One of the key villains in Michael Mann’s latest action thriller Blackhat is a Lebanese known para-military who fought with the Christian Phalanges during the Civil War and is called Elias Kassar. The character is played by Ritchie Coster. Kassar is a ruthless machine gun-wielding and bloodthirsty guy who would do anything to protect the big boss.
I don’t remember the last time someone referred to the Lebanese civil war and militias in a Hollywood movie. There are two movies that had scenes shot related to Beirut during the civil war era and that I can think of now: The Delta Force with Chuck Norris and True Lies with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
As far as Blackhat is concerned, it’s an action-packed movie but the plot is not that good. I’d give it a 6/10.
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Here’s another movie as well: (Thanks Christian)
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Hi Najib,
Just to clarify a couple of things:
Delta force and True lies were not shot in beirut, the scenes you are referring to, are supposed to happen in beirut but delta force was shot in israel as the producers were israelis, and true lies was shot between the U.S and canada.
If you want a movie that was shot during the civil war in beirut try:
The little drummer girl(1984) by George Roy Hill (based on a John LeCarré novel)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087629/
Or
Circle of deceit (1981) by Volker Schlondorff
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082429/
Which is not a hollywood movie, it’s a french/german production.
Nearly all Hollywood movies that are supposed to be situated in beirut were shot in nearby countries like jordan, israel, or morocco.
Badih,
I meant had shots related to Beirut and the civil war era. I ll edit the post to make it look clearer you are right.
Thanks 🙂
Other movies referring to Lebanon in the civil war: Spy Game (Brad Pitt) and Lord of War (Nicolas Cage)
“Hors la Vie” by Maroun Baghdadi.
Beirut is also mentioned in “Network” by Sidney Lumet (Faye Dunaway and William Holden).
Not to forget a guilty pleasure: “You don’t mess with the Zohan” (Adam Sandler)
another Israeli animated movie : Waltz with Bachir
which animation is considered in top 5 of animated movies for adults of all time
the movie is a backward narrative that accuses kataeb totally of Sabra and Shatila Massacre
Hi Najib,
In the Israeli movie “Lebanon”, which is about an Israeli tank unit during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, a Phalangist is their local contact person. As he realizes the Israelis do not speak Arabic he approaches the Syrian prisoner in the tank and threatens him with rape and torture.
Hello
If you are looking for films filmed during the war, this one is a must watch. Unfortunately, however, it was filmed in Jordan and the dialect ‘sucks’, but this film/novel/play will blow your mind. Not for the faint of heart at all: Incindies (حرائق): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yryimhvUweo
Typo: Incendies
Hi Lebanese,
“Incendies” was not filmed during the war, it is quite recent (2010).
This is a Canadian film by Denis Villeneuve, based on the Wajdi Moawad play.
Thank you, Fouad. You are right. I should have said about or relevant, not ‘during’.