Lone Survivor (B or 3/4 stars)
'Lone Survivor' (directed by Peter Berg, The Kingdom, Battleship) is based on events that occurred in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan in 2005 and in the book co-authored by survivor Marcus Luttrell (residing in good 'ole Patchogue, Long Island). In the opening scenes of 'Lone Survivor' (directed by Peter Berg, The Kingdom, Battleship), we watch the grueling physical/mental tests that Navy SEALS are put through to prepare them for action as experts in weaponry & "survival" in the wilderness. And still ... their greatest strength is probably their camaraderie. Their superior, Lieutenant Commander Kristensen (Eric Bana), describes to his soldiers their new Operation Red Wings mission in Afghanistan: kill a Taliban commander responsible for the deaths of 20 Marines.
4 SEALS are taken via helicopter & dropped into the mountains near the Taliban village. Everything goes fine 'til the Americans happen upon by a local shepherd & 2 kids. When their radio equipment fails, the soldiers are forced to make tough decisions. Do they kill the Afghans? Do they let them go? Marcus Luttrell (Mark Walhberg) argues that they cannot kill unarmed citizens. The media would find out the story & crucify them. Mission leader Mike Murphy (Taylor Kitsch) decides to let them go. And both Danny Dietz & Max "Axe" Axelson (Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster) agree. They abort the mission, but are surprised by a weapon-toting band of Taliban soldiers. The lengthy firefight is as extreme & bloody as any combat seen on film. Time & again, the 3 SEALS are forced to retreat by jumping off the mountainside & tumbling down a slope with their bodies slamming into trees & smashing into boulders. A helicopter with a plentitude of American soldiers swoops in for rescue, but it is catastrophically shot down. These 4 comrades give it their all, but with almost zero chance for escape, only one man miraculously survives.
Mark Walhberg is wholly believable as a hero who, despite taking an UNBELIEVABLE amount of physical trauma, survives, & tries to live his life despite the pain & heartache he has endured. Wahlberg is SO intense, here. My eyes were kind of bug-eyed at the screen while watching his intensity; especially in the final 10-15 minutes. The other laudable aspect of the film has to be the sound design (guns, cracking of bones, etc.). The rest of the technicals (photography, make-up): all good. As for the rest of the cast: Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana, Alexander Ludwig ... all fine. Probably my biggest complaint of the film, along with some of the action being redundant, is that none of these supporting characters are given sufficient time to develop. They're just too generic; interchangeable.
The film avoids making the enemies outright villains; as evidenced by the compassionate Afghan who risks everything to help the severely wounded 'lone survivor'. It's interesting that in the middle of this unrelenting (almost to a fault) war movie ... that there are 2 superb moments of mercy. 1) The decision of the 4 SEALS to 'not' kill the shepherds. And 2) The compassionate Afghan's choice to risk everything to save an American soldier's life. There are 2 heroes, here.
Peter Berg captures the tension/chaos of the big battle extremely well. The Americans suffer crippling, debilitating injuries (cascading down that steep mountainside). The movie's treatment of battle is gruesome, grim, but also highly realistic. The unfortunate result was an American death toll of 19 for a mission that was not viewed - at least initially - as being particularly dangerous. The film does justice to this true story, providing cinematic dramatizations that have been well-chronicled from Marcus Luttrell's book as well as countless interviews that he has conducted. Taken at face, 'Lone Survivor' can be viewed as either a straightforward chronicle of a mission-gone-wrong OR a tale of how one man defied the odds to survive. Solid film. Patriotic. Universal. Emotional.
4 SEALS are taken via helicopter & dropped into the mountains near the Taliban village. Everything goes fine 'til the Americans happen upon by a local shepherd & 2 kids. When their radio equipment fails, the soldiers are forced to make tough decisions. Do they kill the Afghans? Do they let them go? Marcus Luttrell (Mark Walhberg) argues that they cannot kill unarmed citizens. The media would find out the story & crucify them. Mission leader Mike Murphy (Taylor Kitsch) decides to let them go. And both Danny Dietz & Max "Axe" Axelson (Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster) agree. They abort the mission, but are surprised by a weapon-toting band of Taliban soldiers. The lengthy firefight is as extreme & bloody as any combat seen on film. Time & again, the 3 SEALS are forced to retreat by jumping off the mountainside & tumbling down a slope with their bodies slamming into trees & smashing into boulders. A helicopter with a plentitude of American soldiers swoops in for rescue, but it is catastrophically shot down. These 4 comrades give it their all, but with almost zero chance for escape, only one man miraculously survives.
Mark Walhberg is wholly believable as a hero who, despite taking an UNBELIEVABLE amount of physical trauma, survives, & tries to live his life despite the pain & heartache he has endured. Wahlberg is SO intense, here. My eyes were kind of bug-eyed at the screen while watching his intensity; especially in the final 10-15 minutes. The other laudable aspect of the film has to be the sound design (guns, cracking of bones, etc.). The rest of the technicals (photography, make-up): all good. As for the rest of the cast: Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana, Alexander Ludwig ... all fine. Probably my biggest complaint of the film, along with some of the action being redundant, is that none of these supporting characters are given sufficient time to develop. They're just too generic; interchangeable.
The film avoids making the enemies outright villains; as evidenced by the compassionate Afghan who risks everything to help the severely wounded 'lone survivor'. It's interesting that in the middle of this unrelenting (almost to a fault) war movie ... that there are 2 superb moments of mercy. 1) The decision of the 4 SEALS to 'not' kill the shepherds. And 2) The compassionate Afghan's choice to risk everything to save an American soldier's life. There are 2 heroes, here.
Peter Berg captures the tension/chaos of the big battle extremely well. The Americans suffer crippling, debilitating injuries (cascading down that steep mountainside). The movie's treatment of battle is gruesome, grim, but also highly realistic. The unfortunate result was an American death toll of 19 for a mission that was not viewed - at least initially - as being particularly dangerous. The film does justice to this true story, providing cinematic dramatizations that have been well-chronicled from Marcus Luttrell's book as well as countless interviews that he has conducted. Taken at face, 'Lone Survivor' can be viewed as either a straightforward chronicle of a mission-gone-wrong OR a tale of how one man defied the odds to survive. Solid film. Patriotic. Universal. Emotional.