The Assault - DVD

Film: Christmas Eve 1994: In Algiers, a group of extremist terrorists take control of a French airliner. 220 passengers are now in the hands of the supporters of the Armed Islamic Group, who do not hesitate to kill the first hostages to press their demands. The French elite unit GIGN is to free the hostages, but this must be done on home soil. But this could lead to a much bigger disaster should the four terrorists try to bring down the plane over Paris. So heated deliberations ensue, looking for ways to end the hostage situation as bloodlessly as possible. But as the plane takes off from Algiers and heads for France, the race against time really begins.

The Assault tells the story of the 1994 terrorist attack from three different angles.The hostage situation lasted 50 hours and was followed by media around the world. The story is told in an almost documentary form with an almost black and white reduced colour scheme from the point of view of the terrorists, a government employee (Mélanie Bernier) and a GIGN member (Vincent Elbaz). In the process, director Julien Leclerq repeatedly establishes connections or contrasts, for example when he directly contrasts the work of the GIGN unit with the terrorist attack. Here it becomes clear how precisely both sides work, how perfectly both plan and train - and that nevertheless some situations simply cannot be planned.

In terms of craftsmanship, The Assault is somewhat reminiscent of Flight 93 by Paul Greengrass. In both cases, the true story of a terrorist-motivated airplane hijacking is reconstructed with almost documentary sobriety, but this has a particularly powerful effect on the viewer precisely because of the lack of emotionalization. Especially since both films have extremely emotional moments to offer. In the case of The Assault, one of these moments involves one of the young terrorists being confronted with his distraught mother. In such moments, but also during the dramatic finale, it becomes clear how powerful the staging of the thriller has really become.

The Assault skilfully balances quiet drama and gripping thriller with a touch of action, so that especially fans of slightly more sophisticated political thrillers will get their money's worth here. Exciting, moving, well acted and grippingly staged - this is how this home cinema premiere presents itself, which is absolutely worth seeing despite minor lengths!

Picture + Sound: Since only a data-reduced press sample was available for testing, no rating can be given here about the final picture and sound quality.

Extras: As a bonus, there is only the trailer and other program tips from the provider.

Conclusion: The Assault is not only a gripping thriller, but also a stirring contemporary document. With starkly reduced colors and almost documentary-style staging, as well as the three different angles on the incidents, the viewer is drawn directly into the action. And this remains absolutely thrilling until the dramatic finale, even in the quieter moments. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp