Jack Ryan Meets Jason Bourne in 144-Minute Action Thriller Now Streaming Free

There is something extremely gratifying about a man on a mission — especially when that man has a particular set of skills. Titular heroes like Jack Ryan and Jason Bourne never fail at capturing the attention of audiences because of their righteous causes and abilities to dispatch anyone in their way. These actors train tirelessly for the physical feats of these characters, and they get results. Now streaming on Pluto TV, viewers can get their action fix once again. The only difference is that this story shooting up the charts actually happened.

13 Hours is a Michael Bay action flick that is far from typical. Cinema-goers may know the director for his disaster stories or robot-fighting films, but his 2016 venture is one of the most honest and subdued movies he has ever made. As grounded as it is, it also doesn’t fail to deliver hard-hitting action heroes ripped from the headlines. Starring John Krasinski, the story charts the high-anxiety critical hours that took place in Benghazi in 2012 when a security team had to take matters into their own hands to save lives. These characters are just as capable as Jack Ryan or Jason Bourne, but with real stakes on the line.

‘13 Hours’ Is an Honest Portrayal of Real-Life Action Heroes

John Krasinski’s work as Jack Ryan has a certain level of entertainment value, particularly because it is fictional. This is quite different from his role as Jack Silva in 13 Hours. The Quiet Place 3 director portrays a former Navy SEAL who joins a security team in Libya, set to protect a CIA site during the increasingly unstable political situation in the country. He and five other men spring into action when, as in real life, a Libyan militia attacked the compound of an ambassador, John Christopher Stevens. Because the ambassador only had minimal security, these independent contractors are insistent on rescuing him when things go haywire.

13 Hours has all the excitement that a typical action story has, but it is grounded in a tragic reality that is still debated to this day. The performances of the security team are particularly convincing since their real-life counterparts were present on set as consultants. Michael Bay was passionate about making this project, and it shows. These events aren’t over-sensationalized and portray a different perspective that was backed up by the real Silva and his team.

These real events are so gripping that they could appear in the next Jack Ryan feature. The surviving operatives still maintain that the US government told them to “stand down” from assisting the ambassador, as depicted in the film. This order motivated the team to go on their own to save the politician. They commit to fighting to their very last breath, even though there is no sign that help is coming.

This tale shows what true heroism looks like, specifically because these operatives believed they would all die from the militant attacks. The performances and action sequences were more emotional than anything Bay had produced before. With a dose of reality, 13 Hours finds its niche in an underrated and thrilling tale. It underperformed at the box office, but a decade later, the true story is finally getting the recognition it deserves on streaming.