> Explosive eye-candy is sweetened by an intricate leading player.

Here's an indie action film that develops its characters, puts the budget on the screen in costumes and armaments and provides mystical eeriness in between bullets. The gritty adventure, about renegade Navy SEALS sent on a recovery mission in remote Afghanistan, could have been just another bang-bang male fantasy. But this one adds more backstory, including one that revolves around the considerable effect of post-war syndrome on the leader, convincingly played by Steve Bacic from TV's Andromeda. Production values are quite fine—at times, the outback sand felt like it was seeping into our shoes. And you have to like a movie that has soldiers in desert camouflage taking on Genghis Khan's guards.

Shelf Talk: Michael Madsen is the only actor identifiable from theatrical exposure, but his films do well, including the recent Sin City and Kill Bill series, so his image on the box art will catch a few eyes. Some may know Bacic from TV, but other cast members, despite their strong performances here, are mostly unknown. Push the action and let the quality speak for itself.