Peter Berg’s newest film, “Lone Survivor,” is an edge-of-your-seat, heart-pounding and patriotic drama about the War on Terror. If you’re into blood, guts and gore, this movie is sure not to disappoint. With every tear shed and gun fired, this movie will make you feel as if you are right there on the front line with America’s best men.
Based on a true story, “Lone Survivor” reenacts a failed mission of four U.S. Navy SEALs from June 2005. The plot of this movie begins with the four SEALs out in the mountainous terrains of Afghanistan. Their mission is to assassinate a Taliban leader and his followers, who recently killed numerous Marines. While the Navy SEALs are lying low under bushes and trees, their operation is compromised by three local village shepherds. While holding the shepherds captive, the four men argue about what they should do with them. Danny Dietz, played by Emile Hirsch, and Matt Axelson (Ben Foster) think that they should kill the shepherds, but Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg) and Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch) believe that they should let them go. Murphy makes the final call and gives the order to let the three shepherds walk free. After watching the three men scurry down the rocky peak, the brave men recognize the risk that they have just taken.
One of the disappointments I had before seeing the movie was the fact that the title of the film slightly gives away the ending. I already knew one brave SEAL would be left fighting and defending on his own, but during the film, I still had hope that the other SEALs could survive. For that reason, you can never go wrong with a film that rallies up the American spirit, and what better way to do that than to drive that spirit right into the audience’s hearts?
Throughout the motion picture, the characters surprised me by how much perseverance a person can have. When the movie started, the four men were strangers,; by the end, they had developed into people you could trust with your life and, most importantly, your freedom. The acting in this film was superb, but that is what I expected when I saw that Wahlberg, Kitsch and Hirsch were cast. These actors made it seem as if they really went through training and battle together by expressing their brotherhood and respect for each other.
One thing that I thought was very clever on the director’s part was how they showed clips of real Navy SEALs going through training and living overseas in the beginning of the movie, giving the audience a preview of what viewers were about to see. At the end of the movie, they also showed pictures and videos of the SEALs who were portrayed in this film, both with their families and overseas. This added a nice touch, because even though they were played by actors, it made the story more realistic.
The main reason why I enjoyed this movie was because of how realistic the director made it seem. For instance, the scenes in which the SEALs would dive and roll down the mountain made me cringe and feel like I was getting wounded every time they would hit a tree, rock or bush. The crew of this movie did an excellent job producing the sound effects during these scenes.
In conclusion, this movie offers something for everyone: action, drama, a little bit of a sense of humor and true acts of heroism that will never be forgotten. This film is a definite must-see, because just as Wahlberg’s character expresses, he is living through his brothers by telling their story of loss and triumph.
