Saving Jessica Lynch | |
---|---|
Written by | John Fasano |
Directed by | Peter Markle |
Starring | Laura Regan |
Music by | Ramin Djawadi |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Bob Chmiel, Michael R. Joyce, and Dan Paulson |
Editor | Scott Boyd |
Running time | 94 minutes |
Production company | NBC |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | November 9, 2003 |
Saving Jessica Lynch is a 2003 American television film that aired on NBC and features Canadian actress Laura Regan in the title role. The film begins with the ambush of Jessica Lynch's convoy in the middle of an Iraqi city and follows a version of events that credits an Iraqi citizen, Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief, with being responsible for helping to arrange a daring rescue by US special operations forces.
Although the film was based on a true story, most of the circumstances of the rescue have been challenged by the media [1] as well as by Lynch herself. Lynch was portrayed as a heroic soldier who fought up to her capture. In reality, at the time of the crash of her vehicle, she was knocked unconscious and woke up at the hospital with serious injuries. Her rescue operation was carried out at an unresisting civilian hospital. [2] In a review of the movie, Hal Erickson wrote, "An inordinate amount of poetic license is taken with the events surrounding Jessica's rescue, with a plethora of ridiculous coincidences and serial-like thrills and chills thrown in to pep up the story." [3]
Three Kings is a 1999 American black comedy war film written and directed by David O. Russell from a story by John Ridley. It stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze as four American soldiers on a gold heist that takes place during the 1991 uprisings in Iraq against Saddam Hussein following the end of the First Gulf War.
Jessica Dawn Lynch is an American teacher, actress, and former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a private first class.
The Battle of Baghdad, also known as the Fall of Baghdad, was a military engagement that took place in Baghdad in early April 2003, as part of the invasion of Iraq.
Courage Under Fire is a 1996 American war drama film directed by Edward Zwick, and starring Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan. It is the second collaboration between Washington and director Zwick. The film was released in the United States on July 12, 1996, to positive reviews and grossed $100 million worldwide.
Lori Ann Piestewa was a United States Army soldier killed during the Iraq War. A member of the Quartermaster Corps, she died in the same Iraqi attack in which fellow soldiers Shoshana Johnson and Piestewa's friend Jessica Lynch were injured. A Hopi, Piestewa was the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military and the first woman in the U.S. military killed in the Iraq War. Arizona's Piestewa Peak is named in her honor.
The Canal Hotel bombing was a suicide truck bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, during the afternoon of 19 August 2003. It killed 23 people, including the United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello, and wounded over 100, including human rights lawyer and political activist Amin Mekki Medani. The blast targeted the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq created just five days earlier. The 19 August bombing resulted in the withdrawal within weeks of most of the 600 UN staff members from Iraq. These events were to have a profound and lasting impact on the UN's security practices globally.
Patrick Wayne Miller is a United States Army soldier. He was a private first class during the 2003 invasion of Iraq with the U.S. Army's 507th Maintenance Company, serving as a mechanic, becoming a POW. For his actions leading up to his capture, he was awarded the Silver Star for valor. He retired from the United States Army in August 2022.
Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief is an Iraqi attorney who helped the United States armed forces rescue prisoner of war Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah. As reward for his assistance, the U.S. government granted him humanitarian asylum on April 28, 2003. That same year, al-Rehaief published the autobiography Because Each Life Is Precious, in which he explains why he decided to help Lynch.
Shoshana Nyree Johnson is a Panamanian-born former United States soldier, and the first black female prisoner of war in the military history of the United States. Johnson was a Specialist of the U.S. Army 507th Maintenance Company, 5/52 ADA BN, 11th ADA Brigade.
The 507th Maintenance Company was a United States Army unit which was ambushed during the Battle of Nasiriyah in the rapid advance towards Baghdad during 2003 invasion of Iraq on 23 March 2003. The most well known member of the unit was Private First Class Jessica Lynch whose rescue from an Iraqi hospital received worldwide media coverage. Sergeant Donald Walters and Private First Class Patrick Miller were both awarded the Silver Star for valor. Sergeant Matthew Rose was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device. Many other members of the unit were decorated as well, receiving the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and/or Prisoner of War Medal.
Laura Regan is a Canadian actress. She has had leading and supporting roles in the films Saving Jessica Lynch (2003), My Little Eye (2002), They (2002), Dead Silence (2007), and Atlas Shrugged: Part III (2014). She had a recurring role as Jennifer Crane in the TV series Mad Men and starred as Agatha on Minority Report (2015).
Delta Farce is a 2007 American war comedy film directed by C. B. Harding and stars Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, DJ Qualls and Danny Trejo. The first film after the Blue Collar Comedy Tour concert films to star both Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy, the title is a play on the Delta Force, one of the United States Army's elite special operations units alongside the Army Rangers and the Green Berets. It was released by Lionsgate on May 11, 2007 to extremely negative reviews.
Home of the Brave is a 2006 American drama film written and directed by Irwin Winkler starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Brian Presley, Curtis Jackson, Christina Ricci and Chad Michael Murray that follows the lives of four Army National Guard soldiers in Iraq and their return to the United States. The film was shot in Ouarzazate, Morocco and in Spokane, Washington. It was a critical and box office bomb.
The Battle of Nasiriyah was fought between the US 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Iraqi forces from 23 March to 2 April 2003 during the US-led invasion of Iraq. On the night of 24–25 March, the bulk of the Marines of Regimental Combat Team 1 passed through the city over the bridges and attacked north towards Baghdad. However, fighting continued in the city until 1 April when Iraqi resistance in the city was defeated.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq, which lasted from March 20 to May 1, 2003, resulted in a small number of U.S. and Coalition Prisoners of war (POW/s).
Justin D. LeHew is a United States Marine who served in the War on Terror. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on 23 and 24 March 2003 during the initial 2003 invasion of Iraq. He was hand picked to spearhead the rescue operation and recovery of the U.S. Army's 507th Maintenance Company on 23 March and subsequently was called upon again to take part in the rescue operation of US Army Private Jessica Lynch on 1 April 2003. He is also a recipient of the Bronze Star with Combat Distinguishing Device denoting Valor for his heroic actions from 5 to 28 August 2004 during the Battle of Najaf.
Purple Heart is a 2006 action-war film directed, co-writer and co-produced by Bill Birrell. It stars William Sadler, Mel Harris and Emilio Rivera. It is released on November 11, 2006.
The 2004 Good Friday ambush was an attack by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004 during the Iraq War on a convoy of United States supply trucks during the Battle of Baghdad International Airport. It happened in the midst of the Iraq spring fighting of 2004, which saw intensified clashes throughout the country.
Standard Operating Procedure is a 2008 American documentary film written and directed by Errol Morris that explores the meaning of the photographs taken by U.S. military police at the Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003, the content of which revealed the torture and abuse of its prisoners by U.S. soldiers and subsequently resulted in a public scandal.
Virtuous is a 2014 American Christian drama film directed and produced by Bill Rahn, written by Jason Campbell & Tara Lynn Marcelle, and starring Erik Estrada, Erin Bethea, Ben Davies, and Jessica Lynch. Based upon an original story by Jason Campbell, it was produced by Christian film company JCFILMS.