movie would have to show that someone was President when this mission occurred, and the script affixed no halo over Obama’s head — instead, it cast a glowing light upon the heroism of the SEALs.

Indeed, SEAL Team Six regularly risked pumping up the adoration of the men with bravery, guns, and rigorous training to an almost ridiculous degree. It’s one thing to present all these men as heroes, which they were. It’s another to spend so much time with brawny scenes of them wrestling and jockeying for primo macho status, and maudlin scenes of them telecommunicating with loved ones. And most flagrantly, there were facing-the-camera interviews with the SEALs and Vivian, telling us their innermost thoughts. Who was meant to be conducting these interviews? Was this a debriefing? A test run for a 60 Minutes feature?

Ultimately, the movie’s flaws were dramatic choices, not political ones.

Twitter: @kentucker

For More: ‘SEAL Team Six’ director John Stockwell: Q&A

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Movie Review – Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden

Principal cast : tait fletcher, cam gigandet, robert knepper, kenneth miller, anson mount, freddy rodriguez, xzibit, william fichtner, kristen rakes, kathleen robertson, rajesh shringarpure, eddie kaye thomas, mo gallini, jenny gabrielle, david house, saleem watley. synopsis:   a retelling of the cia search for, and eventual raid that killed, osama bin laden, the mastermind behind the september 11th 2001 terrorist attacks on the united states of america..

If there’s a modern example of an overt propaganda film made to capitalise on American nationalism, it’s Seal Team Six: The Raid On Osama Bin Laden . Part recruitment catalogue, part nationalist fist-pump, part hoo-rah fuck yeah escapism, John Stockwell’s Seal Team Six isn’t particularly gracious, is terribly xenophobic, and pares back the nuance and moral conundrums of big-screen brethren in Zero Dark Thirty to deliver a film so entrenched in American exceptionalism and blood-lust patriotism it’s actually almost embarrassing that the film is available to audiences now on Netflix. As shallow a cliff-notes combinative effort to deliver a showcase of Operation Neptune Spear as you’re likely to get, this is heartland heroism at its finest for American audiences, asking little by way of an intelligent approach or a subtle, detailed motivation, as a perfunctory 90 minutes delivers everything you “need” to know as it crescendos to those famous words: “For God and country, Geronimo is KIA”.

The hunt for Osama Bin Laden, leader of terrorist group al-Qaeda and mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America that destroyed the World Trade Centre, heavily damaged the Pentagon, and killed some three thousand people, was a decade-long operation by the FBI, CIA and any number of intelligence agencies across the globe, as well as a furious US military force occupying then Iraq and Afghanistan. Following a tip-off of a potential location for the most famous fugitive of the 21st Century, CIA analyst Vivian (Kathleen Robertson) is convinced he is holed up in a compound in the Pakistan city of Abbottabad, with her boss, Guidry (William Fichtner) giving her permission to set up a task force. High level military training is given to the SEAL team deployed to develop an incursion into Pakistan and take out Bin Laden, led by the group commander (Robert Knepper), team leader Stunner (Cam Gigandet) and his colleague Cherry (Anson Mount). Eventually the order is given the the US President that the operation is a go, and the team take off to take down the world’s most wanted man.

Seal Team Six was put into production not long after the real-life raid to kill Bin Laden occurred, on the evening of May 2, 2011, itself almost a decade after the terrible events of 9/11 and America’s subsequent War on Terrorism. Even back then, American fervour was high, a wave of euphoria that justice had been served on one of the worst killers and most dangerous men in human history. Obviously, making a film about the mission to kill Bin Laden was a given in light of 9/11, and the enormous national pride that came with such success was going to reflexively reduce the amount of historical and dramatic accuracy presented to the baying crowd clamouring to find out more about the heroes who went in and did the job. Although a number of books and articles have shed light on the exact events that led up to the raid on Bin Laden’s Pakistani compound, and the various degrees to which the US intelligence community, skill and sheer dumb luck combined to locate the fugitive have been recounted numerous times – notably in the aforementioned Zero Dark Thirty , a far superior film in about this very thing in almost every regard – Seal Team Six only wants to paint things in a golden American-flag waving sheen of professionalism and dedication.

Stockwell gives us a film that’s faux documentary, featuring to-camera “interviews” of the various characters bookending the recreation of both the SEAL team training, the CIA analysing of every detail, and the first half of the actual raid itself, shot with what feels like expensive handycams in a similar aesthetic to that of Michel Mann, whose penchant for digital filmmaking is very much a matter of taste. The fact the film utilises this style of shooting gives it a more authentic flavour, but seeing conspicuously notable faces in Cam Gigandet (who was riding high off his role in the original Twilight ), Anson Mount (notable today for his turn as Captain Pike in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ) and William Fichtner in various roles really does undercut just how seriously we take this. I mean, if the “interview” components were of the real people, and the re-enactments were done using actors, the buy-in from the viewer might have been significant, but attempting to give us actors pretending to be the real people never feels as documentarian as Stockwell was hoping for. It’s a real killer when one of the super-serious CIA analysts is played by American Pie’s Eddie Kaye Thomas, and all I could think of was him boning Stifler’s Mom. The action sequences, of which there are several, are staged with incoherent first-person camerawork mixed with more traditional footage shot from distance, edited with frenetic pace as if to overcome technical and budgetary limitations. The use of actual footage of the real-world US president, the White House, and various other agencies, mixes up some of the gravitas with fictionalised posturing that never works out well.

It’s really telling what the point (and message) of the film is when, after successfully killing Bin Laden in the film’s climactic moments, we cut to the closing credits without so much as mentioning the tension of getting the insertion team back to safe territory, as if the successful death of Bin Laden itself was all we care about. I mean, for Americans living in 2012 US of A it probably was, but the fact that the film fails to fully explore the extremities of the hunt for the fugitive or the wiliness of the CIA operatives or the bravery of the SEAL team that went in, lost in impenetrable incoherence of night-vision, bodycam and Stockwell’s inscrutable insistence on never finding a focus pull to save his life, is one of the big wrongdoings of Seal Team Six’s otherwise patriotic hubris. Dedicating the film to the men and women of both the intelligence community and the US military is meant to make a chest swell with pride, but feels (in today’s climate) like cringeworthy salutation, although recognising the work that went into locating Osama is undoubtedly warranted. I just wish they’d dedicated a better film to all those people.

If I had to encapsulate Seal Team Six in as brief a logline as I could, I would describe it thusly: Seal Team Six is the film Team America warned us about. Broadly racist, petrifyingly nationalistic and propagandist inanity to a fault, Seal Team Six: The Raid On Osama Bin Laden might have been made with honourable intentions (I doubt it) but as an artistic endeavour with enlightening subtext to disperse, this film is an absolutely ghastly trainwreck.

Who wrote this?

Rodney Twelftree

“Some people say I like films. Those people are wrong. I *love* films.” – Me. I said this.

Rodney has been writing about films for well over two decades, appreciates a good wine, the love of his wife and kids, and the affection of his dog and cats. He has a fondness of cheesy 90’s action and classic Hollywood, hates that physical media is disappearing, and wishes somebody would make a high-budget series of The Neverending Story.

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SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2012)

Seal team six: the raid on osama bin laden.

When the rumored whereabouts of Osama bin Laden are revealed, the CIA readies a team of seasoned U.S. Navy SEALs for the mission of a lifetime. Despite inconclusive evidence that bin Laden is inside the compound, and ignoring the possible ramifications of an unannounced attack on Pakistani soil, the Pentagon orders the attack. The SEAL Team bands together to complete their mission of justice in a riveting final showdown.

Hindsight: Mitt Romney Exposed Trailer!

Seal Team Six producer Harvey Weinstein is behind this look at the 2012 Republican Presidential Campaign, narrated by Bradley Cooper.

Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden 'Geronimo' Clip

The Navy SEALS learn who their real target is in this scene from John Stockwell's thriller, airing on the National Geographic Channel November 4th.

Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden Trailer

This thriller from director John Stockwell will debut on the National Geographic Channel November 4, before debuting on Netflix the next day.

Eddie Kaye Thomas Talks American Reunion Blu-ray [Exclusive]

The actor returns as Finch in this final slice of the American Pie series, due out on Blu-ray and DVD July 10.

Anson Mount and Cam Gigandet Join Code Name: Geronimo

Freddy Rodriguez and William Fitchner have also joined John Stockwell's action tale based on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

• National Geographic Wild

Summary The TV movie is based on the U.S. Navy SEAL team's mission to locate and capture Osama bin Laden.

SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden

Cam Gigandet

Jenny gabrielle, anson mount, freddy rodríguez, kathleen robertson, robert knepper, lieutenant commander, eddie kaye thomas, kenneth miller, william fichtner, interrogator, suhail dabbach, tait fletcher, sarah minnich, kristen devore rakes, cia analyst, david house, alma sisneros, trench's girlfriend, saleem watley, keith meriweather, toc commander, yon kempton, critic reviews.

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When the rumored whereabouts of Osama bin Laden are revealed, the CIA readies a team of seasoned U.S. Navy SEALs for the mission of a lifetime. Despite inconclusive evidence that bin Laden is inside the compound, and ignoring the possible ramifications of an unannounced attack on Pakistani soil, the Pentagon orders the attack. The SEAL Team bands together to complete their mission of justice in a riveting final showdown.

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Seal Team 6: The Raid on Osama bin Laden – first look review

T his film is the point at which Harvey Weinstein , exploitation-movie impresario extraordinaire, meets Harvey Weinstein, Democratic big-money donor and activist. On the one hand, Weinstein is working an old grindhouse promotional gambit: riding the publicity coattails of a more prestigious and expensive feature of similar theme or provenance – in this case Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty – and attempting to reach the screens before it, the better to dine, vampirishly, on a percentage of the profits. The Democratic activist in Weinstein, meanwhile, was surely horrified when Columbia delayed the Bigelow picture until after the presidential election, and was damned if his version wasn't going to make some sort of splash before that date.

So here we are. Seal Team 6 could only rate as propaganda in a toxic, Fox News-driven political environment such as obtains at this moment. Forget all that context, however, and you find here a pretty niftily put together platoon-movie, tautly directed by John Stockwell ( Blue Crush , Crazy/Beautiful ), well cast with familiar second-string TV faces (Boss's Kathleen Robertson, Six Feet Under's Freddy Rodriguez et al, plus the gaunt and reliable William Fichtner). It provides a fairly clear, certainly a very exciting depiction of the raid as it went down, while bolstering the shoot-em-up material with fictionalised backstories for the Seals themselves (the real Team 6 will remain anonymous for life).

The movie demonstrates that we now have a firm, widely agreed-upon visual aesthetic for the Iraq-Afghanistan campaign movies, one distinct from the emerald-green rice paddies and triple-canopy jungles of the Vietnam war film. Like everything from FX's short-lived Over There TV series to Bigelow's The Hurt Locker , Seal Team 6 flaunts a narrow palette of sandy, dusty landscapes, camouflage colouring, darkened briefing rooms and barracks, sun-baked Afghan ravines, teeming souks . Much of this is seen through helmet-cams, night-vision goggles, spy-surveillance cameras and the baleful aerial gaze of satellites (the menacing thrum of chopper-blades remains a constant).

For Seal Team 6, though, the dominant influence seems to be Showtime's Homeland , with Robertson playing the Carrie Mathieson role as Vivian Hollands, the determined analyst who makes the first smart guess about the house in Abbottabad and puts it under surveillance ("one very tall bearded man, not busy – we call him 'the Pacer' – 12-foot-high walls, 12-13 guards, no phone or internet, all trash burned on-site, all children home-schooled …"). The intelligence meetings feel very similar, the general hum of paranoia and secrecy too; indeed, one street pursuit scene closely – almost exactly – resembles the climax of Homeland season two, episode one ( The Smile ), but from the perspective of the hunters rather than the prey.

No matter. Seal Team 6 motors along very compellingly with its well-drawn squad of surfer dudes, hot-headed redneck mama's boys and wise-counsel sergeants (the conventional platoon-movie stereotypes), and its good feel for procedure, training and tradecraft, peppered with to-camera testimony from the Seals. The raid itself occupies a nerve-wracking final 20 minutes of stun-grenades, gunfire and the desperate clearing of shooter-filled rooms illuminated only by flashlights.

So is it revenge-porn too? Certainly the camera eats up the brains flying out of Bin Laden's turban [spoiler alert: he dies in the end] but mainly, like the US itself on the day it happened, the movie lingers on a tangible sense of closure, of long-unfinished business finally taken care of – of utter relief. If there is an element of exploitation, it may be in Weinstein's late addition of extra footage of Barack Obama – at the White House correspondents' dinner, and in the situation room – which to my mind looks analogous to a canny exploitation producer's decision to add more nudity to spice up his product. Old showbiz instincts die hard in a man like Weinstein, but sometimes good movies do result.

Seal Team 6 will be released in UK cinemas on 14 December, under the title Code Name: Geronimo

• Harvey Weinstein
• First look review
• Drama films
• Action and adventure films
• Osama bin Laden
• Barack Obama
• US military

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Code Name: Geronimo

A group of Navy SEALs comes to learn the identity of their target: Osama bin Laden. A group of Navy SEALs comes to learn the identity of their target: Osama bin Laden. A group of Navy SEALs comes to learn the identity of their target: Osama bin Laden.

• John Stockwell
• Paulette Victor Lifton
• Kendall Lampkin
• Cam Gigandet
• Jenny Gabrielle
• Anson Mount
• 59 User reviews
• 44 Critic reviews
• 2 wins & 3 nominations total

• (as Freddy Rodriguez)

• (as Alvin 'Xzibit' Joiner)

• Lieutenant Commander

• Interrogator

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• Trivia The soft crash of the helicopter in the bin Laden compound was caused by what is called a vortex ring state. This happens when the air from the downwash of the propeller blades swirls up and cycles back down through the blades. In essence, the helicopter is descending through a downrush of air that cycles up back through the blades, which raises the pressure of the air passing over the top of the blades, thereby reducing lift. This was partly caused by the enclosing walls of the landing area that caused the air to hit the ground, be pushed towards the walls, then directed up the walls and sucked back into the blades. As the helicopter dropped, the tail hit the top of a wall and it began to roll, at which time the pilot put the nose down so that the helicopter would not roll over onto its side. It came to rest with the nose down at a 45º angle. The occupants sustained no serious injuries.
• Goofs The two helicopters used in the raid were highly modified Sikorsky MH-60 Blackhawks, equipped with sharply angled anti-radar stealth cladding, but the helicopters in the movie appear to be standard Blackhawks.

Lieutenant Commander : As always, we go in sterile. If you get killed you're stupid. If you get captured, you gotta get killed first. Make sure your smart packs are back here.

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TELEVISION REVIEW: The first of the dueling Osama bin Laden raid movies lacks character, imagination and any hope of swaying the election.

By Tim Goodman

Tim Goodman

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Alvin Joiner tracks Al Qaeda operatives.

The National Geographic Channel might have won the race to be the first to portray the events that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden — beating Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty to the big screen by rushing to the small screen — but we all know being the first isn’t necessarily the same as being the best.

Nat Geo will air SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden on Nov. 4 (after it opened in theaters internationally beginning Oct. 26 in Mexico). The film comes from The Weinstein Co. and is directed by John Stockwell ( Into the Blue , Turistas ) and produced by Nicolas Chartier, a producer on The Hurt Locker , Bigelow’s Academy Award-winning film.

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Both SEAL Team Six and Zero Dark Thirty have been pre-emptively called enablers for President Obama because the killing of bin Laden was a major coup for him. But SEAL Team Six will come under more scrutiny because it will air two days before the election and then be available the next day on Netflix.

Still, it’s hard to imagine this film (or even the unseen Zero Dark Thirty ) moving the needle on an election. Why? Everyone knows how it ended. The whole thing is in the history books.

And yet if any Republicans are worried this sneaky little move by Nat Geo and The Weinstein Co. will be a knockout blow or even a jab in this election, they should rest easy. Because the film isn’t that good.

All the compelling parts are precisely as you’d imagine them to be — the intelligence reports, the decision to attack and finally the nerve-racking mission itself, based according to the press kit on speculative accounts given to Stockwell by ex-Navy SEALs. But it doesn’t take a genius dramatist to understand: When the SEALs enter the compound, you know they’re not going to be killed. You know they’re going to get bin Laden.

So, where’s the drama? Technically, you just need a director and a budget that can make the whole thing pulse-pounding and badass. Parts of SEAL Team Six have that, but the 90-minute film misses an essential element it needed (and Bigelow’s film will need): character development.

Stockwell’s film resorts to the now-boring conceit of having the participants talk to the camera. This exposition is not only a cheat — cutting corners by telling when it could be showing — it never lets the audience feel anything for the characters.

SEAL Team Six stars Cam Gigandet as Stunner, the team leader; Anson Mount as Cherry, the more renegade SEAL who has trouble being led by the younger Stunner; Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner playing Mule; Freddy Rodriguez as Trench; and, rounding out the team, Kenneth Miller as Sauce.

The problem is that Gigandet is allowed almost no time to show the audience he’s the team leader. Mount steals the better material, and only in rare flashes do we learn anything about the others. There’s so little of Sauce in the film that he’s barely a seasoning. You can’t mine drama from characters you’re not manipulated into liking or loathing.

The person who gets the most mileage out of SEAL Team Six is Kathleen Robertson as Vivian Hollins, a CIA analyst who has been hell-bent obsessed on getting bin Laden since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The problem is, all any fan of Homeland — the Showtime series that just swept the Emmys — will think is that Robertson essentially is Claire Danes playing Carrie, a CIA analyst hell-bent obsessed on bringing down the fictional Abu Nazir after Sept. 11. Robertson, who does great work on Boss, isn’t given anything remotely interesting for her character — such as Carrie’s mental issues and her love of jazz — and instead gets the most cliched, rote dialogue to read as she talks to the camera in those faux interviews.

That’s not to say that some of the combat scenes in SEAL Team Six are not riveting. But with nearly no emotional interest in these undeveloped characters, the movie feels more like it was tossed together in an effort to be first on any screen — small or large.

SEAL Team Six is interspersed with photos and interviews of Obama and the players around him during that difficult decision-making process, and if you’re really into that sort of thing, you could spot one or two moments that look like political ads. A photo of Obama mulling over something enormous certainly gives him gravitas, and there’s more than a few shots with American flags after the news of bin Laden’s death.

But this is a movie that feels like a documentary at times, a cheesy docudrama at others and some kind of slapped-together film that wants to be taken seriously as well.

What is interesting is that in the Nat Geo press materials, Stockwell brings up a series of interesting questions in a “director’s statement.” Unfortunately, they’re not in the movie. Stockwell rambles through a series of alternate scenarios: “What if bin Laden had fled the compound when he heard the approaching choppers? Would we have pursued him through the streets of Abbottabad?”

What if, indeed. What if Stockwell was able to convey the actual events imaginatively and dramatically? That would have been something.

Kathryn Bigelow, what have you got?

Airdate: 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4 (National Geographic Channel)

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Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2012)

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Action-packed animated ocean adventure has violence, peril.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Some animal facts, such as various sea animal diet

Encourages bravery, sticking up for others, lookin

Quinn is encouraging and determined, even if somet

On-screen, characters are a diverse group of anima

Violence and threats between seals and sharks. Sha

Two characters rehash a failed relationship and re

Insults include several uses of "stupid" as well a

Minor character smokes a cigar.

Parents need to know that Seal Team is an animated comedy about a determined seal named Quinn (voiced by Jessie T. Usher) who assembles a platoon to fight back against a gang of sharks. Characters use some insults ("stupid," "dummy," etc.), there are moments of violence/peril, and some scenes could be scary…

Educational Value

Some animal facts, such as various sea animal diets.

Positive Messages

Encourages bravery, sticking up for others, looking out for your friends, working as a team, persevering after disappointment.

Positive Role Models

Quinn is encouraging and determined, even if sometimes it means putting others in danger, but he wants to do what he can to help save his seal community. Claggart trains others to work as a team, but sometimes his methods are a little harsh. He's willing to admit when he's wrong and sacrifices himself for his comrades.

Diverse Representations

On-screen, characters are a diverse group of animated animals, with diverse main voice actors as well, but most characters are male. Female characters are strong and have value but don't take the spotlight as often as male characters. A handful of diverse human characters periodically on-screen.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Violence and threats between seals and sharks. Sharks repeatedly try to eat seals. One seal loses a friend to a shark off-screen. Animals get physical in some martial arts-style seal fights. An electric eel is used as a weapon, as is a pistol shrimp. A character is thought to be eaten by sharks but later returns.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Two characters rehash a failed relationship and rekindle it while working on the mission.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Insults include several uses of "stupid" as well as "sell out," "snitch," "jerk," "butt fin," and "dummy."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Seal Team is an animated comedy about a determined seal named Quinn (voiced by Jessie T. Usher ) who assembles a platoon to fight back against a gang of sharks. Characters use some insults ("stupid," "dummy," etc.), there are moments of violence/peril, and some scenes could be scary for younger viewers. An electric eel is used as a weapon, as is a pistol shrimp. A character is eaten by a shark off-screen, which is what drives the plot forward to stop the sharks. Another character is thought to be eaten by sharks but later returns. A couple of characters flirt and discuss their failed relationship. A minor character smokes a cigar. Characters use teamwork , perseverance , and wits to outsmart the villains while also learning to overcome and forgive themselves for past mistakes. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (3)

Based on 3 parent reviews

How many times can you say “stupid” in one movie?!

What's the story.

In SEAL TEAM, a persistent seal named Quinn ( Jessie T. Usher ), who has lost a friend to a shark attack, assembles a band to fight back against a group of sharks overtaking the area. They enlist the help of a military-trained seal named Claggart ( J.K. Simmons ) to help get them into shape and ready for battle so that no more seals are eaten by sharks. Both Quinn and Claggart have to learn to let go of their past mistakes to move forward and focus on the mission at hand. Using teamwork, trust, and creative tactics, the group embarks on a pun-filled mission to outsmart the sharks.

Is It Any Good?

Right out of the gate, it's evident that Seal Team is a clever story combining cute seals in a military-like war against sharks. Though it doesn't have the big-name studios behind it, this movie holds its own in the animation and voice acting categories. With names such as Dolph Lundgren playing the dolphin and the singer Seal voicing a singing seal, there's some enjoyment for kids and adults alike. The puns heavily flow from start to finish and at times can feel a little overdone.

Story-wise, the characters have some heart and, of course, a lot of humor. Young kids will likely be drawn to the charismatic characters and silly jokes. You can't help but root for the seals, who will do whatever it takes to help their friends. Though the mission is clear, the story seems to drag a bit, and there's no clear winner, leaving viewers to wonder if perhaps the seals won the battle but the war goes on. It's something left for the imagination -- or possibly a future sequel.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about ways people can come together to form a better team. How did different characters in this movie use their individual skills to help the mission? In what ways do you see teamwork in your home or school? How does working with others help in your daily life? What are some skills you have to help on a team?

Did the seal boot camp training look challenging to you? When you're working toward a goal, do you respond better to fast-paced yelling and orders, or a gentler approach? Why?

What parts of the movie were scary? Why? Did anything that you thought was going to be scary turn out to be not so bad?

How do the characters in Seal Team demonstrate courage and perseverance ? What about teamwork ? Why are these important character strengths ?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : January 3, 2022
• Cast : Jessie T. Usher , J.K. Simmons , Dolph Lundgren , Bumper Robinson
• Directors : Greg Cameron , Kane Croudace
• Inclusion Information : Black actors
• Studio : Netflix
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Superheroes , Friendship , Ocean Creatures , Wild Animals
• Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance , Teamwork
• Run time : 100 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : February 17, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The Storied History of SEAL Team Six, the Secret Unit That Killed Bin Laden

By: Jennie Cohen

Updated: September 11, 2023 | Original: May 3, 2011

Originally known as SEAL Team Six, the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DevGru) is one of several publicly disclosed units under the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), an elite and highly classified group that coordinates counterterrorism and other security-related missions around the world. (Others include the Army’s fabled Delta Force and the Air Force’s 24th Special Tactics Squadron.) Based at Pope Army Air Field and Fort Bragg in North Carolina, JSOC was established in 1980 after American special forces failed to rescue American hostages at the Iranian Embassy during Operation Eagle Claw.

A JSOC unit responsible for counterterrorist operations in the maritime environment became operational the following year as SEAL Team Six, a name chosen to confuse Soviet intelligence since only three SEAL teams existed at the time. In 1987 it was dissolved and rebranded as the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group.

While DevGru’s organization, like the details of its operations, is shrouded in secrecy, it is believed that most of its members are handpicked from other SEAL teams and from the Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal units. In addition to the grueling training program that all SEALs—the acronym refers to the settings in which they are deployed: sea, air and land—must complete, DevGru candidates receive advanced instruction in counterterrorism techniques before undergoing a rigorous selection process. According to the security news website GlobalSecurity.org , the unit now counts an estimated 200 operators as well as 300 specialists charged with testing and developing special equipment and weapons.

In October 2010, The Atlantic reported that defense officials had renamed DevGru once again, but the new moniker has not yet been made public.

While many of DevGru’s operations remain classified, some of its activities have been confirmed and publicized, including the unit’s most high-profile raid yet: the assault on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan that killed the elusive al-Qaeda leader.

Operation Urgent Fury (1983)

SEAL Team Six participated in the U.S.-led invasion of Grenada, which quelled a communist takeover of the small Caribbean nation’s government in October 1983. Four of its members were lost at sea during an offshore helicopter drop. The unit was responsible for the rescue of the country’s governor general, Paul Scoon, who had been placed under house arrest and was facing execution, as well as the securing of a radio transmitter. Under heavy fire from Grenadian soldiers as they attempted to evacuate, the SEALs swam out to sea, where they waited for nearly six hours until the Navy located and retrieved them.

Operation Just Cause (1989)

Working with Delta Force and other elite units, DevGru members assisted in the capture of deposed dictator Manuel Noriega during the United States’ invasion of Panama in December 1989.

Operation Pokeweed (1990)

DevGru reportedly returned to Panama to take part in a secret operation intended to apprehend the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. The mission is believed to have failed due to poor intelligence.

Battle of Mogadishu (1993)

DevGru members participated in a multinational task force during Operation Gothic Serpent, the U.S.-led mission to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in the fall of October 1993. It culminated in the Battle of Mogadishu, which was later chronicled in the book “Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War” and a subsequent film adaptation.

Arrest of Bosnian War Criminals (1998)

In the aftermath of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, DevGru members were deployed to Bosnia to track down accused Bosnian war criminals and bring them to The Hague to stand trial. They apprehended a number of key suspects, including Radislav Krstić, the Bosnian general who was later indicted for his role in the Srebrenica massacre of 1995.

Attempt to Rescue Linda Norgrove (2010)

In October 2010, DevGru members spearheaded an assault on a Taliban compound in Afghanistan where Linda Norgrove, a kidnapped Scottish aid worker, was being held. Placed in the line of fire by her captors, Norgrove was fatally injured during a clash between U.S. forces and Taliban gunmen. A joint investigation by the United States and the United Kingdom later revealed that a grenade thrown by one of the SEALs had killed the 36-year-old woman. Several weeks later, newspapers reported that several DevGru members were disciplined for neglecting to inform officials about the circumstances of her accidental death.

Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq (2001-Present)

DevGru members have played a key role in the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, targeting numerous al-Qaeda and Taliban figures. They have often worked in close cooperation with the Central Intelligence Agency’s Special Activities Division, which carries out covert paramilitary operations.

Killing of Osama Bin Laden (2011)

The mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden eluded capture for nearly a decade until DevGru carried out its most high-profile mission to date. While details of the operation have yet to be confirmed by officials, it is believed that two dozen SEALs from the unit stormed the terrorist leader’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the early hours of May 2, 2011. According to reports, a firefight broke out, lasting 40 minutes and resulting in the death or capture of 22 people. Bin Laden was fatally shot and then buried at sea after a meticulous identification process. All of the SEALs survived the assault despite a helicopter malfunction that nearly compromised their mission.

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Review: ‘Six’ Follows Rough-Edged Navy SEALs in a War on Terror

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By James Poniewozik

• Jan. 17, 2017

“The United States has been fighting a war against terror for 15 years,” a voice-over in “Six” tells us. “SEAL Team Six and other special operations forces have been deployed for 5,400 days. It is the longest war in American history.”

The speaker sounds exhausted. He’s not alone. War-weariness is a theme in the new season of “Homeland,” in which a president-elect questions America’s commitments overseas. We’re up to our second version of “ 24 .” We’ve seen war-on-terror stories that are skeptical or jingoistic, action-oriented or emotional, set on the battlefield or the home front.

“ Six ,” a reverent special-forces drama beginning Wednesday on History, tries to be all these things and does none of them very well.

The series, which History says is “inspired by SEAL Team Six missions,” begins in 2014 with a chaotic firefight in Afghanistan that promises what “Six” mostly delivers: a grim, uncomplicated shoot-’em-up of rough-edged good guys against savage bad guys.

But it throws in an early twist, as the troop leader, Rip (Walton Goggins), executes a captured American Taliban conspirator in cold blood. His act divides his teammates — his protégé, Caulder (Kyle Schmid), is outraged — but they agree to keep quiet.

Two years later, Rip has quit the SEALs and is in Nigeria, drinking off his demons and working for a private contractor building a girls’ school. When it’s attacked by Boko Haram, he’s taken prisoner along with the students and their teacher, Na’omi (Nondumiso Tembe). It’s up to his former comrades to rescue him, a mission that revives their old divisions.

Mr. Goggins (“Justified,” “Vice Principals”) has a gift for making the pain of complicated men accessible. He broke out in 2002 on FX’s “The Shield,” about an elite police team that was brutal and corrupt but highly effective in busting street gangs. While a crime drama, it was arguably also one of the first great war-on-terror series, a story of the trade-offs we make for security.

“Six,” created by William and David Broyles, superficially works in the same testosterone-driven mode, a story of gruff bros-in-arms who play hard and talk rough. The team includes a Muslim, but the men casually throw around terms like “raghead.” (The show also pushes the bounds of basic-cable content with its high-yield unbleeped profanity.)

But it’s too rushed and shallowly focused to make much of this. Rip’s back story — he was once an upstanding soldier but personal problems pushed him to the dark side — is fleshed out in a few blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em flashbacks.

The SEALs have a kind of commuter-warrior existence, living in Virginia Beach between missions. This juxtaposition is the most potentially interesting part of “Six”: One moment these men are taking down a terrorist courier, the next they’re worrying about college tuition or going to fertility treatments. But their home stories are rote — long-suffering wives, resentful kids and the longtime veteran, Ortiz (Juan Pablo Raba), who’s about to go into the private sector only to be pulled in for one last mission.

The enemy, meanwhile, is even more thinly drawn. Rip’s capture draws the attention of an oily terrorist leader seeking revenge from his days in Afghanistan. (He receives orders from his own boss through the chat function in a video game, one of the series’ few moments of novelty.)

“Six,” in the words of our current political debate, is not afraid to talk about “radical Islamic terrorism.” It circles, highlights and triple-underlines the phrase, as when a Boko Haram chief ties Rip to a cross and crows, “How do you like your messiah now?”

Christianity is another promising but underdeveloped theme in the series, especially with Joe (Barry Sloane), who’s devoutly faithful but was also Rip’s biggest enabler; he believes the team is fighting not just for America but for God as well.

Is the war on terror a religious battle? How much moral compromise is justifiable in war? “Six” engages these tricky topics only commando-style: It hits them quickly and evacuates, focusing instead mainly on action, sentimentality and the relentless message, already plentiful in the news, that this is a sick, scary world. After 15-plus years of war-on-terror stories, it’s just one more wearying engagement.

Six Wednesday on History.

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SEAL Team: The Full Metal Character Explained (& Where You've Seen The Actor)

Seal team ignored the perfect way to keep clay alive for season 7 (despite max thieriot's exit), 8 harsh realities about the bridgerton books, 18 years after the series ended.

• SEAL Team season 6 wrapped up with a perfect conclusion, but the renewal for season 7 might spoil it.
• The finale offered closure for viewers and hinted at a hopeful future despite the challenges ahead.
• Clay's death will leave a void in season 7, and the show may resort to forced drama for new conflicts.

SEAL Team season 6 concluded with every arc at a natural endpoint, but the decision to bring the show back for season 7 could derail a perfect ending . The season 6 finale released on November 20, 2022, but the SEAL Team season 7 renewal wasn't announced until January 2023. This means creatives were forced to craft a season finale that could also function as a series finale.

The show has successfully charted the highs and lows of Bravo Team for many years, so ending the series with cliffhangers and no resolution if it was subsequently canceled would have left most viewers unhappy. Still, it's surprising that SEAL Team season 6, episode 10 featured as much closure as it did, giving a sense of where everyone would go next. Sadly, season 6's perfect ending means that season 7 has a tough job ahead of it.

Full Metal is a key member of Bravo Team on SEAL Team and while he may not be a veteran actor his former career makes him perfect for the role.

SEAL Team Season 6’s Powerful Final Scene Will Be Very Hard To Beat

Seal team season 6, episode 10 was the perfect conclusion.

SEAL Team season 6 told the topical story of Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) battling a TBI and charted its impact on his team. Despite coming to terms with his diagnosis, Jason kept the truth from Command, potentially setting Bravo Team up for disaster while in the field. As the SEAL Team season 6 finale concluded, Jason came clean while delivering his acceptance speech at an awards ceremony in Clay's (Max Thieriot) honor. In the aftermath, he was summoned to a meeting and told his career was over.

Before he could react, his teammates, including Sonny (A.J. Buckley) and Ray (Neil Brown Jr.), arrived with countless other Navy SEALs who vocalized their own ailments. The episode ended on a hopeful note, hinting there could be changes in the U.S. Navy due to the bravery of the men coming forward . While it was an ambiguous scene, it perfectly highlighted that these men served their country while battling things they had to hide because they feared losing their careers.

SEAL Team season 7 will likely pick up with changes that allow these men to continue their careers with increased support, but it won't be easy to top a scene that reiterated what the series had always been about: Bravo Team's strong sense of brotherhood.

It set the bar high for whatever comes next in the show. SEAL Team season 7 will likely pick up with changes that allow these men to continue their careers with increased support, but it won't be easy to top a scene that reiterated what the series had always been about: Bravo Team's strong sense of brotherhood. Many final seasons struggle to serve all the characters well, but SEAL Team season 6 gave everyone satisfying arcs. It's just a shame that whatever comes next won't include Clay.

SEAL Team Season 7 Will Have A Void Following Max Thieriot’s Exit

Clay's death was a shocking development.

Clay was written out near the end of the penultimate season while trying to save a fellow veteran from shooting himself. Clay fearlessly grabbed the man's gun, but his own life was cut short when security arrived and opened fire. While Thieriot's exit was expected due to his commitments to Fire Country , the show had been setting up a storyline involving him leaving town with Stella (Alona Tal). Ultimately, Clay's death echoed through the final two episodes of SEAL Team season 6 as everyone struggled to come to terms with his loss.

SEAL Team season 7 will likely feature a significant time jump, but it will struggle to move on from Clay because he had great connections with every member of the Bravo Team. A void will be felt in his absence, and bringing in new faces could make it feel like a desperate attempt to replace one of the show's finest characters. Clay was involved in the biggest storylines , so the writers face an uphill battle crafting the next chapter.

SEAL Team Season 7 Will Likely Have More Heartbreak

Bringing the show back may lead to forced drama.

Clay's death was the latest in a long line of sad SEAL Team storylines, but at least there was an element of peace at the end of SEAL Team season 6, episode 10. In order to bring some new conflicts into the narrative, the series will have to pivot and introduce more drama, which will likely also usher in more heartbreak for Bravo Team. SEAL Team has never shied away from sensitive topics, and the final season will likely explore some more to send the storylines in new directions.

The creatives will amp up tension by putting the characters through more terrible things because they know it's the final season. With such a perfect conclusion in its most recent finale , it's hard to tell whether SEAL Team will be able to tell meaningful stories without relying on shock value. The hope is that the next chapter is worthwhile, and the emotional beats are organic enough to give the show the ending it deserves.

All six seasons of SEAL Team are available to stream on Paramount+.

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SEAL Team is a Military Drama and Action series created by Benjamin Cavell that began in 2017 and has been through 6 seasons. The series follows Jason Hayes (played by David Boreanaz) as the leader of a Navy Seals team who is sent to a variety of locations to help protect the United States.