Incredibly Well Made War Film

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2014)

Lone Survivor is a film directed by Peter Berg, and stars Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch and Ben Foster, and centres around the true story of 4 Navy SEALS who are sent on a mission to kill a notorious Taliban leader, and how the mission quickly goes from controlled to chaotic.
I'll begin with my main negative towards the film, and that has to do with tone and music. The music here, done by Explosions in the Sky, is not necessarily bad. I must say though, within the context of the film, it is used fairly poorly. At various points in the film, when gunfights are raining, and everything is as intense as ever, the music turns towards a slower, calmer tone. Now, I noticed this around 3 times within the film. It's almost as if, whilst these gunfights are going on and people are dying, Peter Berg is trying to glorify it all, or make it seem somewhat heroic, as that's how the music sounded to me. The whole film sends the message that war is horrific, horrible and should be avoided at all costs, yet at various points throughout these tremendously powerful fights, we get tonal shifts that hint at heroism, when that tone should be avoided at these specifics times very carefully. It took me out of the film, and unfortunately, it affected the overall rating as well.
As well as this problem, I felt, like a lot of reviewers, that this film didn't give enough time to character development, and it really hurt the emotional attachment to these men. I couldn't remember two of the four guys names for most of the film, actually. I'm not necessarily saying that Berg needed to take time away from the action to put towards making his characters more important to us, I'm just saying that a little more effective character development would go quite far for this film.
On the positive side, this film, for the most part, is a technical masterpiece. The film is acted to perfection, with Mark Wahlberg giving an impressively emotional performance, and Taylor Kitsch giving us something, that dare I say... is actually good?! The rest of the ensemble is well done, with special mention to Alexander Ludwig, an actor who I previously ridiculed for The Hunger Games, who gave a very solid performance.
When it comes to action, Peter Berg knows how to do it right! The action scenes here are intense, brutal and incredibly gritty. There are some real cringe moments here, and some points at which you simply can't watch. When a bullet lands on one of our main characters, you feel it, and it emotionally drains you watching these men get pinned down and beaten up. I have to say, I'd rival the first stage of the main fight with the first fight within Saving Private Ryan, a film which some would consider the best war film of all time, me included. That's a pretty heavy compliment. The gunfights are intense to the point of tears, and they will often have you at the edge of your seat. Berg has nailed the action scenes perfectly here.
Now, a lot of reviewers have made mention of the propaganda factor within this film. I personally didn't see much of it. I feel that the film is telling us, as I've mentioned before, that war is not heroic or full of glory, and honestly, we should avoid it all costs. It shows us that war is not black and white, and that everyone involved can very well suffer from it's effect. I'm going to dismiss the propaganda factor as a whole, because I've said, I just don't see it that way.
Overall, Lone Survivor is a powerful film, that whilst often tonally inconsistent, will leave you feeling emotionally drained. Peter Berg has a wonderful direction, and his cast helps him in achieving a balanced, centred film. Props to the makeup department as well, who really nailed it with all the blood and injuries. Ultimately, I'm not going to watch this film again, but I do feel that it is a brilliant film. I'm fairly sure it will be on my top 10 of 2014, at least at this stage!
9.1/10