Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2018 Malaysian military action film called,
Paskal: The Movie. Spoiler’s ahead. Sit back, relax and enjoy the video.
The movie begins in the Gulf of Aden in 2018,
we see Navy soldiers talking about finally being able to go home when an alarm goes off.
Two pirate boats are approaching Laurell 11. The Captain of the ship informs everyone on the ship,
while Commander Maznan informs the Fleet Commander of their situation. After giving
the instructions to Commander Maznan, the Fleet Commander asks for information about the ship.
The pirates boarded the ship. The Captain orders the crew to assemble at the citadel
where they will hide and switch off all the lights in the ship. Unfortunately,
the crew that’s left to switch off the power falls unconscious while running to the citadel.
Upon seeing the pirates near them, the Captain has no choice but to close the door.
At the Navy ships, the soldiers are preparing for the operation. Upon getting all the information
about the ship, the Fleet Commander permits them to proceed. The pirates, on the other hand,
reach the Captain’s deck when Commander Maznan calls. The pirates ask for 20 million dollars
in exchange for the lives of the people on the ship. Then, they move to get a hostage.
Meanwhile, at the mothership of the pirates, they spotted the helicopter of the Navy and shoot at
them. Upon getting permission to shoot to kill, the sniper takes out the helmsman of the pirates,
causing them to retreat. Back on the Laurell 11, the pirates notice their mother boat leaving.
One of them wants to leave, but the rest wants to continue.
Not knowing that the Navy already boarded the ship, the pirates are taken down one by one.
The crew that was left behind gains his consciousness back.
Thinking fast, he grabs an axe and hides. He, then, attacks the pirate that comes his way,
but the other pirate points his gun at him. The Navy arrives and the pirate takes the man hostage.
But another Navy attacks the pirate from behind, taking him down.
The Captain gets out of hiding and introduces himself. It’s a successful mission for the Navy.
Then, we see a Navy soldier named, Arman Rahmat, finishing his resignation letter. However,
he hesitates to click send. Outside, the soldiers are being greeted by their families,
but Arman is greeted by no one. He comes home and finds his mother unconscious on the table. Finding
her medicines, his mother dismisses him, showing that the two have an unstable relationship.
Night falls, he sees blood in his mother’s laundry. He’s about to ask her about it but
changes his mind. His mother, then, suddenly tells him that she already bought a burial place
near his late father’s burial place. She also mentions that if it wasn’t for a woman named Lily,
she would already be dead and that Arman and his late father are just the same.
In his room, Arman looks at the photo on the table. A photo of him with two other soldiers.
Then, we see a flashback of his training days to be part of PASKAL he meet Joshua and Jeb. During
their training, Arman shows good performance and constantly tops his class. Unfortunately,
this doesn’t make Jeb happy. During their training, one of the trainees
gives up. In their quarters, the trainees talk about that one person who gives up.
Arman, then, sees Joshua looking at a photo of his girlfriend, Lily.
The training continues, until we see them finally complete their basic course.
At the awarding ceremony, Arman receives the Best Recruit Award in Commando PASKAL Basic Course,
which again annoys Jeb. Even after the ceremony, Arman’s mother didn’t show up. Joshua calls him
and asks him to join the photo with him and his girlfriend. Afterward, Commander Maznan informs
Arman and Joshua that they have been chosen to train with the SEAL Team, together with Jeb.
The scene changes to Arman accompanying Joshua and Lily on their date. They’re currently buying
the wedding ring for Lily, but Joshua’s money is short, so he borrows money from Arman. Then, it
cuts to Angola in 2011. Arman, Joshua, and Jeb are accompanying a China UN observer, Sergeant Chen
Han in a Peace Keeping Mission when the truck in front of them gets ambushed. Although they didn’t
bring a gun with them, which pisses Jeb, the three step out of the car while Chen calls for backup.
When the attackers see them, they run and hide. The soldiers take the opportunity to
rescue the civilians in the truck. But Arman notices that someone is still left behind.
The two go back, but the attackers realize that they don’t have any weapons and decide
to shoot at them. The two, along with the wounded civilian, hide in cover.
Fortunately, the backup arrives and shoots back at the attackers. Jeb runs to one of the backup
soldiers, takes his gun, and shoots back at the enemies. He, then, throws a grenade, as Arman and
Joshua continue to run back to the car. But the enemy picks up the grenade and throws it back.
Upon seeing it, Joshua takes the blow, sacrificing his life for Arman and the wounded civilian.
Angered, Jeb charges and kills the remaining attackers, even the one that already surrendered.
In the base, Jeb and Commander Maznan are arguing because of what Jeb did,
while Arman is outside, silently mourning the death of his friend. In the end,
Jeb has been dishonorably discharged from the service. Before leaving, he tells Arman
to leave as well before he becomes the next victim of what he said is a “useless” system.
Afterward, Arman and Commander Maznan inform Lily of Joshua’s death which breaks her heart.
Then, they bury Joshua, giving him an honorable burial for his service to the country.
The scene changes back to the present, and he finally sends his resignation letter.
The next day, Arman and his mother visit Lily and her child,
Joey. They accompany Arman’s mother in her medical check-up. While waiting and watching Joey play,
Arman and Lily talk about Arman and Joshua’s job. Lily expresses her frustrations that they
get nothing in return for their service to the country. Arman, then, changes the topic
and revealed to her that he pays half of the price of the ring, lightening up the mood around them.
Afterward, Arman goes to Commander Maznan and talks about his resignation.
Instead of fully resigning, Commander Maznan tells him that he will just assign him as a trainer.
However, before doing so, he asks Arman to participate in a mission for the last time, as his
“Farewell party” to which he agrees. Their mission is to capture the leader of a pirate group named
Rudi Rusli Parjo. Rudi will have a transaction with an unknown contact in a Filipino Market,
and they are ordered to capture them both. The scene changes to the Filipino Market, Arman,
and his team are already scattered in the market, posing as civilians. When Rudi enters the market,
they keep an eye on him, but a vendor notifies Rudi of them tailing him. Arman orders Misi,
one of his men, to follow Rudi but he lost him as foreigners distract him, asking for directions.
Arman takes over and looks for him, but is surprised to see Rudi meets with Jeb.
The two look in his direction, and Arman calls for a retreat as their cover has been blown.
In the base, the Arman’s squads, along with Commander Maznan, talk about Jeb. Arman
points out how difficult it would be for them to capture Rudi now because he has Jeb on his side,
a former PASKAL member who knows their standard operating procedure. Then, we see Lily and Joey
in their house. A car arrives, thinking that it is Arman, Joey goes out to greet him.
However, we see Arman arriving, Lily greets him. She tells him that someone is in their house,
and Jeb greets Arman as he walks inside. The two old friends talk outside. Jeb shows
Arman how rich he is, after not working for the Navy anymore and not following the system.
Arman checks Jeb’s car, and he asks Arman to join him but Arman declines. Before leaving,
Jeb threatens Arman to not get in his way, or else he might “accidentally” kill him as well.
Arman quickly calls Commander Maznan and informs him about Jeb. He tells him to track his phone,
it turns out that while checking Jeb’s car, he dropped his phone inside.
Commander Maznan tells him to not get involved, but he declines because Lily and Joey get
involved. After getting the approval of Commander Maznan, Arman follows Jeb.
Unfortunately, Jeb notices his phone and throws it on the sidewalk where Arman finds it.
As he picks it up, he notices something at the back. He quickly throws it upward
before it explodes, wounding his face in the process. Frustrated, he gets home and opens an
email from the Commander. There is an attached video recording from a security camera of Jeb.
The next day, Jeb meets with Rudi and goes with them. Meanwhile, Lily brought Joey to Arman’s
house before leaving for work. Joey wakes Arman up, then Arman’s mother calls Joey for breakfast.
She, then, talks to her son, frustrated that he’s not resigning from his job yet.
After his mother leaves, Arman continues his research and something caught his attention.
Calling the security number of an oil rig company and confirming Jeb’s presence,
he immediately notifies them that their security was breached.
The scene changes to Lily, arriving in the oil rig company. Then, we see Jeb and Rudi in security
personnel uniforms. The two are targeting the oil rig company where Lily works. Back to Arman, he
notifies Commander Maznan, to which he immediately orders his men to lock down the company and arrest
Jeb and Rudi. The company has also notified of the presence of pirates. The security, along
with other authorities manages to capture some of them. Unfortunately, Jeb and Rudi already escaped.
Back to Lily, they hear a security announcement telling them to go to the assembly hall. It turns
out that the announcer is one of Rudi’s men, making their job easier in capturing everyone.
Meanwhile, Arman tries to call Lily, but when she answers, Jeb and Rudi arrive taking them as
hostages. Jeb recognizes Lily and takes her phone. He, then, tell Arman that they want 100 million by
morning next day. He also threatens Arman that he will kill Lily if he tries to play the hero.
After the call, Commander Maznan tells him to leave the operations to them,
but he declines. After assuring that his squad will come, the commander agrees. Arman, then,
calls everyone in his squad, to which they all comply, arrive on time. After the preparation,
they board the plane. Meanwhile, other pirates have arrived to back up Rudi and Jeb.
After Arman and his squad jump out of the plane, they meet with Commander Maznan in a submarine.
The scene changes to a meeting room where higher officials are talking about the situation.
The Fleet Commander convinces them that they can resolve the problem without giving a single dollar
to the pirates. Then, they are permitted to carry out their operation. Arman is given the authority
to lead the mission. Knowing the fact that Jeb will know their standard operating procedure,
Arman decides to change their course of action. Back in the oil rig, the hostages are being
taken when Lily talks bad about Jeb. Pissed off, Jeb pushes her. Her workmate tries to stop Jeb
but he gets beaten down by him. Afterward, at 3:15 A.M. the Navy makes their move.
A bag floats in front of the pirates, thinking that it is an enemy, they blindly shoot at it.
But the Navy is going underneath them. By 4:00 A.M. they successfully manage to sneak
into the oil rig without anyone noticing them. They silently take down the pirates one by one,
until one of the pirates gets alerted and shoots back at them. By 4:15 A.M. the shoot-out begins.
Rudi gets out to fight and tries to take down the sniper, but fails. Going back inside,
he notifies Jeb about the situation and plans to bring them to the “wormhole”.
By 4:30 A.M. other soldiers arrive. After Arman gives the instructions, they move out.
As they enter the facility, they check every room. But as one soldier is about to open another door,
the pirates inside shoot through the walls. As the soldiers blindly shoot back through the walls,
Rudi appears and shoots at them. Fortunately, the Navy successfully clears every room.
Rudi, then, contacts Jeb, and tells him that he can’t stay anymore. In the control room,
Jeb turns off the lights, then throws an explosive device to Arman and his men before leaving.
Arman and his men continue. Entering a room full of hostages, they see that the room is
full of hand grenades as well, connected to a thin wire. One wrong move, it will all explode. Arman
looks for Lily in the crowd of hostages but she’s not there. One of his men tells him to continue
searching for her, while he will help the hostages and cut all the wires connected to the grenades.
As they continue, they’re now scanning every room for possible bomb traps.
Finding another room with a bomb and hostages,
he successfully rescues them by throwing the grenade to the other room before it explodes.
One of the hostages is Lily’s friend and he tells Arman that Lily was held hostage by Jeb,
himself. Arman continues the search and he brought one of his men, Polar, with him. Unfortunately,
Polar is killed by a remote-controlled machine gun that Jeb sets off when they open a door.
By 6:15 A.M. Arman finds Lily with a C4 bomb attached to her body. Jeb, then,
appears with a gun and the detonator in his hands. Other soldiers are coming, but Jeb detonates one
of the bombs planted on their way, leaving Arman with no choice but to put his guns down. Then,
Jeb attacks Arman and challenges him to know who the best PASKAL is. The two brawls, although
Arman is putting up a fight, Jeb is stronger. Rudi, on the other hand, escapes along with one
other pirate using a lifeboat. Other Navy soldiers chase them. Commander Maznan orders them to take
Rudi down before he crosses the Philippine waters or else they’ll lose jurisdiction. Fortunately,
they are able to kill Rudi and the other pirate before they cross the boundary to the Philippines.
The scene changes back to Arman and Jeb fighting, and they’re both wounded. Arman smartly targets
Jeb’s legs, but Jeb is still prideful. The two struggle with a knife, but Arman manages to
push Jeb on the edge. Arman, then, grabs Jeb’s hand, but Jeb laughs at him, pulls out a gun,
and shoots him in the face. This causes Arman to fall, letting go of Jeb as he falls to his death.
Luckily, Arman lives and just has a wound in his face from the shot. The man left earlier
to cut all the wires also successfully rescued the hostages and throws a grenade before it
explodes. Another successful mission for Arman and his team. At the Royal Malaysian Navy Base,
Joey runs to Lily and his mother greets him and finally understands the importance of his job.
She also tells him that if his father is still alive, he would be proud of him.
The scene changes to Arman and his team being awarded by the Fleet Commander.
Afterward, he takes him to a memorial of their fallen comrades. Arman sees the name of Joshua
written there, showing that their sacrifice for the country is not wasted and unrecognized.
The Fleet Commander, then, reveals that Arman’s father used to report
to him directly when he was still alive. Saying that their job is a calling from God. The movie
ends with the Fleet Commander thanking Arman for his service as Arman salutes.