''Rescue Under Fire'' () is a 2017 Spanish
war film
War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...
directed by Adolfo Martínez set in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. It stars
Ariadna Gil, Raúl Mérida,
Roberto Álamo
Roberto Martínez Felipe (born 1 January 1970), better known as Roberto Álamo, is a Spanish actor who has appeared in more than fifty films since 1996. Álamo won the Goya Award for Best Actor for his performance as Javier Alfaro in ''May God S ...
and
Antonio Garrido.
Plot

The plot dramatises a real August 2012 incident in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
north of
Bala Murghab involving the rescue of a
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century.
The Spanish Army has existed ...
's wrecked
Super Puma helicopter from the
Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
insurgency.
Cast
Production
''Rescue Under Fire'' was produced by Tornasol Films, Castafiore Films, Hernández y Fernández and Rescate AIE, and it had the participation of
RTVE
The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...
and
Movistar+, support from the Spanish
Ministry of Defence
A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...
and
Armed Forces
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...
, collaboration of
ICAA and funding from
ICO.
It had a
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
5 million budget. It was shot in locations of the
province of Almería
Almería (, also ; ) is a province of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It was named after the Arab ruler of Taifa, Banu Al-Miri. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is the homony ...
(including the
Tabernas Desert
The Tabernas Desert () is a desert located within Spain's south-eastern province of Almería. It is in the interior, about north of the provincial capital Almería, in the Tabernas municipality in Andalusia. It is the only desert in Europe, ...
and the "Álvarez de Sotomayor" Military Base in
Viator), the
Madrid region
The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...
(
Colmenar Viejo) as well as in
Tenerife
Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
(primarily indoor footage).
Release
Distributed by
eOne Films
Lionsgate Canada is a Canadian entertainment company and a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Based in Toronto, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition and production of films and television series.
The company began on June 1, 1973 ...
,
the film was theatrically released in Spain on 10 March 2017.
Reception
Andrea G. Bermejo of ''
Cinemanía'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, considering the (military) film to be an oddity in a Spanish cinema currently ranging from the thriller to the comedy, also writing that the film manages to achieve "an accurate portrait of the military world that some will surely label as propagandistic and recruiting".
Marta Medina of ''
El Confidencial
''El Confidencial'' is a Spanish-language general-information digital newspaper located in Spain, specializing in economic, financial and political news. It was established as an online newspaper in 2001. Its target readership is professional ...
'' assessed that Martínez "manages to choreograph and plan credible and exciting battles of a scale rarely seen in a Spanish production".
Raquel Hernández Luján of ''
HobbyConsolas
''HobbyConsolas'' is a Spanish video game magazine founded in 1991 by Hobby Press and published by Axel Springer SE. The first issue appeared in October 1991. The monthly magazine offers information about games for all consoles, and since 2012 ha ...
'' scored a 78 out of 100 points rating ("good"), praising the production design, the frenetic pace and the soundness of the characters.
Accolades

, -
, align = "center" rowspan = "4" , 2018 , , rowspan = "2" , 73rd
CEC Medals , , Best New Director , , Adolfo Martínez , , , , rowspan = "2" ,
, -
, Best Music , , Roque Baños , ,
, -
, rowspan = "2" ,
32nd Goya Awards
The 32nd Goya Awards were presented at the Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel in Madrid on 3 February 2018, to honour the best in Spanish films of 2017. Joaquín Reyes (Spanish actor), Joaquín Reyes and Ernesto Sevilla hosted the awards ceremony.
...
, ,
Best Original Song , , "Rap Zona Hostil" by Fenyxxx and Roque Baños , , , , rowspan = "2" ,
, -
,
Best Special Effects , ,
Reyes Abades, Curro Muñoz , ,
See also
*
List of Spanish films of 2017
References
{{authority control
Tornasol Films films
2017 war drama films
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) films
Films shot in the Community of Madrid
Films shot in the province of Almería
Films shot in the Canary Islands
Spanish war drama films
2010s Spanish-language films
2010s Spanish films